PREPARING AND GRADING YOUR LOT LAND SURVEY, BUILDING PERMITS, LOT LEVELING AND GRADING
As discussed in the article “Choosing a Lot for Your New Home,†there are multiple factors that go into the buying decision. However, once you’ve purchased your lot, you need to know the location of the property lines, easements, and elevation. A land survey conducted by yourself or the previous owner will convey this information.
Property Lines
Property lines or boundary lines are the legal boundaries of your lot; they define where you can and cannot build a home, shed, or fence. You can find property line information on your property deed or plat map at your town’s accessor’s office or county recorder. Some deeds will describe the lot’s exact location as it exists on the plat map and it may include precise measurements. In Brunswick County, North Carolina, the county offers a free, online Geographic Information System (GIS) to find maps and information about geographic locations including easements, parcel dimensions, soils, and wetlands.
Easements:
An easement gives a person or third-party provider the right to access your property for a specific purpose, for example, local utility companies hold easements to access power or cables lines. This type of easement is an easement in gross. Another type of easement is an easement appurtenant, which involves two parcels of land. One parcel bears a burden while the other reaps a benefit, for example, your lot’s backyard faces the beach and for your neighbor to access the beach they must walk through your yard. This type of easement could affect the way you had originally purposed the lot to be used and should be taken into consideration when looking at land buying options.
Elevation:
An elevation survey determines a property’s lowest point of elevation, flood zones, and building characteristics. Not every property needs an elevation survey and its certificate. You can look up your property on FEMA’s flood maps to help determine whether your property is in a high-risk flood zone and if you may need an elevation certificate.
The certificate shows how your property’s elevation compares to the base flood elevation on a flood map. Structures that sit at the base flood elevation are considered to have a one percent chance of flooding each year. In addition, you will probably need a new elevation certificate if you make significant changes to your property, for example, converting a garage into livable space.
Building Permits
As discussed in the article “Choosing a Lot for Your New Home,†there are multiple factors that go into the buying decision. However, once you’ve purchased your lot and chosen a builder, you should understand what steps your contractor must follow in order to secure a building permit, including a lot septic feasibility, tree removal request, preliminary site plan, building application, and fee payment.
#1 Lot Septic Feasibility
If a sewer system in not available and a septic system is your option, then you will need to determine lot septic feasibility. For this process, the general contractor fills out and submits a septic application along with its fees. Brunswick County’s septic application can be accessed at: https://www.brunswickcountync.gov/environmental-health/applications. A technical lot drawing will be required for the application, which includes the lot size, house footprint, soil suitability locations, garage orientation, and any unusual land features. Once approved, the Health Department will issue an Improvement Permit, and upon the installation of the septic system, the Health Department will issue an Authorization to Construct.
Long leaf pine tree
#3 Preliminary Site Plan:
In this step, the general contractor requests a preliminary site plan from a local surveyor. The surveyor requires the house footprint, garage orientation, the septic improvement permit, and house plan.
#4 Building Application:
As one of the final permitting steps, the general contractor opens a building application with the city in where the home will be built. For Langbeen Builders, the city is Boiling Spring Lakes (BSL). In addition to filling out the building permit application, BSL requires the following attachments:
- Improvement permit
- USFW tree authorization
- House plan
- Lien agent information
- Preliminary site plan
- Authorization to construct (unsigned)
#2 Tree Removal Request:
In the Southeast, long leaf pine trees are home to the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker. Tree surveyors need to be aware of trees that are older than 30 years and have a 10†DBH (diameter at breast height) as these trees are crucial to the red-cockaded woodpecker’s habitat and tree removal should be avoided.
To obtain tree removal authorization, the general contractor submits a tree removal permit application with US Fish and Wildlife for lots that are deemed “blue†(woodpecker foraging area) or “red†(most sensitive area). If the parcel is identified as “green†(no impact area), there is a simplified process that moves through the city where the property will be built.
If the permit proceeds through US Fish and Wildlife, then the application requires a field tree survey that shows the house, septic location, and the long leaf pine trees over 8†for removal. In addition, a basal area calculation worksheet needs to accompany the request. This worksheet shows the lot’s recommended basal area, actual basal area, and proposed post project basal area.
#5 Fee Sheet
Once all documents have been submitted to the local city and the application is approved, the city will issue a fee sheet, which details costs of permitting for the different types of new construction projects. Upon fee payment by the contractor, the city issues the building permit to the general contractor. Note: various trades will request their own trade permits as construction progresses.
Lot Leveling and Grading
As discussed in the article “Choosing a Lot for Your New Home,†there are multiple factors that go into the buying decision. However, once you’ve purchased your lot and chosen a builder, you should understand what the contractor must do in order to prepare your lot for building.
Once your lot has been excavated, a grading contractor provides land grading or land leveling to ensure that the ground is level. As part of the process, the contractor will dig and remove dirt, level any slopes, fill low spots, compact the soil, level the building site, and haul dirt to fill in a hole or haul dirt out to level a slope. Land grading is often done with heavy equipment like an excavator, skid steer loader, or backhoe. The building contractor should collaborate with a land surveyor to measure the land’s slope grading; this helps prepare the lot leveling and ensures that a specific grade percentage is achieved.
Proper grading provides a level base for laying the foundation and slopes the land away from the building site to deliver adequate drainage. If the land has not been graded correctly, there is a potential that water won’t drain properly. Water could flow towards the home, possibly leaving water pockets around the foundation and opening the possibility for damage.