Foundation inspection service.

To comply with domestic Building Regulations (Scotland), Section 1 Structure and BS EN 1991-1, 2004, new structures must have the same foundation detail as the existing house, in both type and cast. 

As standard, every CR Smith living space is specified with a standard strip foundation up to the depth of one metre. It is therefore important to confirm the type of foundations on which your house has been built to avoid any costly surprises once we start to dig the foundations of your new extension.

CR Smith is the only company that carries out a foundation inspection in advance of the commencement of works.

The only way to confirm the foundation detail is to physically check by digging exploratory test pits. It is a common misconception that housebuilders or local authorities keep records of foundation types, but this is not the case. 

Even where neighbouring properties have extended and did not require special foundations, this doesn’t mean your house won’t because ground conditions can change from house to house.

If you have a copy of your NHBC pack from when your home was built, this may give an indication of the foundation type, but for confirmation, we would still need to carry out a physical examination by digging test pits.

Once we have completed our on-site measurement survey to confirm the exact size, specification and location of your new living space we’ll arrange for a member of our excavation team to dig a minimum of two exploratory pits adjacent to your house, where the new structure is to be built. 

Digging test pits will allow us to determine the quality of the ground and confirm the foundation detail of your home. We’ll take reference photos of our findings and detail the measurements and specification on our report document.