Before ground breaks on any new construction project, the site in question must be investigated to determine whether the soil has the bearing capacity to support the proposed building. Typically, this investigation is done by a third-party geotechnical engineering consultant, and the results are compiled into the geotechnical soil report.
Using a variety of field-observed and lab-tested data, the geotech will describe the site and subsurface conditions that will have an impact on design and construction of the project. From that data, they’ll make recommendations about whether ground improvement is necessary to reach the required bearing pressure, or if deep foundations should be considered.