Excavation & Sitework · Calgary
The trade that sets every date after it.
Building pads, footing digs, utility trenching, backfill and grade. Post the scope once and the reviewed excavation crews who cover your area reply.
Free for subcontractors · Reviewed by hand · Commercial only
About this trade
Excavation is the first trade on site and the one every later date is measured from. A dig that runs a week long moves forming, pouring and framing with it, and none of those crews are holding the week for you.
Syndex sends your request to reviewed excavation members, and each says for themselves which part they own and what they run.
Common project types
What Calgary GCs hire excavation / earthworks / site preparation subs for.
Building pad & mass excavation
Strip topsoil, cut to subgrade, haul off spoil. Pad prepped to geotech's elevation.
Footing & foundation digs
Strip and pier footings dug to design depth, benched or shored where required.
Underground utility trenching
Water, sanitary, storm and electrical duct bank. Bedding, backfill, compaction in lifts.
Parking lot sub-base & grading
Sub-base prep and compaction under asphalt or hardscape, graded to drain.
Backfill & rough grade
Backfill against foundation walls, rough grade to the site plan, final grade to survey.
What to know when hiring
Four things GCs check before they sign.
Locates before the machine moves
Utility Safety Partners locates are required before any dig in Alberta, and they expire. Confirm who requested them, when they were done, and that they are still valid on the day the crew mobilizes — not the day you booked.
Past 1.5 m it is shoring or slope
Alberta OHS requires a trench deeper than 1.5 m to be cut back, benched, or shored by a competent worker's design. Ask which the crew is planning and whether they carry the trench box, or the cost arrives mid-dig.
Spoil is a line item, not a detail
Where the dirt goes decides the price. Confirm whether haul-off and tipping fees are in the quote, and whether anything on the site makes the soil a contaminated-disposal question rather than a landfill one.
Compaction gets tested, not assumed
Backfill under a slab or pavement needs compaction tests signed off by the geotech. Agree up front who books the testing and who eats the re-work if a lift fails.
How Syndex works for this trade
Post your excavation scope with the depth, the soil report if you have one, and the date the pad has to be ready. It goes to every reviewed excavation member who covers that part of Calgary, and you see the ones who reply, with their contact details.
Frequently asked
Excavation / Earthworks / Site Preparation hiring — questions GCs ask first.
- Does Syndex handle utility locates?
- No. Locates are arranged by whoever controls the site, before the crew arrives. Say in the post whether they are already done and when they expire.
- Can a crew dig in a Calgary winter?
- Frozen ground is a different job — frost teeth, a hoe ram, or ground heat, and it costs more. Say in the post that the dig is a winter dig so the quotes compare.
- How do I know the right size machine will fit?
- Put the access constraint in the request — tight downtown lane, existing building, overhead lines. Crews with only a full-size excavator will pass, which is the outcome you want.
- Is haul-off and disposal included?
- Depends on the crew and the volume. Ask for it priced separately so you can compare quotes that split it differently.
- Does Syndex cover residential excavation?
- No. Commercial only.
Guides
How to get a WCB Alberta clearance letter
For subcontractors: how to request a clearance on your own account, the screen where most people get stuck, how long a letter covers you, and what a denial means.
Read the guideWCB personal coverage for owners and directors in Alberta
If you own the company, WCB does not cover you unless you buy personal coverage. What it pays, what it costs in your trade, and why a GC hiring a small crew cares.
Read the guideCGL insurance for subcontractors: what a GC will ask for
What commercial general liability insurance covers, what it leaves out, and the four things a GC will ask about it before you start on a commercial job.
Read the guideGetting paid on a commercial job in Alberta: prompt payment, holdback and liens
The deadlines Alberta's Prompt Payment and Construction Lien Act puts on every link of the payment chain, what a GC has to do if the owner does not pay, and the lien deadline you cannot fix later.
Read the guideWhat a GC checks before hiring a subcontractor in Calgary
The seven things a general contractor checks before letting a new trade onto a commercial site in Calgary, which of them are the law, and how a sub can have all of them in one folder.
Read the guideT5018: reporting what you pay subcontractors
Who has to file a T5018, what goes on the slip, the GST rule people get wrong, and the deadlines and penalties, from the CRA's own pages.
Read the guideConstruction hours and the noise bylaw in Calgary
The hours Calgary's Community Standards Bylaw allows noisy work, the sound limits near homes and downtown, the fines, and how to get a noise exemption permit for night work.
Read the guideHow to find commercial work as a subcontractor in Calgary
Public work is advertised and private work is not. How to see which GCs are bidding on public jobs, how to get onto the bid lists for private ones, and what to have ready before you call.
Read the guideSubcontractor or employee? How the CRA and WCB decide
Calling someone a sub does not make them one. The CRA's six factors, WCB Alberta's own test, and a quick check for a crew lead paying helpers.
Read the guideGST for subcontractors in Alberta
Alberta charges 5% GST and nothing else. When the $30,000 small supplier test makes you register, why registering early pays, and what a GC needs on your invoice.
Read the guideWhat to put in a subcontract: a checklist for Alberta trades
A verbal deal can be a contract in Alberta, but it settles nothing when memories differ. What to find in a subcontract before you sign it, and how to turn a phone call into a record.
Read the guideCity of Calgary business licence for contractors
Who needs a Calgary contractor licence, the 2026 fees, the surcharge for crews based outside the city, and the renewal trap that makes you start over.
Read the guideHow to get a COR or SECOR in Alberta
What a COR proves, when a SECOR is enough, the four steps from Certifying Partner to certificate, and how to keep it from expiring.
Read the guideHow to register a construction lien in Alberta
Step by step: the deadline, what goes on the Statement of Lien and the affidavit, what it costs, the overclaim rule, and what an owner can do once it is on title.
Read the guideHow to open a WCB Alberta account as a contractor
Who has to register, the 15-day rule when you hire, the $200 that unlocks your first clearance letter, what it costs by trade, and the annual return.
Read the guideCommercial building permits in Calgary: how long they take
The City's published targets and actual averages for commercial permits, why incomplete applications are what makes them slow, and who pulls which permit.
Read the guide
Ready to post?
See who says yes.
Post the job once. It goes to the reviewed members in that trade who cover your area, and you see the ones who reply.