Soil Report: What Is It And How To Get One

Understanding your property’s soil report type will help you determine what is a geotechnical report and the type of foundation system you can build. Due to the multitude of soil types across the world, soil has different profiles and density weights. These different factors will have an impact on construction schedules and costs. It is always best to hire a geotechnical engineer in your area to get a soil report. You can do a simple google search like “soils report near me” or “geotechnical report near me” to find local professionals near you. We will address when is soil testing and geotechnical reports required as well as the following questions in this article.

Click on any question below to skip ahead to that section

What Is A Soil Report?		Who Is Responsible To Get A Soils Report?
How To Get A Soil Report?		How Long To Get A Soils Report?
Why Is A Soil Report Important?		When Are Tests and Reports Required?
How To Understand Soil Reports?		What A CMT Soils Report Tells You
Soils Report vs Geo Report		Difference Of A CMT Soil Report

Soil Report

If you’re a farmer or are planning on building a residential home, a commercial building, or an industrial facility a soil report is a must-have before starting any project. Wherever you are in the world, the soil has various attributes that will drastically impact the structures you’re able to build. In fact, we suggest undertaking thorough geotech soil testing before drawing up any building plans.

Here at CMT, our team of geotechnical engineers has years of experience producing detailed soils reports for projects of all types and sizes. Whether you’re constructing a single home or are developing a large area, we’ll provide you with in-depth soil insights, enabling you to begin your construction plans. An example soil report pdf can be found here.

What Is A Soil Report?

A soil report provides detailed information about the makeup and density of the earth and soil on your construction site or agricultural land. Geotech construction is reliant on a thorough soils report in order to build strong, sturdy, and resilient structures that your site can support.

How To Get A Soil Report?

Knowing what a soil report is, it is important to get one. It is very simple, just call or click below and get connected with a member of our professional staff at CMT. We can give you all the information needed and provide a quote for your soils reporting needs on your next project.

Why Is A Soil Report Important?

First, and most important, part of your building structure is the foundation. A soils report conducted by a geotech construction engineer provides all the information needed to ensure architects and contractors thoroughly understand the composition of the earth and groundwater levels, enabling them to build foundations that reflect the strength or weakness of the land. Without a soils report, you run the risk of building foundations that aren’t suitable.

Finally, it’s important to act in accordance with soil reports recommendations. Ground collapse and building subsidence are common occurrences when a soils report is incorrect or not followed.

Soil Report vs Geotechnical Report

The difference between a Soils Report vs Geotechnical Report is absolutely nothing. Like many things this type of report simply has two names. It is commonly known as a Soils Report by contractors and is known as a Geotechnical Report within the engineering world.

Who Is Responsible To Get A Soil Report?

It is standard practice for the owner of the structure to hire a geotechnical engineer and employ their services to obtain a soils report. The property owner will rarely get a soils report, because without knowing what will be built on the property there isn’t a reason to get one. Why would a property owner get a soils report? Well, the primary reason would be to provide details of the soils on the property to a potential buyer as this could be beneficial for resale or lease value. Ultimately the responsibility lies with the developer, or the owner of the proposed structure to be built.

How Long Does It Take To Get A Soil Report?

For an average size project, it takes roughly 4 weeks to get a soils report. Depending on the size of the property, the larger the property the longer the wait time. Anywhere across the United States it usually takes 2-weeks to get any good reputable driller to your project. On average a drilling company who uses an SPT type of drill rig can drill 180-ft per day and one that uses a CPT rig can typically push 400-ft per day,

For an average size project, and for the purpose of demonstration an average size parcel of land for new construction is 8-acres, it typically takes 2-weeks to schedule the drillers, and one day to drill the borings or push the soundings on the property. Following drilling activities, it will typically take one week to perform the necessary laboratory tests and then one week after that for the engineers to analyze the data and compose a report.

Post-pandemic, we have heard from others in the industry taking as many as 8 weeks to schedule a driller and due to the lack of engineers, taking as much as 4-months to get a soils report. We estimate, on average, it is taking 5 weeks to get a driller scheduled and roughly 2-months to get a report drafted. Due to our 70+ years in the business we have a network of drillers throughout the southeast and Texas that we call upon when our drillers are booked too far out. Luckily, we have not experienced any extended wait times, and as of this writing, (knocking on wood) we won’t. We are still averaging a 4-week turnaround time delivering soil reports to our clients.

When Is Soil Testing And Geotechnical Reports Required?

Soil testing and geotechnical reports are required for new construction, or when adding on to existing structures. Soil testing when related to geotechnical reports are comprised of a multitude of laboratory tests. The soil testing performed in the lab will let the engineer know the strength of the soil, weight of the soil, how much sand or clay is in the soil sample. Advanced soil testing can determine things like, at what point will water stop being absorbed, the shear strength of the soil, and much more. The more advanced soil testing and analysis is uncommon on commercial construction, it is primarily used on industrial sites and marine investigations.

Why Choose CMT For Soils Report

We pride ourselves on the exceptional level of service we offer — CMT is much more than a team of geotechnical engineers. The excellent quality, detail, and accuracy of our soils reports are unmatched. Our team of experts is certified to a high standard and our labs have many accreditations, including A2LA, AASHTO, CCRL, NVLAP, USACE, and the Department of Transportation of each state we operate in — TxDOT, ALDOT, GDOT, NCDOT, FDOT, MDOT, DOTD, TDOT.

We leave no stone unturned, allowing our clients to have the utmost confidence when they lay foundations and begin to erect structures. Subsidence and ground collapse will be of no concern as your construction projects stand firm.

---