House Raising, Restumping and Underpinning SWMS Pack

Setting up the work area around an occupied or vacated house, establishing access, laydown and exclusion zones, and setting out stump, pier and jacking positions for house raising and restumping works.

Manual handling of concrete and steel stumps, needle beams, cribbing timbers, props, jacks, bearers, cement bags, tools and equipment, much of it in a low subfloor across house raising and restumping works.

Assessing the house before it is lifted - bearers, joists, walls, chimneys, additions and connections - and preparing the engineer's jacking plan, lift sequence, monitoring and hold points.

Disconnecting, isolating and later reconnecting the electricity, gas, water, sewer, stormwater and telecommunications services to a house before and after it is raised or restumped.

Entering and working in the subfloor of an existing house - low headroom, restricted access, poor light and ventilation, dust, vermin, sharp debris and hidden cables.

Lifting a house on hydraulic jacks and needle beams in unified increments, cribbing as the lift proceeds, and holding it on cribs, props and beams until the new stumps or piers carry the load.

Working beneath a house held on cribs, props or its existing stumps to replace stumps and piers one at a time - propping the bearer, removing the stump, pouring the footing, setting and packing the new stump.

Underpinning existing house footings by sequential hand or machine excavation of pin pits and concrete pours beneath the footing, to the engineer's design and sequence.

Drilling bored piers for new stumps, piers and underpinning with an excavator-mounted or rig-mounted auger beside an existing house, including spoil management, bore protection and open-bore inspection.

Installing screw piles for new stumps, piers and underpinning with an excavator-mounted torque head beside an existing house, including positioning, alignment, torque monitoring and extension welding.

Identifying and working around asbestos-containing material in pre-1990 houses - fibro wall and subfloor sheeting, infill panels, eaves, flues and loose fragments in the soil - and arranging licensed removal.

Excavating footing holes, pin pits and trenches beside and beneath an existing house, including location of the house's own services, ground support, entry and reinstatement.

Working at height on a raised house - the floor frame edge, verandah and stair openings with the stairs removed, temporary access and ladders - using passive controls, fall arrest and rescue planning.

Storing, handling and using cement, primers, fuel, hydraulic oil, timber treatment and cleaning chemicals on house raising and restumping works, and responding to spills and exposure.