Site Investigation: What You Need to Look at Before Building

Making the decision to build a new home or office is a large one. Before you can choose the right location for your build, there are some things that you’ll want to investigate. These are all imperative to ensure that you can safely have a building constructed on the site.

Initial Reconnaissance

When it comes to initially checking out a site for building, there are a couple of primary observations that you’ll want to make. You’ll want to physically look at the property and use geological maps to identify the presence of various features. These features include vegetation, dumping yards, drainage ditches, springs, and swamps. By knowing if you have any of these features and their specific locations, you can be better prepared when it comes to choosing the exact build spot.

Soil Evaluation

The foundation of your building is going to sit below the surface of the ground. This means that you’ll need to have the condition of the soil evaluated. This subsurface investigation process should be completed by a geotechnical engineer that can identify any soil issues that could create a problem with your build. Expect your chosen engineer to bore holes into the ground to thoroughly investigate the quality and composition of your soil.

Site Clearing

Before you can thoroughly evaluate any specific site, you need to clear out problem features. These include demolishing old buildings, removing unwanted trees, and eliminating any underground infrastructures that exist. Apart from clearing the site, it should be properly graded as well. When you have these obstacles out of the way, you can start to further evaluate the construction site.

Site Survey

Once the land is cleared out and you’ve identified where on the property you ideally want to build, it’s time to get a site survey. This survey helps to peg out where exactly the building will be constructed based on the site plans. This not only allows you to visually ensure that your building is going to be constructed in an ideal location, but it’s also a necessary step to ensure that you get proper permitting and zoning for your build site location.

Before you can build a building or a home, you’ll need to go through the site investigation process. This process helps to ensure that you understand all aspects of the land and can physically choose an ideal location that the land adequately supports to have the building or home placed.