Professional Setting Out Services in West Cornwall
Every footing, slab and drainage run starts with a line on the ground. We set out your site from the drawings to the engineer's levels, check it before a bucket goes in, and can dig the footings straight after, so the building goes exactly where the design intends.
CHAS Accredited Contractor
Constructionline Gold MemberCPCS-Carded OperatorsOur Own Plant FleetFully Insured Setting Out That Puts Your Building in the Right Place
Setting out is the process of transferring the positions and levels on a set of drawings onto the ground, so that every trench, footing and slab is dug in the right place and at the right height.
It is the first physical step of any build and the one everything else is measured from. The outline of the building, its corners, the line of the walls and the finished floor level are fixed on site, then checked for square and distance before excavation begins.
Luna Maintenance Ltd sets out sites across West Cornwall for builders, self-builders and farms, and as the first stage of our own groundworks. We work from your architect's or engineer's drawings, then carry the job on into the dig if you want one contractor from the first mark to the finished footings.
The Setting Out Work We Carry Out
New houses and outbuildings
The building outline, wall lines and corners set out from the architect's drawings, with the positions checked against the boundaries and any fixed points shown on the plan.
Farm and commercial buildings
Setting out the footprint, column positions and pad locations for steel-frame buildings, so the concrete pads land where the frame needs them. Our agricultural buildings service takes that work through to the erected frame.
Levels and datums
A fixed reference level set on site and every finished level worked from it, so footings, slabs and drainage all relate to the same height the engineer designed to.
Slabs and bases
The edges and finished levels of slabs and bases fixed before any formwork goes up, ready for our concrete works team to pour.
Drainage runs
Pipe routes, chamber positions and falls set out so that drainage runs at the gradient the design calls for and connects where it should.
Setting out, then the dig
Once the setting out is checked, our 14-tonne excavator can dig the footings in the same visit. Its iDig machine control helps the operator hold the dig to the depth already set, a separate step from the setting out itself. The digging and foundations are covered on our groundworks page.
Our Setting Out Work
Setting out is the opening stage of our groundworks, from footings for new buildings to the concrete pads beneath steel-frame farm buildings. The same team then digs, pours and builds on the marks it has set. You can see a selection of our recent jobs on our work page.
What Our Customers Say
"Luna maintenance ltd carried out some groundworks at my property after I received a recommendation from a friend. I was very happy with the work carried and I would certainly use him again."
"They did the project promptly and charged exactly what they quoted, even doing a few extra bits for me whilst they were on site."
"Their time management, cost structure and quality of work has been excellent and I would be delighted to recommend them."
What Accurate Setting Out Gives You
Footings in the right place first timeA building set out correctly and checked before the dig means no trench dug in the wrong place, and no concrete poured where it was never meant to go.
Levels that carry through the buildWith one datum on site, the footings, the floor slab and the drainage all relate to the same height, so the floor level arrives where the drawings show it.
A smooth handover to the next stageClear marks and checked positions give the groundworks team, the concrete pour and the building inspector a common reference to work from.
One contractor from the line to the footingsIf we set out and dig, the team that marked the ground is the team that excavates it, so nothing is lost between the two stages.
How a Setting Out Job Works
Get in touch.
Call 07460 077745 or send the form with your drawings, the site location and the stage your project has reached.
Free site visit.
We look at the site, the boundaries, the access and any fixed points the drawings refer to, and talk through what needs setting out.
Written quote.
The work, the specification and the price, set out in writing before anything starts, including any digging you want us to carry on with.
Set out and check.
The positions and levels are set out from the drawings, then checked for square, distance and height before anything is dug.
Hand over or dig.
We walk the marks with you or your builder, or carry straight on to the excavation with our own machinery.
Why Choose Luna Maintenance for Setting Out
Setting out fixes where the foundations go, and the regulations govern how they are designed. Building Regulations Approved Document A covers structure, and under it the depth of a foundation depends on the bearing ground, any nearby trees and the load it carries. We set out to the design your architect or engineer has produced for those conditions, and flag anything on site that looks different from what the drawings assume.
Groundworks is our core trade. We set out sites that we then dig and build on ourselves, so we know exactly what the next stage needs from the marks.
Experience at farm scale. We set out column and pad positions for steel-frame agricultural buildings as well as houses and outbuildings.
Accredited for site work. CHAS accredited and a Constructionline Gold member, with our plant operation CPCS-carded.
Your Contractor: Ross Kitto
Ross Kitto leads Luna Maintenance and brings 29 years in the trade to every site we set out. He formed the company in 2023 and runs a close team of five who carry the work through from setting out to groundworks.
Every machine that follows the setting out is ours, from the 14-tonne excavator to the dumper and whacker plate, so the dig can start as soon as the marks are checked.
“Setting out is where we look at every detail, down to the smallest, because every stage of the build after it is measured from those marks,”
says Ross Kitto, director of Luna Maintenance Ltd.
Setting Out Across West Cornwall
What Your Setting Out Quote Covers
We do not publish prices, because the work depends on the drawings and the site. The size of the building, the number of positions and levels to fix and the ground conditions all play a part. The site visit and the written quote are both free.
Your quote sets out:
Everything we agree is in writing before work starts.
Setting Out Questions
What is setting out?
Do you set out for other builders and self-builders?
What equipment do you use for setting out?
Do you work from architect's drawings?
Can you set out and then dig the footings?
How soon can you set out a site?
Related Groundworks Services
01Groundworks
Site clearance, excavation and foundations for new builds and outbuildings.
Groundworks
02Concrete Works
Shed bases, slabs and workshop floors, poured to the levels we set.
Concrete works
03Agricultural Buildings
Steel-frame farm buildings taken from the groundworks and concrete pad to the erected frame.
Agricultural buildingsReady to Set Out Your Site?
Send us your drawings and tell us where the project stands, and we will come and look at the site with you. The site visit and the written quote are free, and the dig can follow straight on.
Call Ross on 07460 077745·Book a free site visit online
Based in Hayle, working across West Cornwall
Phone: 07460 077745
Email: office@lunamaintenanceltd.com
Hours: 7am to 7pm, 7 days a week
Last updated: 20 October 2026