Soil Testing in Sydney | Independent Soil Testing Companies in Sydney - Owner Builder Club

Soil Testing in Sydney

When planning a home or commercial construction project, an important and non-negotiable first step is soil testing in Sydney (or wherever your project is located). By getting soil testing done, you’ll know right away if the soil in your building site is strong enough to support your residential construction project.

When soil testing in Sydney is done, all soils onsite are checked and classified based on certain characteristics, such as contamination level, strength, density and compaction.

Soil testing in Sydney is a necessary procedure so you not only know if there are problems with the soils onsite; your engineer can also recommend structural design approaches to address any issues identified.

Service Information

When soil testing in Sydney is done, there are specific activities to be implemented based on Australian Standard AS 2870/2011-Residential slabs and footings:

  • Site classification (not sure what other industry term to use or replace this with)
  • Providing Ys values (not sure what other industry term to use or replace this with)
  • Recommending footing depths (not sure what other industry term to use or replace this with)
  • Proposing allowable bearing pressures (not sure what other industry term to use or replace this with)
  • Measurement of shear strength (not sure what other industry term to use or replace this with)
  • Compressive strength testing (not sure what other industry term to use or replace this with)

FAQs

1. How does a site investigation take place?

    Although there is no hard-and-fast rule for site investigations, it usually happens this way:
    • First, the designated site investigation company sends out a truck-mounted drilling rig to the project site.
    • The rig operator examines the site to check for potential problems.
    • They will then drill three holes to a depth of around 2 to 3 metres or until the rig hits rock.
    At least one of the three holes is expected to reveal any problem areas identified during the visual inspection. Problematic areas could be wet areas, loose soil or disturbed ground.
    Bigger projects or larger houses on expansive sites, and houses with complicated structures, such as basements or underground garages, would require the use of additional deeper boreholes during site investigation.
    More testing is necessary for such projects, and this could also add to the total cost.

2. If the site is Class A or S, what kind of slab would I need to use?

    Usually, Class A and Class S sites only require a basic reinforced slab with concrete beam footings below the edges of the slab. Other site classifications would likely require a stiffened slab. The additional ‘stiffening' would help prevent the slab from bending and twisting caused by moisture-driven movements in the underlying clay soils.