How do I Choose a Geotechnical Consultant?
There are numerous criteria to consider and questions to ask when choosing a geotechnical consultant.
What type of project are you most familiar with?
Projects range from
wood decks to housing tracts to commercial buildings. Your consultant should have experience with
projects similar in scope to yours.
The majority of our work has involved single lot residential, and small to moderate size commercial development.
What areas do you work in?
Local knowledge can be an important part of
a successful project. The majority of our work is within Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
Who will be assigned to my project?
Our staff-level consultants are degreed in geology or engineering geology. Our project level
consultants are state licensed geologists, certified engineering geologists,
and/or registered civil engineers.
All projects are performed, or monitored by project and principal consultants.
What does the subsurface exploration involve?
The extent and method of subsurface exploration varies considerably.
Generally one or more test pits or borings should be excavated in the vicinity
of each planned improvement. The excavations should generally be down-hole logged.
Hollow stem auger borings are appropriate in some instances such as areas with high groundwater or for liquefaction analysis.
Small diameter hand auger borings can be useful to supplement other types of excavations. However, they are generally not suitable as a stand-alone method of subsurface exploration for engineering geology reports.
Are you a full service geotechnical consultant?
Some consultants
provide only soil engineering or engineering geology services, not both.
We provide both engineering geology and soil engineering services. We also have an in-house soil engineering lab. The lab is licensed by the City of Los Angeles.
What type of Insurance do you carry?
We have a one million dollar liability insurance policy.