We're at excavation stage on our Aurora Terrace site in Hamilton. Five townhouses, next to Waikato University.

The house is down, the sewer line is in, and we've started digging.

Then the engineer inspects the ground and finds more uncontrolled fill under the old house than we'd allowed for.

So that's roughly 10 more truckloads of soil out, more digger time, and more sand to bring in.

It eats into the contingency.

This is the part of development people don't see.

The risk lives in the ground, in the things you can't inspect upfront.

Septic tanks, old tree roots, soft soil.

Once you're out of the ground and the floors are poured, most of the unknowns are behind you.

That's exactly why you build a contingency in at feasibility.

Not because you expect a smooth run, but because you don't.

Some projects go perfectly.

Others throw you a problem.

The contingency is what lets you absorb it and keep moving.

That's development.

#johnkenel #thepropertydevelopmentclub #nzeconomy

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