Geotechnical investigation, so the foundation design can be defended.

A geotechnical investigation gives the structural or civil engineer the ground data needed to select foundations, retaining systems, pavement build-ups, earthworks treatment, and drainage measures. Kenyan law does not regulate the investigation as a separately licensed activity, but the foundation design it underwrites is the one signed onto the structural drawings (Engineers Act, 2011) and submitted to the county for development permission (Physical and Land Use Planning Act, 2019). On excavation-intensive sites, the same data feeds the safe-work-method statements the contractor owes under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2007. A foundation design without an investigation is a defence the consultant cannot make when the ground later disagrees.

Shomax scopes soil investigations and interprets the results for design. The work covers Nairobi's black-cotton soils, marine-influenced ground conditions in Mombasa and Kilifi, and the variable terrain of Vihiga County and the wider Western region.

Service scope

• Geotechnical site investigation — boreholes, trial pits, in-situ testing, laboratory oversight
• Foundation design — pile foundations, raft foundations, retaining structures
• Soil-stabilisation and ground-improvement design
• Slope-stability analysis and earthworks design
• Construction-stage advice where ground conditions differ from the investigation record

Reference evidence

Geotechnical work underwrites the foundations on the firm's high-rise portfolio, including the CBK Pension Towers (KSH 3.5 B).