Why Your Earthworks Quote Is Probably Higher Than It Needs to Be

You get three quotes for a slab, a driveway or a pool dig. The prices are miles apart, and none of them really explain why. Look closely, though, and there is usually one line doing most of the damage — and it has nothing to do with the digging itself.

It is the cost of getting rid of the material. Or, on the other side of the job, the cost of bringing fill in.

The cost nobody itemises

When a contractor prices a job, they have to assume the worst about where the spoil goes. If they don’t already know a site nearby that will take it, they price in a run to a commercial tip, the tip fee on top, and the hours the trucks spend on the road getting there and back. That assumption gets baked into your quote whether it turns out to be true or not.

Meanwhile, a few suburbs away, someone is paying to have fill brought in to raise a block or level a yard. One job pays to get rid of good dirt. Another pays to buy it. Neither knows the other exists.

That gap is where most of the fat in an earthworks quote lives.

Why a bigger network means a smaller bill

ReadyFill was built to close that gap. Over time we have built up a large network of tip sites that want clean fill and businesses that have it to move. That network is what lets us do something an individual contractor usually can’t: find a receiving site that is genuinely close to your job, instead of defaulting to the commercial tip.

• Shorter runs. A closer site means less travel time, less fuel and less wear on the trucks.
• Little or no tip fee. A landowner who wants fill will often take it for nothing, because it saves them buying it.
• Fill supply works the same way. If your job needs material brought in, the same network can point you at someone trying to get rid of it.

What ReadyFill actually does for you

Through our procurement service, you tell us about the work: where it is, what is coming out or going in, roughly how much, and when. We go looking across the network for the best way to do it, ring the sites, line up the arrangements and come back to you. You approve before anything is set in motion.

If you have your own trucks and operators, we work around them. If you don’t, we can help source verified contractors from our network to do the work properly.

Our promise on price

Our price promise: we will either match the price you have, or make your job cheaper. Bring us the quote you already have. Our network gives us closer sites, cheaper fill and more options than most people can find on their own, and that is what lets us make the promise.

A note on fill quality

Free fill is raw material straight out of the ground. It hasn’t been screened or washed, so the odd bit of brick or root is normal. What matters is that a load isn’t full of foreign material and shows no sign of real contamination. We match material to sites that suit it, and anything that needs testing should be tested.

Get in touch

If you have earthworks coming up and want a quote that isn’t padded for the worst case, talk to us first. Post your job at ReadyFill or email info@readyfill.com.au and tell us what needs doing, where and when. The managed procurement service runs in South East Queensland for now; everywhere else, the ReadyFill platform, the map and free listings work exactly as they always have.

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