Site surveys in Batumi: boundaries, topography, geotechnics, setting out

Site surveys in Batumi: why they come before the design

Site surveys in Batumi are everything you need to know about a plot before the architect starts drawing the house. Where the boundaries really run, what the terrain is like, where other people's pipes and cables go, what ground lies under the future foundation and how deep the water is. Without this data the design is built on guesswork, and mistakes surface at the most expensive moment: in the excavation, when the ground turns out weaker, or at the fence, when the neighbour shows their registry extract. Surveys cost a small fraction of the price of the house, while a mistake in the foundation or the boundary takes years to fix.

What site surveys include

For a small house on a level plot, boundary staking, a topographic survey and a few boreholes or trial pits are enough. For a slope, a basement, a pool or a three-storey house the geotechnical survey needs to be more detailed, and its scope is set by the structural engineer. How survey results turn into a foundation is described on the foundations page.

Order of works

• a Public Registry extract and a check of the land use designation;
• boundary staking and comparison with the fence and neighbours;
• a topographic survey of the plot with terrain and services;
• a geotechnical survey under the footprint of the future house;
• handing the reports to the architect and structural engineer.

The order matters. Boreholes are drilled where the house will stand, and that is only known after the topographic survey and a first sketch. If the plot is still being bought, we stake the boundaries and inspect it before the deposit: that shows whether the fence matches the documents and whether someone else's building or a road encroaches on the plot.

Ground conditions in Adjara

On the coast around Batumi the ground is sand, gravel and river deposits, and groundwater is often close to the surface. On the hills around the city, in Makhinjauri, Mtsvane Kontskhi and Chakvi, clays predominate; they lose strength after prolonged rain, and there are landslip-prone areas on the slopes. Higher in the mountains the ground is rocky in places, but there are also scree slopes. So no two plots get the same survey. On slopes it is especially important to know how the ground behaves; more on the houses on a slope page.

Surveys and the building permit

A building permit usually requires a topographic base of the plot, and for higher-class buildings a geotechnical report too. Which documents your particular house needs depends on the building class and zone, and we check this before ordering surveys so the work is not done twice. We make the topographic survey in the coordinate system used by the Public Registry, so the cadastral boundaries fit onto it without conversion.

Season and weather

Drilling, trial pits and surveying can be done all year, but the weather affects the results. After prolonged rain the water level in boreholes is higher than usual, and we take this into account: the report records when and after what weather readings were taken, and for low-lying plots we recommend repeating the water reading in another season. Overgrown plots are easier to survey in winter when there are fewer leaves, and on clay slopes after a downpour a drilling rig may simply not get in.

If the house already exists

Reconstruction, adding a storey or buying an old house calls for different surveys: inspecting the foundation with trial pits, checking the structure and fitting tell-tales on cracks. The engineer gives a report on whether the house will take the new load and seismic action, and what needs strengthening. More on such work on the foundation strengthening page.

The reports you receive

You receive documents, not a verbal "the ground is fine": a boundary staking plan with coordinates, a topographic plan in electronic form, and a geotechnical report with sections, descriptions of the layers and foundation recommendations. The architect, the structural engineer and the permit application need these documents. They are also worth keeping in the house file: they will be needed again for a sale or reconstruction.

How much site surveys cost

A topographic survey of a plot up to 1 000 m² costs from 1 020 ₾, a geotechnical survey from 3 000 ₾. Boundary staking up to 6 points from 510 ₾, a plot measurement drawing for the Public Registry from 600 ₾. Setting out the house axes from 600 ₾, locating and surveying underground services from 660 ₾, an as-built survey from 510 ₾. A survey of an existing house with a seismic resistance report from 2 820 ₾. The final cost is set after a site visit and an agreed estimate.