Groundworks Conversation Preparation Checklist

Walk the site after heavy rain and write down where water sits, how long it stays and whether the ground stays soft underfoot in those places.

Standing water is one of the first things a groundworker asks about, and it is far easier to describe if you have watched it happen than to reconstruct later.

Where water sits tells you nothing certain about what lies below; only a qualified specialist and a proper investigation can establish that.

Note anything suggesting the ground has been disturbed before: old hardstanding, brick rubble at the surface, a filled hollow, or a slab left from a demolished outbuilding.

Previously worked ground changes the conversation completely, and the evidence is often visible at the surface long before anyone digs a trial hole.

Record what neighbours or previous owners can tell you about earlier digging on or near the plot, including any soakaway, well, cellar or fuel tank they remember.

Local memory frequently surfaces buried features that appear on no drawing at all, and it needs nothing but a conversation to collect.

Note whether the site slopes, roughly which way it falls and whether the fall changes across the plot, using a fixed reference such as a gate post or the base of a wall.

A rough description of fall, tied to something that will still be standing later, is far more useful to a designer than a vague sense that the garden is uneven.

Write down what is growing where, since reeds, thick moss or unusually vigorous growth in one patch often tells a groundworker something about water and past use.

Vegetation patterns are one of the few free clues an owner can gather across a full season, and they help direct where investigation is worth doing.

Photograph the site from the same few positions in different weather, and keep the images together so the sequence is easy to show later.

A consistent set of viewpoints turns scattered snapshots into something a professional can actually read once the ground has been stripped.

Measure the narrowest point on the route from the road to the working area in rough terms, and note what creates the pinch: a gate, a corner, a bay window or a fence.

The narrowest point usually decides what plant can reach the dig, and it is often something the owner walks past daily without registering.

Note anything overhead along the approach, such as branches, a carport, a canopy or a first-floor projection, since machine height is the constraint people forget to check.

A route that is wide enough at ground level can still be unusable, and finding that out on the morning of delivery is an avoidable problem.

Write down what the ground surface is along the route and whether it is likely to suffer under tracked or wheeled plant: a block drive, a soft verge, a shared path.

Surfaces that will be crossed by plant are a common source of dispute, and describing their condition beforehand removes most of the argument.

Ask who is responsible for protecting the route surface and for making good anything damaged, and agree in writing how the condition is recorded before work begins.

This is a responsibility question rather than a technical one, and it is far easier to settle before a machine has crossed the drive.

Identify where a lorry could realistically stand and how far it would obstruct the road, and confirm locally what applies to loading, parking or partial closure there.

What is permitted on the highway outside your property is set by the local authority; confirm it with them rather than assuming a delivery can simply stop.

Note where spoil, aggregate and drainage materials could be stacked without blocking your own door, and write down whether that space is actually on your land.

Storage space is planned for on paper and forgotten on site, and stacking on a neighbour's ground creates a problem that is nobody's job to fix.

Walk the plot and record every cover, chamber, marker post, meter box and stopcock you can find, including any sitting in the pavement or verge outside.

Visible fittings are the anchor points a groundworker uses when planning where to start, and a phone photograph of each one is enough.

Note which covers you can see without moving anything, and ask the contractor to trace what runs beneath rather than opening chambers or lifting lids yourself.

Opening drainage or service chambers is not an owner task; ask the contractor how buried runs will be traced and proved before anyone breaks ground.

Ask which utility record drawings should be requested and who will request them, since these are usually obtained from the suppliers before any excavation is planned.

Utility records are indicative only; ask the groundworker how services will be located on site, and never treat a drawing as proof of what is there.

Note where overhead lines cross the site or the access route and record roughly where the poles stand, observing from a distance without approaching or measuring near them.

Anything involving overhead lines belongs with the supply company and the contractor; keep well clear and leave the assessment entirely to them.

Write down where the incoming water, electricity, gas and telecoms enter the existing building, and photograph each entry point while it is still uncovered.

Entry points are frequently buried, boxed in or rendered over during the works, and the record you take now may be the only one that survives.

Ask whether any service is expected to need diverting or protecting and who arranges that, since such arrangements are made by the supplier rather than the builder.

Supplier-led work follows its own process, so knowing early who is holding that thread avoids a stalled dig with nobody responsible for restarting it.

List the trees on and adjoining the site, note roughly how close each stands to the proposed work, and write down whether you believe any is subject to a protection notice.

Whether a tree is protected, and what work near its roots would mean, must be confirmed with the local authority and a qualified arboriculturist.

Note whether each boundary is a wall, a fence, a hedge or nothing at all, and write down what you actually know about who owns and maintains it.

Boundary ownership drives who has to be asked about work close to the line, and most owners discover their assumption was wrong at the worst moment.

