ᐅ Is the developer required to provide the soil report?

Hello,

we bought a house from a developer in a large new residential area.
We wanted to have the soil report because the water on the lawn drains very poorly, so we can understand how the soil layers are composed.

The developer refuses to provide the soil report.
Is there something they might be trying to hide?

My question is whether the developer is obliged to provide the soil report upon request.

Did the developer have to prepare a soil report for each individual plot, or was one report for the entire development sufficient?

FrankChief schrieb:

We bought a house from a developer in a large new housing development.
We wanted to see the soil report because water drains very poorly on the lawn. This way, we can understand how the soil layers are composed [...]
My question is whether the developer is obligated to provide the soil report upon request?
Does the developer have to carry out a separate report for each plot, or is one report for the entire development sufficient?

A developer-built house is sold "as is," but you can have the soil under the garden independently investigated yourself.

FrankChief schrieb:

The developer refuses to provide the soil report. Is there something they are trying to hide?

As far as I know, they are not legally obligated to provide it, nor even necessarily required to commission a soil report if they trust the building ground. Often, developers only do "spot checks" every three to four plots. We are not familiar with your development, but the profit is made in the purchase, and accordingly, developers often prefer less desirable plots. These can include sites with problematic previous uses, such as contaminated land being "sealed," which naturally affects drainage. The product in the brochure should look like an attractive bargain. Most buyers don't check old local newspaper archives to see if their development was a long-neglected eyesore. The zoning plan and its rationale may offer some clues. There is no obligation for the seller to disclose issues similar to a used car dealer's duty to report accident damage.

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There can be many reasons why water does not drain properly. The most common is soil compaction caused by the construction machinery used. This is completely normal if the soil is not sufficiently loosened afterward.

@11ant The plot was previously used for agriculture, and something was grown there before.

@NatureSys We loosened the topsoil about 20-24cm (8-9.5 inches) deep with a rototiller and then compacted it again with a lawn roller before seeding the grass.

Now the lawn is about 10-12 weeks old, and when it rains, the water soaks in very slowly. Puddles form immediately and only drain after a few days.

What can be done at this stage to improve drainage?

What type of subsoil do you have? And does this issue occur everywhere or only in specific spots?

For example, I have one corner where a) during heavy rain, water flows down the driveway and accumulates there, and b) the "infiltrated" water beneath the driveway also drains to this spot because the clay soil has much poorer drainage than the gravel. To make matters worse, this was also previously a crane setup area.

The only solution is deep loosening. My plan is to sow lupins along that strip in autumn, hoping their taproots will break up the subsoil.

FrankChief schrieb:

@11ant The plot was previously used for agriculture; something was grown there before.

@NatureSys We loosened the topsoil about 20-24cm (8-9 inches) using a motorized tiller and then compacted it again with a lawn roller before seeding the lawn.

Now the lawn is about 10-12 weeks old, and when it rains, the water drains very slowly. Puddles form immediately and only soak in after a few days.

What can still be done about this currently?

That sounds like our old plot in Lower Saxony.
It was previously a cow pasture with very peaty, compacted soil. We also loosened it with a tiller before seeding the lawn, and infiltration was poor both before and after—same for our neighbors. We just accepted it as "that's how it is."