G&P Consulting Engineers have been working with suppliers and one of Melbourne’s leading domestic builders to develop a house prototype on a revolutionary foundation system that may set a new bench mark of cost savings to domestic builders.

Unlike traditional methods of raft footing beams or waffle slabs, which may even be seated on screw piles or bored piers if poor soil is encountered, this new method of construction consists of no ground trenching or footing beams. We have been working with a local supplier who can provide driven steel foundation bearing plates, which provide a suitable substrate to support a suspended flat slab over sand bed ‘formwork’.

The proposed method brings cost savings in materials, labour and time, with a house floor slab completed within 1-2 days inclusive of all preparation work if scheduled correctly. Foundation requirements for large depths of fill that are typically found at sites to new land estates are also addressed.

The prototype house is currently under construction, the success of which will determine future use of the proposal.