I want to understand how landfill effects the construction when building new homes on plots.
People are mentioning in some discussions that some plots in new societies have landfill issue. I am sure there are many other innocent people like me who don't know much about this problem or how to check if plot they are buying might have this issue.
It would be really nice if someone can please take some time explain this to raise awareness.
Thanks in advance :)
If the land is not solid and has been filled with tones of soil to fill the pit to level it. The danger is that when you construct the house on such land soil might not be able to withstand the load. The consequences can vary from minor unleveled floor to complete collapse of the structure.
But dear, Like you i also have limited knowledge about this and telling you what i myself have heard from others. It will be great if somebody can elaborate further.
To my knowledge, filled up land is never a good thing. The weight of a newly constructed house is always considerable. Even a site that has not been filled can at times start to settle down causing cracks to appear in the structure. It is for this reason that a house that has been constructed several years ago is better than a brand new house, because all the “settling” has already happened.
This indeed is very dangerous and risky.
Is there a way available in Pakistan to test if the land you are buying is stable enough to build a house on.
Also, If you buy a plot that has been filled, are there ways available in Pakistan to compact or make it solid before building a house. If so what sort of costs would it be? I read somewhere that if there has been filling it is better to have basement in the house.
Land fill areas should be avoided for construction of building as there is no solution to such areas other than time itself... It can cause settlement of structure and more dangerous can be if this settlement is differential which will generate shear cracks and your structure is gone.. So don't take risk....
@ ahmed there are a number of geotech labs for the same purpose which carry out soil testing and tell you bearing capacity of ground you intend to build your house on... But normally in pakistan we follow tekadariii formulas and don't go for soil testing and structural designing...
Dear Ahmed,
I am agree with Yousafzai.It's common issue in all housing societies so before house construction must sand test.
Regards
Brother HT will explain to us properly as he is connected to building Business in Islamabad
AOA,
The land fill is an issue which has been introduced by BAHRIA in a huge scale.CDA has never done any land filling even if your plot is 20 feet below road level.
Now due to the competition in housing societies they want there plots to be on the road level which gives a very neat look and that's what buyers and investors fall for.
Plots with filling should be cheaper compare to normal plots because it will cost almost 50% of the ground portion cost. Some plots have filling of 10 to 20 feet which is very bad for the construction in a long run.
Soil takes around 77 years to reach its 100% compaction level.that means 77 different weathers to become solid land.
The proper procedure for filling is, Put one feet of soil than compactions for 2 days and leave it for 3 days to settle down than another 1 feet and so on.Only than you can achieve upto 70% result. But almost 99% societies just dump 10 or 20 feet sand and than compact so it can become even. ALways have a soil test done which will cost you 7 to 10 thousand or check the houses being built near by. Filling upto 6 or 7 feet is ok. It can be dug up and start brick laying from 7 feet below anything below that will be very costly.Its like having having a basement in the ground. Consider basement depending on the location and water level in the ground.
If you have a plot that is land filled than consider a raft construction or piles it will depend on the stupid structural engineers what kind of mood they are in. If in a bad mood they will simply just cut, copy and paste the structural drawing they made a day before or last week and give it to you.
Due to lack of knowledge people get stuck in this costly situation but infact its the housing societies responsibility to provide with a solid land and if not than bear the additional cost.
HT, thanks for very informative reply
Agreed with HT valuable input.
Great Stuff HT!! very much appreciated… I am sure alot of people will find this helpful 
Public Interest Message:
I just heard Tariq Malik of Abdullah Associates who had fled the country with 200 million rupees of others, is back in town and quietly doing business again (meaning not advertising himself too much) ... He is a proven fraud beyond any doubt and very well known, but mentioning here in case some novice innocent person get stuck in his net, those are it seems he is targeting anyway as others know him well by now. He's still not opening his old office and working from moving or new unknown locations
Public Interest Message:
I just heard Tariq Malik of Abdullah Associates who had fled the country with 200 million rupees of others, is back in town and quietly doing business again (meaning not advertising himself too much) ... He is a proven fraud beyond any doubt and very well known, but mentioning here in case some novice innocent person get stuck in his net, those are it seems he is targeting anyway as others know him well by now. He's still not opening his old office and working from moving or new unknown locations