Find a trusted concreter in Canberra

Clay, frost and hot dry winds

Concrete in Canberra has to cope with the ground underneath and the weather on top. Much of the city is built on reactive clay, which expands after rain and contracts in dry spells. Over the years, that movement is behind a lot of the cracked paths and lifted driveway panels in the older suburbs. A good concreter digs out to firm ground, compacts a proper road base, sets the right reinforcement and cuts control joints so any cracking happens in a straight line, not across the middle of the slab.

Winter is the next hurdle. Fresh concrete mustn’t freeze before it’s gained strength, so on frosty mornings a careful concreter waits for the ground to thaw, may add an accelerator to the mix and covers the slab against an overnight frost. The pouring window is short in June and July, which pushes work into spring and autumn.

Summer brings the opposite problem. Hot, dry and windy afternoons pull water out of the surface too fast and can cause fine plastic shrinkage cracks. That’s why Canberra concreters often pour early in the morning and keep the slab moist or sprayed with a curing compound for days afterwards.

Driveways and the verge crossing

The ACT has clear rules for driveways. You need City Services approval for a new driveway, a second driveway, or any change to an existing one’s location, size, layout or surface type. Straight like-for-like replacement in plain concrete doesn’t need design approval. The verge crossing, the stretch from your boundary to the road, is Territory land, so it has to meet City Services’ standards, including 32 MPa concrete, gradient limits and clearances from street trees and services. Assessment takes at least 15 working days, so lodge the application before you book the pour.

Licences, approvals and the builder’s role

No licence is needed for concreting in the ACT, so confirm the ABN on ABN Lookup and get a copy of the concreter’s public liability policy. If your slab is part of building work that needs approval, such as an extension or a new garage, it falls under the licensed builder, whom you can check on the Access Canberra builders register. Our ACT licence checks page explains what each register covers.

What concreting costs in Canberra

Canberra concreting sits at the pricier end of the scale. For plain concrete, allow about $70 to $140 per m²; a plain double driveway is typically $4,000 to $9,000, and a shed or patio slab $2,000 to $6,000. Pump hire, demolition of old concrete and the verge crossing are usually separate lines. Our concreting price guide has the full list of ranges, which are a guide, not a quote.

A concreter matched to your job

We’re not a list of concreters, and we don’t sell your enquiry to several crews at once. Describe the driveway, slab or path and which suburb it’s in, and we’ll match you with one Canberra concreter, after checking their ABN, insurance and reviews. Get a free quote, read about concreters across Australia, or see what else we cover in Canberra.