Excavation/Foundation: It is a common practice to prepare a building site by clearing the entire area of trees and heritage plants. With just a little advance planning trees and native plants can potentially be saved while still allowing enough space to build the desired structure. Many jurisdictions do not allow excavated soil to flow into drains, ditches, ponds, streams, or tributaries and will levy fines for violations.

The geographic location of the building site will dictate the type of foundation(s) allowable. Some regions are suitable for basements while others will prohibit them.

There are alternatives to basements that include crawlspaces and slab-on-grade foundations. In fact, there are new alternative foundations available, and all of these possibilities are discussed in the GBDKit.