Foundations sized to the ground.
Foundation design across Christchurch and Canterbury. Sized to the ground that is actually there, not the ground assumed on a plan.
What decides a foundation.
A foundation is where the building meets the ground, so the ground decides most of it. The design follows the geotechnical conditions of the site, the shape of the building, the architectural layout, and the material it is built in, whether steel, timber, concrete or masonry. Change any one of those and the foundation changes with it. A slab that suits firm ground under a single storey is the wrong answer two streets away, under the same roofline.
Geotechnical EngineeringWhat you get.
The structural design package, complete for consent and construction.
Structural drawings and specifications
The set your builder works to, detailed and dimensioned.
Design Features Report
The DFR, setting out the design basis the council reviews.
Design calculations
The numbers behind every member, checked against the loads.
Producer Statement PS1
The design producer statement, where the design supports it.
Design LBP Memo
The record the licensed building practitioner needs on site.
Safety in Design
The hazards designed out before anyone builds.
Durability letter, B2
Where required, confirming the design meets Building Code B2 durability.
How it runs.
From the ground investigation to the details on site.
- 01
Read the ground
The geotechnical report and the bearing capacity set the design.
- 02
Choose the system
Piles, a raft, or ground improvement, chosen against the bearing and settlement the testing returned. Each of those costs a different amount to build, so the call is made on the numbers rather than at concept.
- 03
Design and calculate
Sized, detailed and checked, with the package completed within four weeks of confirmation.
- 04
Sign off and review
A PS1 for the design, and a PS4 for the construction review where we monitor the build.
Where a foundation finds its footing.
A foundation is only as good as the layer it reaches. The investigation says how deep that layer starts, and the design takes the footing down to it rather than stopping where the digging gets hard. The profile below is indicative, not a specific site.
Ground we design for.
The site classification changes the foundation. We design for all of it.
TC1
Firm ground, where a conventional foundation is enough.
TC2
Ground where minor settlement is managed in the design.
TC3
Ground the council requires individual assessment for. Common in Canterbury.
TC1 to TC3 explainedMass movement sites
Sloping and unstable ground, where the whole site is part of the design.
Soft and compressible ground
Peat and soft soils, where piles reach a competent layer below.
Filled sites
Where the fill has to be tested before anything sits on it.
What foundation work looks like.
Foundations and the ground under them, frame by frame, from an improved subgrade to the steel before a pour.
The cost of a wrong foundation.
A foundation designed for the wrong ground does not fail politely. It cracks the slab, racks the frame, and shows up in the doors that stop closing a year later. Fixing a foundation after the build is the most expensive repair on a site, because everything above it has to come off first. Sized right at the start, it is the part of the house you never think about again.
Build on the right footing.
If a geotechnical report already exists, send it with the plans. Its founding recommendations are where the foundation design starts.