Welcome back to another site update.
Last week we made solid progress setting up the site office and making the site safer and more functional. Here's what we did, why, and what's next.
Lifting and Securing the Site Office
We had the site office delivered and lifted into place by a crane. The actual lift only took about 20 minutes, but many crane companies have a two-hour minimum call-out, so that’s what we were charged for. The lift cost came to around $630.
The site office sits on top of the container and is secured using twist-lock cam fittings—one at each corner. These twist locks join the modules together firmly. The site office weighs about three tonnes, sitting on top of two or three tonnes in the container storage below.
To anchor it, we bought 1,500 mm long screw piers (about 350 mm diameter) from a mate who's an underpinner. We'll install one pier at each corner and run 2-tonne-rated ratchet straps and tie-down harnesses from the container's top corners down to the piers.
Four 2-tonne-rated straps give about 8 tonnes of tie-down capacity for a 3-tonne unit, which is plenty to stop it moving. Wind is what moves site buildings: it pushes sideways and lifts, and a tall, light box catches a lot of it. In cyclone or high-wind areas, tie-downs should follow the supplier's or an engineer's design.
We also have a 3-tonne excavator attachment to screw the piers in. One corner gets a slightly angled pier because it's close to the basement and sheet piling, and we don't want to move it later.
Network and Starlink Setup
Once the site office was in place we moved the Starlink dish onto a new full-length timber post, raised about 2.6 metres, and extended the RJ45 (network) cable to suit. I've ordered a Starlink mesh node for inside the site office. The plan is:
- Run an RJ45 from the mesh node back up to the Starlink.
- Use the mesh node as a pass-through so the camera network is powered and connected.
- Because the mesh node has only two ports, we’ll run another wire from it to the internal network.
We’ve found the metal site office can cause occasional dropouts, so the mesh node should give better reliability and throughput.
Power and Electrical Work
The container power comes from a 15-amp outdoor screw-in plug on a weathered-looking cable, but it works fine. The electricians recently installed a new circuit and a small sub-board inside the container.
From that sub-board there’s a 15A plug which connects to an industrial plug mounted with extra slack for easy connection. That single feed powers the whole container network and equipment—simple and plug-and-play.
Inside the site office there are multiple double power points (all powered from that 15A feed), so we have plenty of sockets for monitors, chargers, a coffee machine, and other equipment.
Stairs, Handrail and Landing
We built a collapsible stair system from 90 x 45 treated pine. Hinges allow the stairs to fold down and be removed easily when needed. The stair stringers are 240 x 45, treads are reinforced with 70 x 35 supports, and we used two batten screws for each tread support plus two batten screws through each tread to stop movement.
The handrail is 900 mm above the treads and the risers (the height of each step) are about 190 mm. We checked these against the National Construction Code using the Build Tools app, which is much faster than hunting through the NCC. Even temporary stairs need consistent risers: people trip on the one step that's a different height.
We dug new post footings, one about 600 mm deep (roughly 1.5 bags of concrete) and another around 250–300 mm, and checked levels with a laser so the stairs sit parallel and stable. Barry wrote his name in one of the footings (thanks, Barry). We made that one extra solid because people always give the post a shake to test it.
The stairs connect to the container with four main bolts and two braces for good rigidity. Overall they’re very solid and built to last for site use.
Site Office Interior
The site office comes with a desk and a small sub-board. We've brought in:
- Printer and chargers
- A coffee machine
- Monitors and an old TV to display the program for suppliers and contractors
- A Sonos speaker for background music
- Extra chairs (we’re keeping numbers low so it doesn’t get cramped)
The floor is coved vinyl, easy to mop and vacuum. We'll use magnetic hooks for a whiteboard so we don't drill through the insulated panels. And the air-conditioning is a huge win.
Other Smaller Works
- Ran glands and conduits through the container so cables don’t touch metal.
- Routed the 15A power through conduit to the internal distribution board.
- Tested a lot of keyboards and mice from our kit box; some batteries needed replacing after long storage.
- Set up temporary bin and equipment storage while we finalise the rest of the site.
What’s Next: Approvals, Engineers and Timelines
We're mostly waiting on the development approval (DA). The letters needed for the revetment wall (a council DA condition, PO9, that has to be satisfied before approval) finally arrived after about five weeks. They went to the town planner and were submitted to council. Once the DA is issued we'll:
- Finalise the operational works approval for the civil works
- Get the structural engineer to finish the basement design and issue a Form 15 (the engineer's design compliance certificate in Queensland)
- Finalise the hydraulics design with the hydraulic engineer (they're waiting on the DA too)
- Pay the QBCC home warranty premium and QLeave levy and send the receipts to the certifier
- Certifier will lodge plumbing and drainage with council
The engineers have been talking to council to make sure their designs comply, so we don't expect major hold-ups for building approval, especially for early works.
We still need to firm up the quote from the sheet piling and dewatering contractor (4-week lead time) and book them once the schedule is set. I'm also waiting on a quote from the waterproofing contractor for the basement, using a membrane system with an extra protection layer to further reduce the risk of leaks.
Major works are now expected to start late March to early April. We've lost a couple of weeks waiting on engineering sign-offs and council letters, but once approvals are through we'll hit the ground running.
Wrap-up
This week was all about the site office: securing it, setting up power and network, and building solid stairs. Once the DA and a few outstanding engineering reports are in, construction will move forward.
I’ll post another update next week with progress on the approvals and the next steps.
Thanks for reading.
