Digging a basement for a home addition in Sussex, what are the steps?

Digging a Basement Under a Home Addition in Sussex

Before a machine arrives, two things need to happen: the permits your addition needs are in place, and the locates are in hand. The dig itself follows a short sequence, but the permit and locates are not optional steps you can run in parallel with the excavation.

Permits and notice first. We found no Sussex rule specific to excavation, so ask the Town of Sussex which building and development permits your addition needs. Under Regulation 2021-2 of the Building Code Administration Act, before work starts you give the local building department written notice of the start date and the names of the constructors, engineers and designers involved. That notice goes to the Town of Sussex or the Regional Service Commission serving your area.

Locates before any digging. Info-Excavation, reached through Click Before You Dig, requires three working days' notice; the locate is valid until the end date written on your request. NB Power runs its own separate underground locate service, and that request needs to go in at least five business days before digging. NB Power's locate is valid for 60 days from the date on the locate form and covers only NB Power-owned lines. Any private lines, such as wiring to a garage or shed, are yours to find and mark before the machine moves. Ask the contractor to show you both locate tickets before work starts.

The dig sequence. Once permits and locates are confirmed, the excavation contractor cuts into the ground beside the existing foundation, removes the spoil, and brings the walls down to the depth your engineer or designer has specified. Where workers need to enter the excavation, WorkSafeNB's General Regulation 91-191 requires that any trench or excavation 1.2 m (about 4 ft) or deeper be shored, sloped or benched, or cut in solid rock, and any shoring must be certified as adequate by an engineer. Stay back from the edge and out of the trench; that is the contractor's controlled work zone.

The inspection that stops backfilling. Regulation 2021-2 requires at least one inspection on completion of the footings and foundations, before any backfilling begins. Ask the Town of Sussex how that inspection is booked. Backfill does not go in until the inspector has signed off.

What a solid quote covers. Ask the contractor to spell out:

• How rock is priced, whether by the hour with a hydraulic breaker ($200 to $300 per hour, based on published price guides read in September 2026) or as a separate line item
• Where the spoil is trucked and how far, since haul distance moves the machine-time cost
• Whether clean backfill material is included or billed separately
• Who is responsible for marking private lines before the machine starts
• A WorkSafeNB clearance certificate confirming the contractor is in good standing

A standard excavator with operator runs $150 to $250 per hour; a mini-excavator runs $65 to $150 per hour. Few New Brunswick-specific prices are published, so machine hours plus trucking and material is the most reliable way to read a quote.

The most useful request to make of any bidder: break out rock removal, spoil trucking distance and backfill material as separate line items, because those three are where the gap between an estimate and a final invoice tends to open up.