Site Servicing in Ontario: A Developer's Plain-Language Overview
What Is Site Servicing?
If you've purchased or are planning to purchase a piece of land in Ontario for development, "site servicing" refers to the work required to connect that land to the infrastructure it needs to function: water, sewer, roads, drainage, electricity, and telecommunications.
On a fully serviced lot in an established neighbourhood, most of this work is already done. On a greenfield or rural site, it may need to be done from scratch, and this is one of the most significant cost items in any development budget.
The Key Components
A typical site servicing program in Ontario includes road and parking lot construction, water main installation and connection to the municipal system, sanitary sewer installation and connection, stormwater management, including grading, drainage swales, and often a retention pond, and utility trenching for hydro and telecom.
Depending on the site, it may also include dewatering of wet areas, culverts or portable bridges for access over watercourses, maintenance holes, and transformer pads.
How Long Does It Take?
A full site servicing program for a mid-sized development site typically takes one full construction season, roughly six months of active work. The timeline depends on the size and complexity of the site, the municipal approval process, and soil conditions.
Planning your servicing work to be complete before the building construction season means you won't lose time waiting for services to be in place before vertical construction can begin.
What Does It Cost?
Site servicing costs vary enormously depending on site conditions, municipality, and scope. Rough estimates for a medium-sized development site in Ontario might range from several hundred thousand dollars to several million, which is why a detailed feasibility assessment and quantity survey before you commit to a site is so important.
Terrahills provides Class A through C construction cost estimates and quantity surveys as part of our pre-development services. Understanding your likely servicing costs before you buy land could save you from a very expensive mistake.
Hiring the Right Team
Site servicing work requires a contractor with strong experience in municipal infrastructure, knowledge of local approval processes, and a good track record of delivering work that meets municipal acceptance standards.
Terrahills manages complete site servicing programs for developers and owners across Ontario. Get in touch to discuss your site.
Talk to the Terrahills Team
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