Soils in Florida are not always as stable as one might think.  Before new buildings are built, they should be tested to ensure that the ground will support the new structure.  Placing a new building on buried organics, surface clay, unknown areas (old dumps) or other such items will surely cause someone real trouble with walls and floor cracking or windows and doors no longer closing properly.

We typically propose to investigate for existing geologic hazards and the presence of poor soil conditions or other factors that may affect the improvements proposed for the site by in situ testing to measure engineering properties and by defining the lateral distribution and thickness of the soil, clay and rock strata within the zone of influence of the proposed construction. 

Construction recommendations including fill placement, subgrade preparation, foundation construction requirements, maximum allowable soil bearing pressure and other items are included in our reports.  Additionally, Pasco County requires geologic hazards testing conforming to the Pasco County Land Development Code 704.  BTL Engineering Services report for Pasco conforms to these requirements.