Cut and fill volumes worked off the contour plan and the finished levels, with bulking, cart-away and trenching all measured separately. Send the survey and the civil set and you get numbers you can stand behind.
Earthworks is the one trade where a wrong number is invisible until the trucks are moving. Cut and fill has to come off the existing surface levels and the design levels, compared properly, not eyeballed off a contour plan.
We measure the cut and the fill as separate quantities, apply bulking to the material actually leaving site, and show cart-away in loads rather than cubic metres so it lines up with how you get charged. Your truck rates, tip fees and plant rates go in the spreadsheet and you can change any of them.
The starting point is a surface-to-surface comparison: existing levels against design levels, zone by zone. That gives cut volume and fill volume independently, which is what you need to work out whether the site balances or whether you are importing or exporting.
From there we break out topsoil strip as an area, bulk excavation and detail excavation separately, trenching by linear metre and depth band, and imported fill by material type. Compaction and the difference between loose and compacted volume are handled explicitly rather than absorbed into a single rate.
Cart-away is converted into truck loads at your body size, so the haulage line reflects the trucks you actually run rather than a theoretical cubic metre rate.
Nothing here is an allowance. Each line is measured off your drawings in its own unit, so you can check it against the plan yourself.
| Item | How it is measured | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Topsoil strip | Stripped area in m² and depth, giving stockpile or removal volume | Stripping is usually priced by area but charged as volume once it is carted — both numbers are needed |
| Bulk cut | Cut volume in m³ from existing surface to design surface, by zone | The only defensible way to price a site cut is a surface comparison, not a average depth |
| Bulk fill | Fill volume in m³, split into site-won and imported material | Site-won fill is nearly free; imported fill is a supply and cart cost. They cannot share a rate |
| Bulking and shrinkage | Loose volume after excavation and compacted volume in place | Ignoring bulking under-orders trucks; ignoring compaction under-orders material |
| Cart-away | Loads out, calculated at your truck body volume, plus tip fees by material | Clean fill, mixed spoil and contaminated material carry very different disposal costs |
| Trenching | Linear metres by depth band and width, with rock or shoring flagged | A 600mm service trench and a 1.8m sewer trench are not the same job per metre |
| Battering and retaining | Batter area and slope, or the volume the retaining wall replaces | Whether you batter or retain changes both the earthworks volume and the wall cost |
| Site access and plant | Machine sizes the access allows, and float movements in and out | A site that only takes a small excavator takes far more hours for the same cubic metres |
| Term | What it means | Where it bites |
|---|---|---|
| In-situ volume | Material as it sits in the ground, before disturbance | The number the design drawings give you |
| Loose (bulked) volume | Same material after excavation, expanded | Truck loads and haulage cost |
| Compacted volume | Material placed and compacted to specification | Imported fill supply quantity |
| Bulking factor | Percentage expansion from in-situ to loose | Varies by material — sand behaves nothing like clay |
| Cut/fill balance | Cut volume minus fill volume across the site | Decides whether you import, export, or neither |
| Cart-away loads | Loose volume divided by truck body capacity | The line the client argues about most |
If the levels do not extend past the building footprint, the volumes for driveways, batters and service trenches are assumptions rather than measurements. We tell you which parts of the estimate are measured and which are assumed, so you can decide whether to price the risk or ask for more survey.
Rock is the same story. Unless the geotechnical report says what is down there and at what depth, rock excavation is a rate to be confirmed rather than a quantity. We flag it as an exclusion instead of quietly pricing it as ordinary dig.
The same five steps on every job, whether it is a single slab or a full tender package.
Email the architectural and structural drawings, the specification and the scope of works in whatever format you have — PDF, DWG, or photos of a marked-up set. If something is missing we will tell you before we start, not after.
The starting point is a surface-to-surface comparison: existing levels against design levels, zone by zone. That gives cut volume and fill volume independently, which is what you need to work out whether the site balances or whether you are importing or exporting.
Every measured item gets its own colour and legend entry on the drawing. When the takeoff comes back you can see exactly what was counted and what was not, so you are never asked to trust a number you cannot trace. This is the part clients tell us they did not know they needed until they had it.
The takeoff is delivered as a working spreadsheet, not a locked PDF. Your rates sit in their own column, so you can change a supply price or a labour rate and watch the total move. Plug in your own numbers and the sheet is yours to reuse on the next job.
Quantities are re-measured independently and cross-checked against the drawing before anything leaves here. You get the marked-up plans, the priced spreadsheet and a plain-English note on anything we flagged as unclear or excluded.
The takeoff arrives as a live Excel spreadsheet with the colour-coded marked-up plans beside it. Your rates go in your own column, so you can plug in your own supply and labour numbers and reuse the sheet on the next job. Nothing is locked.
First estimate free. After that the fee is confirmed in writing as a fixed amount before any work starts. No retainer, no subscription, no lock-in contract. Full pricing detail here →
Two sites with identical cut volumes can be weeks apart in duration. A wide-open block takes a large excavator and a fleet of trucks; a narrow infill site with a single crossover takes a small machine, a dingo and a lot more handling.
We read the site plan for access width, existing structures, overhead services and where the spoil can be stockpiled, then note the plant the site realistically allows. That way the hours in the estimate match the machine you can actually get in.
Quantities are measured against the standards and the specification for your job. Where a drawing and a standard disagree, we flag it rather than quietly picking one.
| Standard | Covers | Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| AS 3798 | Guidelines on earthworks for commercial and residential developments | Testing and compaction requirements |
| AS 1289 | Methods of testing soils for engineering purposes | Compaction and moisture testing |
| AS 2870 | Residential slabs and footings | Site classification and fill requirements under slabs |
None of these are unusual. They are the things that get missed when a quote is put together at 9pm after a full day on the tools.
If your question is not here, email it through and you will get a straight answer, not a sales call.
A survey or contour plan with existing levels, and a civil or architectural set with the design levels. Those two surfaces are what cut and fill are calculated from.
The geotechnical report matters as well, because it tells us what the material is and whether rock is likely. Without it we can still measure volumes, but rock stays an exclusion.
We can produce indicative volumes, and we will label them as indicative. Accurate cut and fill needs spot levels or a digital surface, not just contours — contours interpolate between lines and that interpolation is where the error lives. If accuracy matters on the job, the survey is worth getting.
Yes, and separately. Cut is measured in-situ, cart-away is calculated on loose volume after bulking, and imported fill is calculated on compacted volume in place. Each factor appears in the spreadsheet where you can change it if your own material behaves differently.
We convert loose volume into truck loads at the body size you actually run, then apply your cart rate and the tip fee for the material type. Clean fill, mixed spoil and contaminated material go on separate lines because the disposal cost is nothing alike.
Yes, by linear metre within depth bands, with the width and bedding requirement taken off the service drawings. Shoring, dewatering or rock get flagged as separate items rather than being folded into a metre rate.
Most residential site cuts come back within 24 hours of the plans landing. Subdivision and civil packages take longer because there are more surfaces and more staging to work through — we confirm the timing up front.
If you want us to. Give us your machine and truck rates and we will build the hours out against the volumes. Many excavation contractors prefer to take the measured volumes and apply their own production rates, which is fine — the spreadsheet works either way.
Most jobs cross more than one trade. We can price the whole package in one spreadsheet.
Your first estimate is free. Email the drawings and the scope, and you will have a marked-up takeoff and a priced spreadsheet back within 24 hours on most residential jobs. Prefer to talk first? Reply with "KEEN" and your number.