A concrete delivery is the one part of a build that cannot be rescheduled once it starts. The moment the load is batched, a clock begins running that nobody on site controls. Formwork that is almost braced, a gate that is slightly too narrow, a mesh sheet still leaning against the fence: any of these turn a routine pour into an expensive morning.
The work that makes a pour go smoothly happens across the fortnight beforehand, not in the twenty minutes before the truck pulls up. Here is that work, staged.
Two weeks out: approvals and what is under the ground
- Locate underground services. Before You Dig Australia is a free national referral service and should be your first call on any excavation, even a shallow one. Sewer, water, gas, electricity and telecommunications assets are not always where the plans suggest, and hitting one is a problem measured in weeks rather than hours.
- Check whether you need council approval. A new or widened vehicle crossing generally requires a permit from your council, and in the northern corridor that means Hume, Whittlesea or Mitchell depending on where you sit. Work within an easement usually needs the asset owner’s consent as well.
- Have the engineering sorted. Slab thickness, reinforcement, beam dimensions and the site classification under AS 2870 come from a designer, not from a rule of thumb. Everything downstream in this checklist depends on those numbers being settled.
One week out: the base
The base is the part owner-builders most often underestimate, because it looks finished long before it is.
- Excavate to the design depth and check it in several places. Concrete follows the low points, and an over-dug area quietly increases the volume you need.
- Compact properly, in layers. Dropping a plate compactor over loose fill once is not compaction. Uncompacted material settles later, and the slab above it is what cracks.
- Get the fill material right. The subbase and any bedding layer should suit the application and the design.
Where a design calls for a bedding layer around services or a free-draining layer beneath a slab, purpose-made products such as stabilised sand and no-fines concrete do a far more predictable job than whatever happens to be left on site.
- Lay the vapour barrier where the design requires one, lapped and taped, with penetrations sealed. Tearing it while placing mesh is common and worth watching for.
Formwork that will hold
Wet concrete pushes outward with real force, and it finds the weakest peg. Formwork should be set to the finished level, straight, and braced at intervals close enough that nothing bows between them. Check the falls while the forms are still adjustable. A driveway that drains toward the garage door is not fixable afterwards.
Set your levels with a laser or a level rather than by eye, and confirm that water will run where you want it to.
Reinforcement, chairs and cover
Reinforcement only works where the designer intended it to sit, and that position is maintained by bar chairs, not by good intentions. Mesh and bar products should be laid with the specified laps, supported at close enough centres that the sheet does not sag between chairs, and kept clear of the ground so the concrete can surround it completely.
The old practice of hooking mesh upward as the pour progresses does not reliably achieve cover, and it leaves steel sitting too close to the surface in places, which is where rust staining and delamination begin years later. Tie it, chair it, and leave it alone.
The day before: access
This is the section that most often catches people out, because a house block that feels roomy to walk around is a tight space for a loaded agitator.
- Firm, level standing. A fully loaded truck is heavy machinery, not a delivery van. It needs ground that will carry it without sinking, and soft or recently filled ground will not.
- Overhead powerlines. Delivery equipment operating near power assets is subject to safe approach requirements administered by Energy Safe Victoria. If there are lines over the access path, raise it when you book rather than on the day.
- Width, height and turning space. Measure the gate, note low branches and check whether the truck can leave without a long reverse down a narrow street.
- Distance from the truck to the pour. A chute reaches a limited distance. Beyond that you need barrows and labour, or a pump.
- A washout point, agreed in advance and contained so nothing reaches a stormwater drain.
If the reach looks marginal, resolve it before the order. Our concrete placing services team can tell you whether a site realistically suits direct chute delivery or whether you should be planning for a pump.
In the morning
- Enough people, ready before the scheduled time. Concrete placing is not a job to be short-handed on.
- Tools out and checked. Screed, bull float, edger, groover, shovels, gloves, boots.
- Water available and a plan for curing, decided in advance rather than improvised at the end of a long day.
- A look at the forecast. Wind matters more than most people expect, because it drives surface drying.
Then confirm the order. Re-measure the trimmed base and re-run the figures, because trimming and compaction move the numbers between setting out and pour day. The volume calculator takes a minute, and a final call to the plant the afternoon before is the cheapest insurance available.
The short version
Services located, approvals in hand, base compacted and checked, forms braced and set to fall, steel chaired at the right cover, access confirmed honestly, crew and tools ready, volume reconfirmed. Eight things. Every one of them is easier to fix a week out than at seven in the morning with a truck idling at the kerb.
Frequently asked questions
How firm does the ground need to be for a concrete truck?
Firm enough to carry a heavy rigid vehicle without rutting or sinking, in the conditions on the day rather than the conditions last week. Recently filled ground, soft clay after rain and unsealed access tracks are the usual trouble spots in the northern growth areas. If you are unsure, describe the surface when you book and ask. Drivers make the final call on site, and they will not commit a truck to ground they judge unsafe.
Do I need a permit to pour a driveway at my house?
Usually yes for the crossing itself, meaning the section between the kerb and your property boundary, and the requirements are set by your local council. Works within the property line may also be caught by planning or building requirements depending on the scope. Check with your council early, because approvals have lead times and they do not accelerate for a booked delivery.
Can the truck park on the nature strip or across the footpath?
Not as a default. Nature strips, footpaths and kerbs are council assets, and blocking or driving over them may need permission. Damage caused during a delivery is generally the responsibility of the person who arranged the works. Sort out where the truck will stand before the day, and tell your neighbours if the street will be partly blocked.
What happens if the site is not ready when the truck arrives?
The concrete keeps hydrating regardless. Waiting time is chargeable, the workability of the load declines, and past a certain point the load cannot be placed to specification at all. If something has gone wrong overnight, ring the plant as early as you can. Rescheduling is almost always better than pouring into a site that is not ready.
Should I wet the base down before the pour?
A dry, absorbent base draws water out of the mix, which affects both workability and the surface. Dampening it, without leaving free water or puddles, is common practice. Where a vapour barrier is specified in the design, follow the design instead. Ask your engineer or builder if the drawings are not explicit.
Send us a photo of your access before you book
The quickest way to avoid an access problem is to show us the approach rather than describe it. A couple of photos from the street, plus the gate width and anything overhead, tell us more in ten seconds than a long phone conversation. We will tell you whether a truck can get in, how far the chute will reach and whether a pump makes more sense. Owner-builders are welcome to call, and no question about access is too basic to ask.
Whittlesea plant
0481 837 000 | 2410 Plenty Rd, Whittlesea VIC 3757
Somerton plant
0409 461 990 | 116-122 Somerton Rd, Somerton VIC 3062
Email enquiry@cemixvic.com.au | Web cemixvic.com.au
Open 7 am to 5 pm, Sunday 8 am to 3 pm, with special service on demand.