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You are here: Home » Resources » Articles » Three Expert Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Geotechnical Consultant

October 10, 2024

Three Expert Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Geotechnical Consultant

By Matthew Marcus, PE, GE, PG

By Matthew Marcus, PE, GE, PG, Managing Director at Partner Engineering and Science, Inc.

Three Expert Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Geotechnical ConsultantGeotechnical consultants offer services that go beyond the initial site soil evaluation or Geotechnical Report done at the beginning of the project. They can save time and money throughout the full lifespan of the design and development of projects by bridging the common communication gaps between the many consultants and contractors involved. Developers should engage their design geotechnical engineer for third-party review and/or inspection to address these common scenarios:

Scenario 1: My project is delayed because the civil and structural engineers are not on the same page regarding the site ground conditions and constraints. What could I have done to prevent this?

Have a Geotechnical Engineer review progress drawings at 30%, 90%, and 100% completion

This will allow your team to catch any conflicts, data gaps, or misunderstandings between the civil and structural engineers regarding ground conditions. Since the geotechnical engineer often is engaged at a time when limited design information is available, it is possible they do not know about things such as site retaining wall locations, finished floor elevations, cuts and fills, deep utility or basement cuts, the location of stormwater infiltration systems, etc. Communication during project design can help to fill data gaps, remove conservative assumptions (value engineering), and reduce the odds of encountering changed conditions, potentially saving 100 times or more the fees incurred.

Three Expert Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Geotechnical Consultant

Scenario 2: I received earthwork/grading bids that range broadly in scopes and costs. What should I do?

Have a Geotechnical Engineer review your earthwork/grading and foundation bids for construction

The low bid is tempting—but why is it low? Each bidder will often provide a uniquely structured quote, and comparing apples to apples may not be so simple. Did they put in a unit rate for dewatering or rock excavation, but no quantity? Did they include the right amount of over-excavation or proper slab reinforcement, concrete thickness? Are they using the right type of excavation equipment for the soil conditions? These seemingly small details can lead to change orders and delays. Geotechnical Engineers can help determine which bidder will provide the best value for your project once all costs are equally considered.

Scenario 3: My contractor has a local testing lab that does special inspections for a good price, but they are delaying my new project because they don’t want to provide engineering oversight. Who should provide engineering oversight?

Three Expert Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Geotechnical Consultant

Have the Geotechnical Engineer who authored the geotechnical report handle earthwork and foundation inspections

The contractor, construction project manager, architect, etc. may have preferred a cost-effective testing firm. However, using a separate firm to handle earthwork and foundation inspections often confuses responsibility and causes costly delays when the testing lab is unwilling to make decisions and refers back to the design report author. For continuity, quality, and efficiency, the Geotechnical Report author should complete earthwork and foundation inspections. This will be well worth any higher fee they might charge compared to a third party. For concrete, masonry, and steel inspections any properly qualified and certified firm will do, but for earthwork and foundations, it is unwise to split that off to a new firm just to save a small amount of money.

The notion among the commercial real estate community that comprehensive geotechnical services are of low importance may reflect a lack of understanding of the different services a geotechnical consultant can provide. Savvy developers rely on geotechnical consultants not only to provide valuable data to support projects, but to streamline and save costs during project execution.

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