Quick guide
Is this article relevant to you?
What is this?
Practical guidance on who does what on excavation, shoring, foundation, and hillside projects before asking for proposals.
Who is this best for?
Owners, architects, developers, and contractors who know they need engineering help but are unsure which consultant should handle the work.
This is relevant if you:
- Are planning an excavation, basement, retaining wall, hillside project, or specialty foundation system.
- Have drawings or a geotechnical report but do not know who owns the next design step.
- Need to define consultant responsibilities before requesting proposals.
Key takeaways
- The geotechnical engineer studies subsurface conditions and provides soil and foundation recommendations.
- The structural engineer of record designs the building or permanent structure.
- A shoring or specialty foundation engineer focuses on temporary excavation support, earth retention, underpinning, slope stabilization, and related construction-phase systems.
- On difficult sites, the right answer is often a coordinated team rather than a single consultant.
Many owners, architects, developers, and contractors know they have an excavation or foundation problem before they know what kind of engineer to call. The names sound similar, but the responsibilities are different.
The fastest path is usually not to guess. Send the basic drawings, geotechnical information, site photos, and project constraints to an engineer who regularly works around shoring and specialty foundations. They can help identify which consultants need to be involved before the project loses time in pricing, plan check, or construction.
What to send an engineer
- Plans, sketches, or existing drawings
- Geotechnical report or soils information
- Site photos, access limits, and adjacent constraints
- Timeline, bid deadline, or current field issue
What the geotechnical engineer usually owns
The geotechnical engineer investigates the site conditions and provides recommendations that other designers use. Their report may address soil parameters, groundwater, seismic considerations, slope stability, allowable pressures, lateral earth pressures, and recommended foundation types.
For shoring and foundation work, this information is often the starting point. Without it, an engineer may still discuss concepts, but final design assumptions are limited.
What the structural engineer of record usually owns
The structural engineer of record is responsible for the primary building structure or permanent structural system. That may include foundations, framing, retaining elements, and coordination with the architect and other consultants.
The engineer of record may not be responsible for means-and-methods support, temporary shoring, contractor-selected systems, or specialty excavation sequencing unless that scope is specifically included.
What the shoring or specialty foundation engineer usually owns
A shoring or specialty foundation engineer helps turn a difficult site condition into a buildable excavation, support, or foundation approach. That can include temporary shoring, soldier pile walls, tiebacks, rakers, internal bracing, soil nail walls, underpinning, micropiles, and stabilization systems.
This role becomes especially important when the excavation is deep, the site is tight, a neighboring structure is close, tiebacks may cross property lines, access is limited, or the project needs a constructable sequence before pricing is reliable.
What to send before asking who you need
- Site address and a short description of the problem or proposed work
- Geotechnical report, if available
- Survey, civil drawings, architectural plans, and structural plans
- Excavation depth, basement levels, retaining wall heights, or known slope movement
- Photos of the site, adjacent properties, access constraints, and existing distress
- Schedule, bid status, and plan check comments if the project is already moving
Project examples
See how these issues show up on real Cefali project profiles.
Shows how deep excavation can require coordinated shoring, demolition, BIM, tunnel, instrumentation, and construction-phase decisions.
Private DevelopmentCentury PlazaShows shoring support around existing structures, deep utilities, transit review, peer review, and multiple agencies.
AviationLAX - Multiple ProjectsShows aviation infrastructure work involving support of excavation, underpinning, building shoring, approach pits, and micropiles.
Next Step
Send the basics before the project gets expensive.
If you have drawings, a geotechnical report, site photos, plan check comments, or a rough excavation or foundation question, Cefali & Associates can help identify the right structural engineering support.
Send project information