Pricing & FAQs
What Earthworks Actually Costs.
Nobody can price a dig from a single sentence, but you deserve to understand what you're paying for before you call. Here's how earthworks pricing is built up and what moves the number.
Best when the extent of work is known
Fixed price
For clearly defined scopes — a shed pad, a set run of trench, a known number of post holes.
Rate confirmed in your quote
Half-day rate
Machine, operator and transport for a shorter block of work on a single site.
Rate confirmed in your quote
Full-day rate
The most efficient option for clean-ups, staged works and unpredictable ground.
Dollar figures are deliberately not shown yet. Rigid Earthworks will supply current half-day, full-day and minimum-charge rates before this page goes live, so nothing here is a guess.
What moves the price
Six Things That Change a Quote.
Access width
The narrowest point decides the machine, and the machine decides how fast the job goes. A 1.7 tonne excavator through a 900mm gate is efficient; the same job by hand is not.
Ground conditions
Sandy soil digs fast. Reactive clay, basalt rock and compacted estate fill need ripping first, which adds machine hours.
Spoil & tip fees
Where the material goes is often the largest single variable. On-site reuse is cheapest; contaminated material carted to a licensed facility is the most expensive.
Services & obstructions
Unknown pipes, cables, old footings and tree roots slow progress and sometimes require hand excavation around them.
Site protection
Crossing finished paving, decking or lawn means boards and matting down first, and reinstatement after.
Job duration
Multi-day work spreads the cost of transport and setup, so longer jobs usually cost less per hour of actual digging.
- How is an excavation job priced?
- Either as a fixed price for a defined scope, or at a half-day or full-day rate when the extent of the work can't be known up front. Fixed price suits clear scopes like a shed pad or a set run of trench; day rate suits clean-ups, unknown ground and staged work.
- What is the minimum charge?
- There is a minimum booking because getting the machine on the trailer, travelling and setting up takes the same effort whether the dig is one hour or four. Rates and minimums are confirmed in your written quote.
- Is spoil removal included?
- Only when the quote says so. Carting spoil away means truck time plus tip fees, and tip fees depend on what the material is — clean fill, mixed soil and contaminated or rubble-laden material are charged very differently. Leaving spoil on site is almost always cheaper.
- What makes a job cost more than expected?
- Rock or heavily compacted clay, tight access that forces a smaller machine or hand work, buried services and old footings, wet ground, and long carry distances between the dig and the trailer.
- Do you charge for a quote or a site visit?
- No. Quotes are free. Most residential jobs can be quoted from photos and measurements without a visit at all.
- What about travel outside Melbourne?
- Travel to regional Victoria is included as a line in the quote rather than added afterwards. Multi-day regional scopes usually work out better value than a series of single days.
- Wet hire or dry hire — what's the difference?
- Wet hire means the machine comes with an experienced operator. Dry hire means the machine only, and you must be competent and appropriately covered to operate it. Both are available; wet hire is the more common choice.
- When is payment due?
- Payment terms are set out in your quote. For most residential work payment is due on completion; account terms can be arranged for builders and repeat commercial clients.