How tight an access can you actually fit a pool dig through?

Mini-excavator setup gets through gaps from 750mm. If you can roll a wheelie bin through it, we can usually run the machine through it. We’ve dug pools through side gates other crews said needed the fence taken down. Hard to tell from photos — easiest is a quick site visit and we’ll tell you straight up.

Do you sub-contract to Perth pool builders?

Yes. Repeat work for Perth pool builders is a big chunk of our schedule. Trade-rate pricing, predictable lead times, clean handover ready for the form and steel crew. Builders we’ve worked with know they can ring once and the dig’s sorted — no chasing.

Concrete or fibreglass pool — does it change the dig?

Different excavation profiles. Concrete pools are usually rectangular with battered sides for shotcrete crews; fibreglass digs are shaped to the shell with tighter tolerance. We work to the engineer’s drawing either way. Tell us which shell you’re running and we quote to that.

What other earthworks do you take on?

Residential site preps for new builds, stormwater and soakwell installs, retaining wall trenches, bobcat + tipper hire, and house footings. If a mini-excavator or skidsteer can do it on a Perth block, we’re your crew. Bigger civils or commercial scopes are outside our lane — happy to refer.

Do you give fixed-price quotes?

Yes. Free site visit within 48 hours of your call, fixed price in writing, no surprise extras. Truck and bobcat for spoil removal are included unless we flag otherwise upfront.

How fast can you book a pool dig in?

Site visit inside 48 hours. Dig usually within 1–2 weeks of agreement, sometimes faster if a slot opens up. Pool builders booking ahead can lock in dates further out.

What about insurance?

We’re insured for the work we do. Happy to email certificates of currency to the pool builder, the strata, or the homeowner — just ask.

What areas do you cover?

Perth metro — focus on the western and northern corridor (Wembley, Floreat, City Beach, Cottesloe, Subiaco, Mt Lawley, Applecross, Mt Pleasant) plus south (Rockingham, Mandurah, Baldivis). Suburb not listed? Ring us — if it’s metro or south metro and a mini fits, we’ll quote.

Pool builder vs excavator: who organises the dig?

One of the most common questions we get from Perth homeowners signing a pool contract: "does my builder dig it themselves, or do I need to organise that separately?" Honest answer: depends on the builder. Here's how Perth pool builds actually break down on the excavation side, and what you should be asking before signing.

The two models — builder-owned vs subcontracted

Builder-owned excavation is what some of the bigger Perth pool companies run. They own the gear, employ the operators, and the dig is just another phase of their build. You sign one contract, you get one schedule, the dig shows up when the build program says it does.

Subcontracted excavation is what most Perth pool builders actually do. The builder takes your contract, project-manages the build, and brings in an excavation crew (us, or one of a handful of others) to do the dig as a sub. You still sign one contract — but the dig is being done by someone the builder ringfences in.

Both models work. The difference shows up in scheduling, in pricing, and in what happens when something goes sideways.

Why most Perth pool builders subcontract the dig

Three reasons it's the dominant model in Perth:

1. Specialist gear is serious capital

A tight-access mini-excavator setup, a motorised dumper, a tipper and an operator — that's a whole fleet sitting on the books. Most pool builders dig 50–150 pools a year, not enough to justify owning gear that sits idle 30% of the year. Cheaper to call a sub who runs digs full-time and keeps the gear moving.

2. Scheduling smooths out

Pool builds run in waves. Sub-contracted excavators give the builder elastic capacity — they can call us for two digs this week and one next month without paying for the gear when it's not running.

3. Tight-access expertise sits with the dig crew

The crew running tight-access pool excavation week-in week-out knows the gear, knows the gaps, knows the Perth soil. A builder doing it twice a month doesn't.

What "pool builder trade-rate" actually means

Most excavation crews — us included — give Perth pool builders a trade-rate that's different from the homeowner-direct price. It's not because the builder gets a mate's deal and you don't. It's because the builder books predictably (5–20 jobs a year), pays on terms (no chasing), handles the customer-facing stuff, and the dig fits cleanly into a program we already know.

From your end, when your pool builder hands over a quote, the dig line might already include the trade rate plus a project-management margin. That's normal. It pays for the builder taking the program risk on the dig date.

Questions to ask your Perth pool builder

Before you sign, find out:

Who's doing the dig? Get the excavator's business name. Five minutes on Google tells you whether they're reputable.
Is the excavator quoted in the fixed price, or is it a provisional sum? Provisional sums are guesses — they go up. Fixed dig price means the builder has actually got a quote from the excavator.
Has the excavator done the site visit? If no one's measured your side gate, the dig price is a guess. Push for a pre-contract site visit.
Who pays if rock or asbestos shows up? Standard contracts pass that cost to the homeowner — fair enough, no one can quote what they can't see. But know it upfront.
Who handles spoil removal? Sometimes the dig price includes it, sometimes it's a separate line. Read the dig scope.
Who's the contact on dig day? The builder's project manager, or the excavator direct?

What happens when a dig goes wrong (and who pays)

Bad outcome: bucket hits a service, a fence section gets clipped, neighbour rings the council, the dig stops while everyone works out whose problem it is.

Under most Perth pool contracts, the builder is your contracted party. They sort the excavator. The excavator's insurance covers damage caused by the dig (which is why we carry public liability and can email certificates to the builder, strata, or homeowner — ask anytime).

What you don't want is a contract where damage and rectification are vague. Read the excavation scope, look for the words "insured by [excavator/builder]", and "additional costs arising from unforeseen ground conditions are at owner's expense" — that one is standard but worth understanding.

When to call an excavator directly

You don't always need the builder middleman:

Owner-builder pools. If you're managing the build yourself (allowed in WA on residential up to a certain size, check current rules), you hire the dig direct.
Pool replacements or removals. Replacing an old pool with a new one, or filling in an existing pool, often runs outside a builder's scope.
Site preps for kit pools. Above-ground or modular kit pools where you just need a pad excavated.
Drainage or earthworks around an existing pool. Soakwell installs, paving prep, retaining around a pool zone.

For everything else — full pool build, in-ground concrete or fibreglass — go through a pool builder and let them ringfence the dig. Cleaner contract, one accountable party.

On either model, if your dig needs tight-access gear, ask whether the excavator runs a mini-excavator setup. More on that in tight access pool excavation explained.