This is the part most sellers gloss over, and it is the part that decides whether delivery day goes well or badly. So here is all of it.
None of it is meant to put you off. A pod goes in cleanly when the slab is ready and the trades are booked. Problems come from assumptions, like a crane reaching over a carport, or the gas line running to the kitchen being enough.
Assess your site before quoting. Confirm access, levels and the placement position. Supply the pod with everything on the inclusions list. Arrange delivery and crane placement onto your prepared slab, quoted separately. Give you the service positions in writing, so your trades know exactly where to put them.
The slab or footing, poured and cured before delivery. A licensed gas fitter, a licensed electrician and a licensed plumber, to bring services to the marked positions and connect the pod once it is placed. Clear access on delivery day. Any council approval your site requires.
A pod is a fixed structure, with appliances, water and a motorised canopy in it. It needs to sit level on a slab or engineered footing that will not move. A timber deck, pavers laid on sand, or a slab poured for a shed will not necessarily do.
Level matters more than people expect. A canopy that lifts and a door that closes both rely on the frame being square. Out-of-level is the most common cause of a pod that never quite works properly afterwards.
The pod ships in a crate. The crate, rather than the assembled pod, is what has to reach your backyard, and its dimensions decide whether a delivery succeeds.
OLEA Riviera 24 (2.4 m pod): 2.6 x 1.2 x 2.55 m, 7.96 m3. OLEA Santorini 36 (3.2 m pod): 3.0 x 1.2 x 2.55 m, 9.18 m3. OLEA Monaco 38 (3.9 m pod): 3.5 x 1.2 x 2.55 m, 10.71 m3
Measure your access path before you order: gate widths, the gap between house and fence, low branches, eaves, and the turning space a truck needs on your street. Note the height as well as the width. A 2.55 m crate does not fit under a carport. Not sure? Send us photos and we will tell you.
Most backyards cannot be reached by driving in, so the pod goes over the house or the fence line on a crane truck. This is normal for this product, and it does need planning.
The lift is worked out during the site assessment: where the truck stands, what it has to clear, whether there are power lines, and whether the street needs a permit for the truck to occupy it. Leaving it until the morning of delivery is how deliveries fail.
Every connection on a pod is licensed work, and will require a qualified tradesperson. There is no version of this you should attempt yourself, and we will not suggest otherwise to make the purchase look simpler than it is.
Connected by a licensed gas fitter. Tell us at quote stage whether you are on natural gas or LPG. The two are not interchangeable, and the appliance has to be set up for the one you have. If you are on bottled LPG, your fitter will also size the bottles and the regulator.
Connected by a licensed electrician. A pod can run a fridge, a range hood, a motorised canopy, a television, a projector, speakers and lighting. That is a real load, and it generally wants its own circuit rather than an extension from an existing outdoor point.
Connected by a licensed plumber. The pod has a sink and a pull-out tap, so it needs a water supply and, just as importantly, somewhere for the waste to go. Consider drainage before the slab is poured.
01
We look at access, levels and where your services already run. Most problems are cheap to solve at this stage and expensive later.
02
You get a price for the pod, and a separate quote for delivery and placement based on what we saw. Order confirmed, delivery slot booked.
03
Your slab goes in, and your trades bring gas, power and water to the marked positions. The slab has to be cured before delivery day.
04
The crane truck arrives, the pod is lifted and set on the slab, and we check it before anyone leaves.
05
Your licensed trades connect gas, electrical and water, and issue their compliance certificates. Then it is yours.
A one-page checklist to work through with your builder or trades before delivery day, covering slab, access, services and clearances. Ask us for it and we will send it over.