Seven months. That's how long our Sherwell Road new build in Brislington took from excavation in February to a finished three-bedroom house, with one team from the footings to the roof tiles. If you're comparing groundworks contractors in Bristol for a plot or a small scheme, decide the package before you compare the prices. A groundworks-only price and a groundworks-plus-superstructure price aren't the same product, and the difference shows up in your programme and your risk as well as the price. Here's how we split the two, line by line.
Two ways to buy the bottom of a build
- Groundworks-only. We deliver the below-ground package to your drawings and programme and hand over a clean, inspection-ready site at damp-proof course (DPC). Your own team builds from there.
- Groundworks plus superstructure. We carry on upward: masonry, floors, structural carpentry and the roof structure, through to weathertight or beyond.
Groundworks-only suits a developer with a trusted frame or brick team already lined up. The combined package suits anyone who'd rather hold one contractor to account for the riskiest handover on the build.
What groundworks-only includes, line by line
Every inclusion is a written line on the quote. A typical package:
| Line | Included | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Site strip and excavation | Yes | Muck-away priced as its own line |
| Foundations | Yes | Strip, trench-fill or reinforced, to the engineer's design |
| Below-ground drainage | Yes | Runs, connections and manholes to your drainage design |
| Ground floor | Yes | Slab or beam-and-block, with the insulation build-up |
| Service ducts | Option | Itemised if you want them |
| External works | Option | Itemised if you want them |
What you provide: the site investigation, the structural engineer's design, the drainage design and any drain survey. As the client you normally make the building control application. We liaise, book the inspections and keep the records clean. If a neighbour's wall is close enough to trigger the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, the notices are yours to serve.
Sewer connections need the water company's consent. In Bristol that's Wessex Water, whose 2026-27 indicative charges list £106 for a Section 106 application and technical approval, £502 per Y-junction or saddle connection, and £139 to inspect a connection via a manhole. Put those in the appraisal early, along with the lead time.
Groundworks contractors in Bristol: what adding the superstructure changes
The handover at DPC is where tolerance disputes start. Setting out, levels, DPC and membrane laps, drainage positions coming up through the slab: if one firm built the bottom and another builds on it, every one of those becomes an argument about whose fault it is. With one team, it's simply ours.
Where the risk sits in each package:
| Risk | Groundworks-only | Groundworks plus superstructure |
|---|---|---|
| Ground conditions | Your investigation and engineer; unforeseen items priced as variations you agree first | Same |
| Drainage design | Your designer; we build to it | Same |
| Setting out and levels | Ours to DPC, checked at handover | Ours throughout |
| Tolerances at DPC | Between us and your next contractor | Inside one contract |
| Programme gap at DPC | Yours to manage | Ours |
Programme matters as much as price. A gap of a few weeks between groundworks and superstructure while the next firm mobilises is a gap with a finance cost attached.
Health and safety and the paperwork developers ask for
Our main health and safety accreditation is SafeContractor, certificate OC4217, valid to 10 April 2027, which also gives us SSIP recognition. SSIP is the umbrella body for mutual recognition between health and safety assessment schemes, so an SSIP-recognised contractor has already been assessed against the same core criteria your procurement would check.
CDM 2015 matters more for developers than for homeowners. The HSE is clear that client duties apply in full to commercial clients. On a project with more than one contractor, which is what a groundworks-only split creates, you appoint a principal designer and a principal contractor. You also provide pre-construction information to everyone bidding. A project is notifiable to the HSE if it's expected to last longer than 30 working days with more than 20 workers on site at the same time, or to exceed 500 person days (HSE CDM FAQs).
Valuations and payment
We invoice against valuations of work carried out. Each valuation maps back to the itemised lines in the quote, so you can check it against what's physically on site: foundations poured, drainage laid and tested, floor down. The price only changes if you agree the change first. For a developer, that means the cash going out tracks the asset going up.
Proof: one team from footings to finished house
Sherwell Road, Brislington, 2026. A new-build three-bedroom, two-bathroom house on a plot beside an existing home, delivered by one team:
| Month | Stage |
|---|---|
| February | Excavation, foundations and drainage in winter ground |
| March | Blockwork superstructure and block-and-beam ground floor |
| April | Roof carpentry under a temporary scaffold roof; first-floor deck |
| May | Timber stud partitions |
| July | Weathertight, windows in |
| August | Brown double roman tiles and render |
The block-and-beam ground floor and first courses of blockwork at Sherwell Road, March 2026. The interface work was real. Next door's roof was altered from a hip end to a cut-in "up and over" roof married into the new build. That kind of detail is easier when one team owns both sides of it. You can read the full build in our write-up of the Brislington new build from winter groundworks to finished rooms.
First-floor walls and deck at Sherwell Road in April 2026, with Brislington behind. More on how we work with investors is on our developers page and our new builds and developer services.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between groundworks-only and groundworks plus superstructure?
Groundworks-only stops at damp-proof course: excavation, foundations, drainage and the ground floor, handed over inspection-ready. Groundworks plus superstructure carries on with masonry, floors and the roof structure to weathertight or beyond, so one contractor owns the DPC interface.
Who is responsible for unexpected ground conditions?
The site investigation and the engineer's foundation design come from the client side. If we find something the investigation didn't show, we stop, show you, and price it as a variation. The price only changes if you agree the change first.
How do you invoice developers?
Against valuations of work carried out. Each valuation ties back to the itemised lines in the quote, so you can check it against what's physically on site before you pay.
What health and safety accreditation do you hold?
SafeContractor, certificate OC4217, valid to 10 April 2027, which also gives SSIP recognition. Ask for the certificate with any groundworks tender, ours included.
Do you take on groundworks for other builders?
Yes. Our groundworks service takes on groundworks-only packages for builders, developers and main contractors. Send the drawings, the programme and the site constraints and you'll get an itemised package price and a straight answer on capacity.
Send us the drawings and the site plan. We'll price it, line by line. Start with the plans here.
