Written by Chris Smith · Illustrative case study
The situation
A body corporate manager at a property in Chevron Island had a common-area storeroom that had become a dumping ground. Residents had been leaving abandoned bikes and prams, common area green waste and e-waste left in bin rooms there for years, and the fire safety audit was coming up.
Why the customer needed help
They'd tried doing it themselves the weekend before, got about a quarter of the way through and realised the rest needed a truck, two people and a plan. That's where body Corporate Rubbish Removal comes in.
What was at the property
By my count there were abandoned bikes and prams, common area green waste and e-waste left in bin rooms, along with the usual loose odds and ends that build up around a job like this. It's typical of what we see from building and facility managers.
Working in Chevron Island
Chevron Island is a small island suburb of units, homes and cafes. Chevron Island homes often back onto water, so we carry loads carefully past pools, pontoons and landscaped gardens. We protect paving and lawns on the way to the truck and work within bridge and street access limits.
The initial assessment
First look, it was bigger than described, which is normal. People size up their own clutter by memory, not by volume. I measured it roughly by truck-loads, checked for anything we can't take, like paint tins or gas bottles, and found two old cans tucked at the back that we left aside.
How the job was planned
I split the job into zones in my head: what could come straight out the front, what had to come through the house, and what would need two of us and a trolley. That way nobody was waiting on anybody.
Preparation
Before lifting anything, we moved the cars, opened every gate wide and propped the screen door. A clear route is half the job.
Step 1
Step one was clearing a working space. We shifted the easy, loose items straight onto the truck so we had room to manoeuvre around the awkward ones.
Step 2
Step two was the heavy lifting. Anything over about forty kilos went on the trolley or got a two-person lift with straps. No hero stuff. A strained back on the first job of the day ruins the week.
Step 3
Step three was the final check. I went back through every room and corner with the customer, picked up the small stuff the big items had hidden, and swept up.
Removal, sorting and loading
On the truck, heavy and flat things go on the bottom, long things go along the sides, and anything fragile for donation rides at the front where there's less bounce. Recycling stays in its own section so it can come straight off at the transfer station.
From the truck it went to a licensed transfer station, where recyclables were dropped off separately, and anything usable went to a local op shop before the tip run.
Challenges we ran into
Some of the equipment contained data, so it couldn't just go into general waste, and there were desks bolted to the floor.
How we handled them
The drives were set aside for the client's IT person to remove, and we unbolted the desks with the building manager's okay.
Completion and final result
When the last load was strapped down, the space was empty and swept. The customer walked through with me, signed off, and paid the price we'd agreed at the start, not a dollar more.
What I learned
It reinforced something I tell every new offsider: ask before you lift. Two minutes of questions at the start saves throwing out the one thing someone really wanted to keep.