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2.14.6.1 Compliance
Engineered fill shall comply with the Technical Requirements and provide adequate support for the proposed end-use. A suitably qualified and experienced Engineer shall be responsible for the design, specification, supervision and validation reporting to be submitted to NHBC for assessment.
Engineered fill placed to a suitable earthworks specification that complies with the guidance in this chapter will generally be acceptable to NHBC. Reference shall also be made to Chapter 4.1 ‘Land quality - managing ground conditions’, for both geotechnical and contamination risks.
This chapter gives guidance for a wide range of circumstances where engineered fill is required. It is not the intention to describe all combinations of site conditions, end-uses, fill material types and filling techniques. Where conditions fall outside those described and detailed within this chapter, it is recommended that early engagement with NHBC should be undertaken prior to preparation of the earthworks specification.
The earthworks specification should be produced by a suitably qualified and experienced person acceptable to NHBC. Where engineered fill is to support building foundations, the earthworks specification should be produced by a suitably qualified Engineer - refer to Technical Requirement R5 for detail on requirements.
The earthworks specification should be supported by a Geotechnical Design Report, where engineered fill is being used to support building foundations. A Geotechnical Design Statement is acceptable where engineered fill is not being used to support building foundations.
British Standards, codes of practice and authoritative documents relevant to Engineered fill, Earthworks and Structures formed upon engineered fill are detailed in Table 1.
Table 1: British Standards, relevant codes of practice and authoritative documents
| Relevant standard | Additional guidance |
|---|---|
| BS EN 1997-1 | Geotechnical design. General rules |
| BS EN 1997-2 | Geotechnical design. Ground investigation and testing |
| BS 6031:2009 | Code of Practice for Earthworks |
| BS EN 16907 | Earthworks. All parts |
| BS EN ISO 14688 | Geotechnical investigation and testing – Identification and classification of soil. Parts 1 & 2 |
| BS EN ISO 14689 | Geotechnical investigation and testing – Identification, description and classification of rock |
| BS EN ISO 17892 | Geotechnical investigation and testing – Laboratory testing of soil |
| BS EN ISO 22476 | Geotechnical investigation and testing – Field testing. All parts |
| BS 1377 | Methods of test for soils for civil engineering purposes. All parts |
| BS 10175 | Investigation of potentially contaminated sites – Code of practice |
| BRE FB 75 | Building on fill: geotechnical aspects |
| BRE IP 5/97 | Building on fill: collapse compression on inundation |
| BRE 427 | Low-rise buildings on fill. All parts |
| BRE 433 | Recycled Aggregates |
| BRE SD1 | Concrete in aggressive ground |
| ICE | Earthworks: a guide (by Nowak & Gilbert) |
| National Highways | Specification for highway works: Series 600 - Earthworks |
| National Highways | CD 622 – Managing geotechnical risk |
| CIRIA C574 | Engineering in chalk |
| CIRIA C504 | Engineering in glacial tills |
| CIRIA C570 | Engineering in Mercia mudstone |
Last updated: 2nd January 2024