Lot grading and building pad prep in Brevard

Grade to the plans, not by eye

The numbers come from paper. Your builder's site plan, or the engineer's grading plan behind it, sets the finished floor elevation, the size of the pad and which way water should leave the lot. A careful operator works to those numbers with stakes and a laser level and checks them again as the pad goes up.

If the plans aren't done yet, wait. A pad built to a guess may have to be cut down or built up again once the real elevations arrive, and that's paying twice for the same sand.

What pad prep usually includes

The scope varies by builder. Most pad jobs on a Brevard lot cover some version of this list. For the fill itself, see fill dirt.

• Stripping mulch, roots and organic soil left from clearing out of the pad area
• Bringing in fill and spreading it in layers
• Compacting each layer, and testing if the builder requires it
• Shaping swales and slopes so water runs off the pad and not onto the neighbor's yard
• Rough grading the driveway path and the yard

Who can do site work in Brevard

Brevard County's code lists filling and grading as a specialty trade exempt from county testing that still needs a county business tax receipt (Brevard County Code s. 22-477). The same code lets a certified general or underground utility contractor do clearing and grubbing, grading, excavation and other site work for any construction project in the county. A certified building or residential contractor may do that work only on the lot where its building is going (s. 22-533(c)(1)).

So ask to see the crew's business tax receipt (Brevard County Tax Collector). If a contractor tells you they hold a state license, Florida law requires the license number on their ads, bids and contracts (F.S. 489.119).

Rules that come with moving dirt

Sunshine 811 treats grading as digging: the notice rule covers grading, moving earth and scraping, two full business days ahead (Sunshine 811).

If the work disturbs 1 acre or more, or is part of a larger common plan, and drains to surface water or a storm sewer system, Florida's construction stormwater permit applies, with a pollution prevention plan and a notice filed at least two calendar days before work (FDEP). Most single-family lots are well under an acre, but a lot inside a new subdivision may be part of a bigger plan.

In unincorporated Brevard, erosion and sediment controls on a land clearing permit follow the state inspectors manual (s. 62-4338). In Palm Bay, a grubbing permit doesn't cover scraping, balancing or filling land (s. 175.015), so ask the city which approval your grading falls under.

Grading around kept trees

If a tree is staying, the grading plan has to work around it. Brevard's code counts grade changes over a tree's root system, from digging or filling, as land clearing damage (s. 62-4338). Show the operator where the root zone ends before the first load of fill is dumped. More on this under selective clearing.

Questions for the crew

Pad prep quotes are easy to compare once these are answered:

• Which plan sheet and elevations are they grading to?
• Is fill priced by the delivered cubic yard, and are spreading and compaction included?
• Who arranges compaction testing, if the builder wants it?
• Where will the water go once the pad is up, and does that touch a neighbor?
• Can they show a current Brevard business tax receipt?
• Who places the 811 request?