Designation. All grading in excess of 5,000 cubic yards shall be performed in accordance with the approved grading plan prepared by a civil engineer, and shall be designated as "engineered grading." Grading involving less than 5,000 cubic yards shall be designated "regular grading" unless the permittee, with the approval of the city engineer, chooses to have the grading performed as "engineered grading."
(a) Engineered Grading Requirements. For engineered grading, it shall be the responsibility of the civil engineer who prepares the approved grading plan to incorporate all recommendations from the soils engineering and engineering geology reports into the grading plan. The civil engineer also shall be responsible for the professional inspection and approval of the grading within his/her area of technical specialty. This responsibility shall include, but need not be limited to, inspection and approval as to the establishment of line, grade, and drainage of the development area. The civil engineer shall act as the coordinating agent in the event the need arises for liaison between the other professionals, the contractor, and the building official. The civil engineer also shall be responsible for the preparation of revised plans and the submission of as-graded grading plans upon completion of the work. The grading contractor shall submit in a form prescribed by the city engineer a statement of compliance to the as-built plan.
Soils engineering and engineering geology reports shall be required unless waived by the city engineer. During grading, all necessary reports, compaction data, and soils engineering and engineering geology recommendations shall be submitted to the civil engineer and the city engineer by the soils engineer and the engineering geologist.
The soils engineer shall be responsible for the professional inspection and approval concerning the preparation of ground to receive fills, testing for required compaction, stability of all finish slopes, and the design of buttress fills, where required, incorporating data supplied by the engineering geologist.
The engineering geologist shall be responsible for professional inspection and approval of the adequacy of natural ground for receiving fills and the stability of cut slopes with respect to geological matters and the need for subdrains or other ground water drainage devices. The engineering geologist shall report his/her findings to the soils engineer and the civil engineer for engineering analysis.
The building official or city engineer may inspect the project as described under Section 16.28.250 and at any more frequent intervals necessary to determine that adequate control is being exercised by the professional consultants.
(b) Regular Grading Requirements. The city engineer may require inspection and testing by an approved independent testing agency.
The testing agency shall:
(1) Inspect cleared areas and benches to verify that they have been adequately prepared to receive fill; and
(2) Test fill for adequacy of compaction.
When the city engineer has cause to believe that unusual geologic conditions are present, the grading operation will be required to conform to "engineered grading" requirements.
(c) If, in the course of fulfilling their responsibility under this chapter, the civil engineer, the soils engineer, the engineering geologist, or the testing agency finds that the work is not being done in conformance with this chapter or the approved grading plans, the discrepancies shall be reported immediately in writing to the person in charge of the grading work and to the city engineer in accordance with Section 16.28.240.
(d) If the civil engineer, the soils engineer, the engineering geologist or the testing agency of record is replaced during the course of the work, the work shall be stopped until the replacement has agreed to accept the responsibility within the area of his/her technical competence for approval upon completion of the work.
(Ord. 4564 § 1 (part), 1999)