Landscape Specification

CONTENTS


14.         SOIL

14.1.       GENERAL SPECIFCATION

Quality assurance and control
Soil sample testing results are to be provided to ensure soils meet the specification requirements prior to
installation. If the samples do not meet the performance specification corrective actions have to been
undertaken with no additional cost to the Project Manager. Samples reports are to be submitted to the
Landscape Architect, and written approval to be obtained before using the soil.

All testing as required by the product specifications must be arranged by the Contractor, and carried out by
an accredited laboratory. The test certificate will be accompanied by a statement of compliance from a
competent person (e.g. qualified agronomist horticulturist or soil scientist). Testing facility shall be SESL
Laboratories.

Compliance certificates will be in the form of a report clearly stating the material is compliant, with an
attachment showing the test results. In the case of minor non-compliance or substantial compliance, a clear
statement must be obtained from a qualified independent agronomist waiving the compliance and certifying
the sample is compliant with or without conditions.

No soil will be purchased or installed until initial compliance certification has been demonstrated and
approved by the Landscape Architect.

Delivery dockets for all imported soil is to be provided to the Landscape Architect immediately upon
deliver, to demonstrate the approved soils are being supplied.

Manufacturer’s product representation
For imported soils from manufacturers, a ‘product representation’ document produced by the supplier may
be accepted as a compliance certificate if:

•     it is an off-the-shelf product line, not a custom mix
•     a representative test certificate is available and is acceptably recent (within 6 months)
•     the testing covers all those criteria in the performance specification and complies
•     the manufacturer’s quality assurance system is externally certified.

Quality control during construction
The contractor must submit samples of blended soils or imported soil mixes at regular intervals during
construction for the purposes of demonstrating continued compliance of quality control.

Test submissions & Frequency
Submit representative samples of ~5 kg of each product specification, packed and labelled to indicate the
source and the specification to be met. The samples must be taken in a representative manner. The
contractor must refer to the testing frequencies indicated in Table 1. Variations to the frequencies in this
table are permitted on the submission to the Landscape Architect of an alternative testing program that
clearly achieves the desired outcome of quality control. Materials supplied from operations that have a third-
party-endorsed quality assurance program may be acceptable pending submission of the relevant
documentation.




URBIS
URB-SPC-LAN-P0025138 - IFC.DOCX                                                                          PAGE   46