Appendix 5. Geotechnical Engineering Report [As Published] · 132007.2399

empowered to authorize changes and the administrative
procedures that should be followed.

Do Not Permit Any Other Party To Rely on
the Report

Geo-environmental professionals design their studies and
prepare their reports to meet the specific needs of the
clients who retain them, in light of the risk management
methods that the client and Geo-environmental
professional agree to, and the statutory, regulatory, or
other requirements that apply. The study designed for a
‘developer may differ sharply from one designed for a
lender, insurer, public agency .. or even another
developer. Unless the report specifically states
otherwise, it was developed for you and only you. Do
not unilaterally permit any other party to rely on it. The
report and the study underlying it may not be adequate
for another party's needs, and you could be held liable
for shortcomings your Geo-environmental professional
was powerless to prevent or anticipate. Inform your
Geo-environmental professional when you know or
expect that someone else - a third-party will want to use
or rely on the report. Do not permit third-party use or
reliance until you first confer with the Geo-
environmental professional who prepared the report.
Additional testing, analysis, or study may be required
and, in any event, appropriate terms and conditions
should be agreed to so both you and your Geo-
environmental professional are protected from third-
party risks. Any party who relies on a Geo-
environmental report without the express written
permission of the professional who prepared it and the
client for whom it was prepared may be solely liable for
any problems that arise.

Avoid Misinterpretation of the Report

Design professionals and other parties may want to rely
on the report in developing plans and specifications.
They need to be advised, in writing, that their needs may
not have been considered when the study's scope was
developed, and, even if their needs were considered, they
might misinterpret Geo-environmental _ findings,
conclusions, and recommendations. Commission your
Geo-environmental professional to explain pertinent
elements of the report to others who are permitted to rely
on it, and to review any plans, specifications or other
instruments of professional service that incorporate any
of the  report’s “findings, conclusions, or
recommendations. Your Geo-environmental
professional has the best understanding of the issues
involved, including the fundamental assumptions that
determined the study's scope.

Give Contractors Access to the Report

Reduce the risk of delays, claims, and disputes by giving
contractors access to the full report, providing that it is
accompanied by a letter of transmittal that can protect
you by making it unquestionably clear that: 1) the study
was not conducted and the report was not prepared for
purposes of bid development, and 2) the findings,
conclusions, and recommendations included in the report

are based on a variety of opinions, inferences, and
assumptions and are subject to interpretation. Use the
letter to also advise contractors to consult with your Geo-
environmental professional to obtain clarifications,
interpretations, and guidance (a fee may be required for
this service), and that-in any event-they should conduct
additional studies to obtain the specific type and extent
of information each prefers for preparing a bid or cost
estimate. Providing access to the full report, with the
appropriate caveats, helps prevent formation of
adversarial attitudes and claims of concealed or differing
conditions. If a contractor elects to ignore the warnings
and advice in the-letter of transmittal, it would do so at
its own risk. Your Geo-environmental professional
should be able to help you prepare an effective letter.

Do Not Separate Documentation from the
Report

Geo-environmental reports often include supplementary
documentation, such as maps and copies of regulatory
files, permits, registrations, citations, and
correspondence with regulatory agencies. If subsurface
explorations were performed, the report may contain
final boring logs and copies of laboratory data. If
remediation activities occurred on site, the report may
include: copies of daily field reports, waste manifests,
and information about the disturbance of subsurface
materials, the type and thickness of any fill placed on
site, and fill placement practices, among other types of
documentation. Do not separate supplementary
documentation from the report. Do not, and do not
permit any other party to redraw or modify any of the
supplementary documentation for incorporation into
other professionals’ instruments of service.

Understand the Role of Standards

Unless they are incorporated into statutes or regulations,
standard practices and standard guides developed by the
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and
other recognized standards-developing organizations
(SDOs) are little more than aspirational methods agreed
to by a consensus of a committee. The committees that
develop standards may not comprise those best qualified
to establish methods and, no matter what, no standard
method can possibly consider the infinite client and
project-specific variables that fly in the face of the
theoretical “standard conditions" to which standard
practices and standard guides apply. In fact, these
variables can be so pronounced that Geo-environmental
professionals who comply with every directive of an
ASTM or other standard procedure could run foul of
local custom and practice, thus violating the standard of
care.

Accordingly, when Geo-environmental professionals
indicate in their reports that they have performed a
service “in general compliance" with one standard or
another, it means they have applied professional
judgement in creating and implementing a scope of
service designed for the specific client and project
involved, and which follows some of the general
precepts laid out in the referenced standard. To the

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GAP —~ Form No. 34