geotech report · MCU15/0087

Important information about your Coffey Report
As a client of Coffey you should know that site subsurface conditions cause more
construction problems than any other factor. These notes have been prepared by Coffey to
help    you    interpret  and     understand     the    limitations of   your    report.

Your report is based on project specific                     Your report will only give preliminary
criteria                                                     recommendations
Your report has been developed on the basis of your          Your report is based on the assumption that the
unique project specific requirements as understood by        site conditions as revealed through selective point
Coffey and applies only to the site investigated. Project    sampling are indicative of actual conditions
criteria typically include the general nature of the         throughout an area. This assumption cannot be
project; its size and configuration; the location of any     substantiated until project implementation has
structures on the site; other site improvements; the         commenced         and    therefore   your    report
presence of underground utilities; and the additional        recommendations can only be regarded as
risk imposed by scope-of-service limitations imposed         preliminary. Only Coffey, who prepared the report,
by the client. Your report should not be used if there       is fully familiar with the background information
are any changes to the project without first asking          needed to assess whether or not the report's
Coffey to assess how factors that changed subsequent         recommendations are valid and whether or not
to the date of the report affect the report's                changes should be considered as the project
recommendations. Coffey cannot accept responsibility         develops. If another party undertakes the
for problems that may occur due to changed factors if        implementation of the recommendations of this
they are not consulted.                                      report there is a risk that the report will be
                                                             misinterpreted and Coffey cannot be held
Subsurface conditions can change                             responsible for such misinterpretation.
Subsurface conditions are created by natural
                                                             Your report is prepared for specific
processes and the activity of man. For example, water
levels can vary with time, fill may be placed on a site      purposes and persons
and pollutants may migrate with time. Because a              To avoid misuse of the information contained in
report is based on conditions which existed at the time      your report it is recommended that you confer with
of subsurface exploration, decisions should not be           Coffey before passing your report on to another
based on a report whose adequacy may have been               party who may not be familiar with the
affected by time. Consult Coffey to be advised how           background and the purpose of the report. Your
time may have impacted on the project.                       report should not be applied to any project other
                                                             than that originally specified at the time the report
Interpretation of factual data                               was issued.
Site assessment identifies actual subsurface
conditions only at those points where samples are            Interpretation by other design
taken and when they are taken. Data derived from             professionals
literature and external data source review, sampling         Costly problems can occur when other design
and subsequent laboratory testing are interpreted by         professionals develop their plans based on
geologists, engineers or scientists to provide an            misinterpretations of a report. To help avoid
opinion about overall site conditions, their likely impact   misinterpretations, retain Coffey to work with other
on the proposed development and recommended                  project design professionals who are affected by
actions. Actual conditions may differ from those             the report. Have Coffey explain the report
inferred to exist, because no professional, no matter        implications to design professionals affected by
how qualified, can reveal what is hidden by earth, rock      them and then review plans and specifications
and time. The actual interface between materials may         produced to see how they incorporate the report
be far more gradual or abrupt than assumed based on          findings.
the facts obtained. Nothing can be done to change the
actual site conditions which exist, but steps can be
taken to reduce the impact of unexpected conditions.
For this reason, owners should retain the services of
Coffey through the development stage, to identify
variances, conduct additional tests if required, and
recommend solutions to problems encountered on site.