Foundation extras cannot be open-ended
Why — act while you have leverage
Foundation depth is the one cost nobody can fix before digging - which is exactly why it gets written as an uncapped extra. Several agreements charged for depth beyond a stated figure with no rate, no baseline measurement and no soil test anywhere in the scope.
What to look at
- A soil test in the scope, before foundation pricing
- A rate per unit depth for anything beyond the assumed founding level
- Who measures the extra, and how it is recorded
How to check it yourself
If the agreement fixes a founding depth and charges beyond it, insist on three things: a soil test before the price is agreed, a stated rate for the extra depth, and a measurement method for how the extra is calculated. A depth fixed without a soil test is a guess that you are paying to correct.
Where this comes from: IS 1904 - Code of practice for design and construction of foundations (indian standard or building code)
More construction agreement checks before you sign
- Agreement check passed
- Contractor background verified
- Site handover checklist agreed
- Worker-welfare rules applicability checked
- GST treatment understood before signing
- The payment schedule keeps money back until the end
- The agreement does not contradict itself
- GST is stated, and you know who pays it
- You know who you are contracting with
- Price escalation has a limit you can calculate
- Curing is the contractor's job, in writing
- The arbitrator is not chosen by the contractor alone
- There is a warranty, and it has a length
- Worker safety stays with the contractor
- Signing for a stage does not sign away everything after it
- There is a way to settle a dispute short of court
- Cancellation terms are not written by one side
- Nobody else builds your house without you knowing
- No blank spaces, no missing dates
- Money goes to the company, not to a person
- You can ask where the money went
- Delay has a consequence for both sides
- The quotation is attached to the agreement
- Force majeure is not a blanket excuse
The whole stage: Construction agreement checks before you sign