When Should You Hire a Geotechnical Engineer?

Every major building project will need a range of experts in their fields and one of these is a geotechnical engineer. There are plenty of reasons you need someone with this type of expertise, but first, let’s look at what a geotechnical engineer is and what they do.

It’s best to bring in the geotechnical engineer as early as possible to ensure the architect and building engineer can correctly design the home or building that will go up. Everything from the support beams to the footings and the foundation will be affected if you don’t have a clear idea of what is going on under the building site.

Here’s all you need to know about hiring a geotechnical engineer.

What Is a Geotechnical Engineer?

A geotechnical engineer is someone who specialises in both soil and rocks so they can determine what type of construction project will work best on the selected building site. They will come to the building site to examine the soil and substructure of the area.

There are a few methods of managing a site survey. Usually photogrammetry and geologic mapping will be used to check out the surface soil. The engineer should also check subsurface and surface soil samples to test in the lab. These tests will let the engineer know how the soil compacts and absorbs water. It means that they’ll have better knowledge of how the ground is created.

Ground-penetrating radar can also be used to check for underground cables, pipes, graves, and such. The engineer will also include a survey of any vulnerabilities in the area, such as flooding or earthquakes. All of this information will help determine how you can build there.

Once they have a clear idea of exactly what the land is like and the composition of the soil, the engineer can then provide a recommendation for how to build the project safely and securely. For example, if there is a chance of earthquakes, the engineer might suggest additional supports and security for the build, to prevent future problems with a quake.

The recommendations for construction ensure the structural integrity of the finished structure, but it does come at a cost. For the vast majority of builders, this cost is entirely reasonable since it saves a lot of potential issues later.

Reasons to Hire a Geotechnical Engineer

There are plenty of reasons you’ll want to hire a geotechnical engineer. It may seem like an added expense at first, but in most cases, the engineer report pays for itself easily by eliminating the trial and error aspect of building.

Save Money

If you unexpectedly discover rock where you were planning to put a pool or lay a foundation, it could add a lot to the original cost as you have to work around it. The amount of money you put into the adjustments to the foundation or other structure is money that you could have saved if you’d had a report.

Using a report will give you exactly the information you need to determine the size and shape of the foundation and even how to build the upper levels of the building for less.

Save Time

Again, unexpected discoveries can cause your building team to take longer to resolve the situation and then get back to building. When you know what to expect, you can plan ahead and make the best decisions for adjusting to what you know.

Safety First

A home that is built on unstable ground will be unsafe unless the foundation has been properly prepared. Going into a building project without being aware of the condition of the soil and the bedrock below can be hazardous and you may end up with a very poorly build home that is structurally unstable due to a lack of information.

Engineering Recommendations

A good geotechnical engineer will take the time to give you their thoughts on how to ensure that the land is safely built on. This can range from shoring recommendations for excavations to foundation adjustments to consider.



While it may be expensive to get a geotechnical report, it could end up saving money, time, and lives later on. You should never assume that your land is the same as the neighbour’s. Some people try to design and build their structure based on information from neighbouring land, but this is rarely a good idea. There are no guarantees that your land has the same sort of sub-structure.

What to Expect from a Geotechnical Report

The report will be made available once the engineer has had time to thoroughly check the property out. Every report should include the following:

●     Subsurface exploration data: This will tell you what the ground water conditions are, give you a soil profile, exploration logs and any tests that were run. This will also include any discoveries, such as underground structures, pipes, and wires, etc. These can affect the build, so they will be noted.

●     Analysis of data: All the information given above will be properly explained so anyone who reads the report can see where any problems lie. This also means that your architect can look at the analysis and then work with you to adjust the way the building is constructed in order to keep it safe.

●     Engineering recommendations: The geotechnical engineer will make recommendations based on their findings to ensure the design is secure and safe for the building.

●     Possible problems: There could be a myriad of issues, including seismic problems, slope angle, soil stability, etc. This section will let you know what problems you should anticipate.

●     All reports: You can expect reports such as a centreline soil report, foundation report, etc.

The report will give you all the information you need to know in order to build your home safely. For example, if the soil is mostly sand in the area you plan to build, this needs to be taken into consideration when building the foundation for your building. In fact, it’s essential that all building methods be adjusted to fit the type of slope and soil you’re dealing with.

What to Look for in a Geotechnical Engineer

Before you start hiring, it’s important to find the right person to work on your building project. There are plenty of engineers available, but not all are properly trained and ready to handle the responsibility of the job. So, before you hire, check for the following:

●     Education: This is essential. While practice certainly helps, you’re looking for someone with a minimum of a bachelor’s degree. Ideally this will be in civil engineering, geotechnical engineering, or geology engineering. If you find an engineer with a master’s degree, you’ll have even better results.

●     Experience: While education is important, you don’t want someone who has only learned in a classroom. Look for an engineer with at least five years of experience working in their area of expertise. It’s also a good idea to find someone with experience in your particular area. For example, if you’re building a factory, you want someone who has worked with large buildings before, rather than someone with five years’ experience in the oil drilling industry.

●     Tools: Does the engineer know how to work with the necessary software for their job? AutoCAD, RESSA, FLAC, Plaxis, and other similar applications should be easy for the engineer to use and they should have experience working with them.

●     Good Communication: You also want someone who is able to explain exactly what you need to know about the build site. In most cases, the geotechnical engineer has to talk to a wide range of people who are working on the construction project, so they need to be adept at communicating.

●     Good Reviews: Talk to previous clients to find out how well the engineer works with other people. You should be able to get a good sense of how they communicate and whether it’s worth hiring them based on what their previous clients have said.

Find someone with all of these traits and you should have someone who will work well with the project. In some cases, it’s a good idea to hire a firm that can help you, rather than an individual. This is particularly important when you have a large project to work on and need to get the information as soon as possible.

Multiple engineers can provide rapid results and will often give you several solutions that you can look into.

Are you in the market for a geotechnical engineer? Contact Integrated Designs today to get a quote for our services. We offer fantastic results for a range of building projects.