Record the condition of any retaining wall, garden wall or outbuilding standing close to the proposed excavation, with photographs from both sides where you have access.

Do not form a view on whether a neighbouring structure is stable; that assessment belongs with a qualified engineer instructed for the purpose.

Ask a qualified professional what notifications or agreements may apply where excavation is proposed close to a neighbouring structure, and record what they tell you.

Obligations towards adjoining owners vary by location and by circumstance; confirm what applies to your site rather than relying on general description.

Write down which neighbours will be most affected by machine noise and site traffic, and decide how and when you would rather tell them yourself.

Neighbours who hear about a dig from you tend to raise issues early and quietly, which is usually easier than dealing with them once plant has arrived.

Note any shared drive, right of way or access strip crossing the site, and gather whatever paperwork you hold describing how it may be used.

Rights over an access strip often restrict standing, storage or obstruction, and the wording matters more than what has been tolerated in the past.

Note where rainwater from the existing roof discharges, whether into a gully, a soakaway, a butt or simply onto the ground, and whether that point sits inside the works area.

Discharge points are routinely destroyed during a dig and reinstated by memory, which is how water ends up arriving somewhere new.

Write down anywhere the ground falls towards the building rather than away from it, since this reappears as a drainage question as soon as levels are altered.

Existing falls towards a wall are usually tolerated until the ground is disturbed, at which point the arrangement has to be dealt with deliberately.

Ask who is producing a measured level survey, what it will cover and whether it extends far enough beyond the building for the groundworks discussion to be useful.

A survey that stops at the building line leaves the designer guessing about the ground that actually controls drainage and access.

Record what happens in the road or shared area outside during heavy rain, since surface water arriving from beyond your boundary changes the whole conversation.

Water coming onto the plot is a different problem from water generated on it, and it needs to be described early rather than discovered later.

Stand at each external door and write down whether you step up, step down or walk straight out, then note which of those doors the new levels would sit against.

Regrading around a building quietly changes every threshold it reaches, and the existing step at each door is the reference everyone will argue from later.

Ask a qualified professional how the proposed levels affect the existing drainage runs and what would have to change, then keep their answer with your site notes.

Fall, connection and capacity of drainage are matters for a qualified designer and the drainage authority; note the question and leave the answer to them.

Decide and record whether you want topsoil retained for later landscaping, and note where it could be stored without sitting on the working area or a neighbour's ground.

Topsoil is normally removed by default unless somebody says otherwise, and buying it back in later is an avoidable annoyance.

Ask in general terms how much material is expected to come out and where it is proposed to go, since removal arrangements are made by others on your behalf.

Understanding the destination early tells you how much lorry movement the street will see and whether the access route can take it.

Ask who is responsible for arranging removal of excavated material and for the paperwork that accompanies it, and write down the answer you are given.

Duties around classifying and disposing of excavated material sit with qualified parties; confirm locally what applies rather than assuming anything.

Note whether you would accept material being spread on your own land, and ask a qualified professional what that would mean for levels, drainage and future planting.

Spreading spoil looks like a saving until it changes how water moves across the garden or leaves ground that will not support anything.

Write down whether hardcore, crushed material or imported fill is anticipated, and ask what determines that choice on this particular site.

The answer usually reveals what the contractor already assumes about the ground, which is useful to hear before an investigation confirms or contradicts it.

Record where a skip or grab lorry could stand without blocking the access route, a neighbour's driveway or the only turning space on the street.

Container position is decided in a hurry on the day unless somebody has thought about it, and the wrong spot blocks the works it was meant to serve.

Ask who sets out the building on the ground, who checks that setting out and what happens if it is questioned once excavation has already started.

Setting out is the moment a drawing becomes a physical position, and every later dimension depends on it being right and agreed.

Write down which trades follow the groundworker immediately, so you understand what a pause at this stage holds up further along.

Knowing the dependency chain helps you judge which questions have to be settled now and which can genuinely wait.

Ask what temporary support or edge protection is anticipated around open excavations and who is responsible for arranging and managing it.

Temporary works around excavations is a specialist matter; ask the contractor who designs and controls it and form no view of your own.

Agree in writing how instructions are issued and recorded once plant is on site, including who you speak to when something unexpected is uncovered.

Verbal instructions given across an open trench are the origin of most later disagreement about what was actually asked for.

Ask what would happen if unexpected material, an old structure or possible contamination is uncovered, and how that would be reported to you and to others.

Suspected contamination or an unexpected buried structure must be handed to qualified specialists and the relevant authority, not managed informally on site.

Note who is keeping a record of what was found and where, so the information survives once trenches are backfilled and the ground looks ordinary again.

Everything below ground becomes invisible the moment a trench is backfilled, and the only lasting record is the one somebody deliberately made at the time.