A raised home sits on new footings that carry new loads, so the footing designer needs to know what the ground will do. An AS 2870 site classification gives the engineer a site class from A to P based on how the soil reacts to moisture. Our visit tests the ground at the new footing area for both soil reactivity and bearing capacity, so the design has measured figures behind it. Your engineer and certifier will tell you what else the project needs, and we can talk through the scope before booking.

Geotechnical drilling is part of our service range, alongside site classifications and soil testing. Rocklea has a long working history, with an engineering workshop built there in 1926 and the fruit and vegetable markets arriving in 1964. A slab, shed or hardstand is a different design question from a house footing, so the testing has to be scoped for the structure. Call us with the site details and what is planned, and ask whether our drilling suits that project before you book anything.

Boreholes go near the proposed footing area, because that is the ground the new structure will bear on. On a lot built up by repeated floods, surface loam deposited from the Oxley Creek catchment can sit over different material, so testing where the footings will actually go matters more than a general reading of the block. If you are raising an existing house, share the footing layout with us early so the boreholes and DCP tests line up with where the new loads will land.

Yes, and early. Whether a lot is listed as contaminated or possibly contaminated is not visible on a site visit; the Environmental Management Register and Contaminated Land Register hold that record, and each lot on plan can be searched for a fee. We hold no information on whether a given Rocklea lot appears there, so the search is one for you or your conveyancer to order. If a lot is recorded, the project may involve more than a standard build, and that is far easier to plan around before design work and ground testing are booked.

Early, because the footing design depends on it and the program sets a hard finish line: funded raising works have to be complete by 31 March 2027. Soil tests and hydraulic reports were among the eligible costs for home raising, and new applications stopped on 1 December 2025. Rocklea was one of the hardest-hit areas in 2022, so many approved raisings here share that timeline. Confirm what your approval covers with the program, then book the AS 2870 site classification so the engineer can start.

We cannot rank one suburb's ground against another's without testing. What we can say is that regular flooding up the Oxley Creek catchment added surface loam to Rocklea, and floodplain soils can be layered and soft in places. That is why no one should assume a site class for a Rocklea lot. Boreholes and DCP tests on the lot itself show what is actually there, and the lab results give your engineer something firm to design from.

Yes. Our standard site classification includes dynamic cone penetration tests, which measure bearing capacity, alongside the boreholes. The borehole samples are analysed in our NATA-accredited laboratory for the reactivity side of the report. That gives the engineer both pieces of information from one visit, which matters when a raised house puts new loads on new footings. For slabs or larger structures, ask whether geotechnical drilling, which is also part of our service range, suits the project.