Contour Survey

Construction Certification Surveys

The stamped surveys a building department, a civil engineer, or a structural engineer requires before a project is allowed to move to the next phase. Pad and grade certification, setback and foundation location certification, and floor level surveys, all performed under PLS 9686 and scheduled around your inspections.

Certifications by Project Phase

Same control, same surveyor, three different moments in the build.

After rough grading, before vertical construction

Pad Certification Survey

The graded building pad measured against the approved grading plan and certified on the jurisdiction’s form. Rough grade and final grade certifications from the same control.

Learn MoreAt the forms, and again after the pour

Setback Certification & Foundation Location Survey

Forms and footings located against the surveyed property lines before concrete, the as-poured foundation documented after, and the setbacks certified against the approved site plan.

Learn MoreOn an existing or completed structure

Floor Level Survey

Floor elevations on a grid, on one datum, for the structural engineer analyzing settlement or distress. Independent, with no foundation repair to sell.

Learn More

Why One Surveyor Across the Whole Build

Every certification on this page is a comparison between something built and something approved, and that comparison is only meaningful if both sit on the same control. Set the benchmark and the basis of bearings once and every later visit starts from it: the pad certification, the form check, the post-pour foundation location, and any floor elevations afterward all reconcile with each other and with the civil plan. Bring in a different surveyor for each and you get three datums and a plan checker asking why the numbers do not agree.

The second reason is timing. These deliverables sit on the seams of a construction schedule, between the grading contractor and the framer, between the forms and the pour, between the foundation and framing inspection. A surveyor who already holds the control and has read the approved plan can be on site and back with a stamped certification quickly. One who has to start from nothing cannot.

We perform no construction, grading, or repair work of any kind. On the certifications that carry a dispute risk, particularly floor level surveys and deformation monitoring, that independence is the point. Our measurement is never a statement about our own build.

Before and After These Certifications

Before the build, construction staking puts the approved design on the ground, and a boundary and topographic survey gives the civil engineer the surface the grading plan is drawn on. Where the property lines themselves are in question, that starts with boundary determination.

After it, an as-built survey documents what was actually constructed, and deformation monitoring tracks a structure or slope that has to be watched over time. See all surveying services.

Construction Certification FAQ

Common questions from builders, developers, and design teams.

Follow the build. Pad certification comes after rough grading and before vertical construction is released. Setback certification and foundation location come at the forms and foundation stage, before framing inspection. A floor level survey comes later or on an existing building, when a structural engineer needs the floor measured. If a form or a condition of approval named the document, send it and we will match it.
Yes, and it is cheaper that way. Control set once carries across every certification on the site, so each visit starts from the same benchmark and basis of bearings instead of re-establishing both. On phased and tract work builders normally set up a standing arrangement rather than scoping each certification separately.
These are schedule-critical deliverables and we scope turnaround in writing before mobilizing. Field observation is usually a short visit. What actually sets the timeline is the underlying work: a pad certification needs the approved plan and a recoverable benchmark, and a setback certification needs the boundary resolved first. Send the plans early and the certification does not become the thing holding up the inspection.
You hear it the same day, before anything is stamped. A licensed surveyor cannot certify a pad or a setback to a plan it does not match. Finding out while the grading equipment is still on site, or while the forms can still be moved, is the entire value of doing the check early.
Yes. Construction staking and the certification that follows are both survey measurements against the same approved plan and the same control, and there is no conflict in performing both. What we do not do is any construction, grading, or repair work, so the certification is never a statement about our own build.
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Send Us the Plan and the Form

Tell us the phase you are at and the inspection you are working toward. We will confirm which certifications apply and what the turnaround looks like. (510) 543-2220 · info@contour-survey.com

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