When a "pad" is graded for use as a building site, the San Luis Obispo County Department of Planning and Building usually requires the owner or contractor to obtain a "pad certification," which must include a statement that the pad is "suitable for the intended use." It is our intention that the following steps must be completed before a building pad can be certified:

• A soils investigation must be performed by a soils engineer, and a preliminary soils report, with recommendations for grading and for foundation design, must be submitted to the County. This must be done before any grading is performed and is typically required before a permit can be issued.
•  A soils engineer must observe the grading operation and must test soils during and at the conclusion of the grading process (and during footing excavation if deemed necessary by the soils engineer).
• An interim or final report, signed by a licensed soils engineer, must be submitted to the County in order for the footing inspection to be approved. The report must state that a soils investigation was completed, that the grading was observed and tests were performed by the soils engineer, and that the recommendations contained in the preliminary soils report were followed. The report must also conclude that, to the best of the soils engineer's knowledge, based on all of the preceding, the pad is suitable for its intended use (i.e. to support a building). 

Note: The observation and testing referred to in items 1 through 3 may be performed by the soils engineer or by the soils engineer's representative (typically a field technician) under the direction of the soils engineer.

If you have any questions on this policy as it relates to plan review, please contact Doug Morris at 781-5625.  If you have any questions on how the policy is administered during the inspection process, please contactl Jim Casper at 781-5629.