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Soils Reports This is another item that is
being required
Some jurisdictions may not require this for additions of a certain amount of square footage or less, or may have increased standards for concrete foundations based on known local soils conditions. But they are normally required for larger additions, new residences and commercial projects. A test that is just for the soils expansion coefficient is generally less expensive than the full soils report and may be all that is required for your project. But increasingly, the full soils report is being required.
The information in this report is used by the structural engineer to determine how big and deep your foundation may need to be to adequately support the weight of the building, and also to account for possible expansion and contraction of the soils. If no soils report is provided, the structural engineer will just base the design on an assumed value (generally 1000 psi) but will have a disclaimer in his contract for soils conditions that provide poorer bearing capacity or have other potential impacts on the structure. So you are taking a certain amount of risk if you do not voluntarily provide a soils report. I also have this same disclaimer in my own contract. The pricing for just the expansion test may run $500- $1000 and then $1200-$3000 for the full soils report for smaller residential projects, and may run higher for larger residential and commercial projects. |
more more often by local building departments,
especially as a result of the new codes adopted in January of 2008. This report is provided by a
licensed soils (geotechnical) engineer who will come out and do some
test borings on your site based on your preliminary plans.
They primarily test the soil for bearing capacity (how much weight
the soil will support) and expansion (how much the soil may expand
and contract in different moisture conditions) but the report will
also include the basic makeup of the soil, and recommendations for the
preparation of the soils during the construction phase.