Forensic soil science examination is used when a court needs to establish the condition of soil cover, the nature of contamination, possible causes of deterioration in soil properties, compliance of completed work with design requirements or the need for land reclamation.

When it is needed

a dispute over contamination or the quality of soil or the fertile soil layer;
a land, environmental, construction or neighbour dispute;
the need to prepare questions for court proceedings;
the need to check an existing opinion or laboratory test report;
purchase, lease, reclamation or restoration of a land parcel.

What can be established

The actual condition of the soil, signs of soil cover disturbance, a preliminary indication of the nature of contamination, the need for laboratory tests, the relevance of selected parameters to the dispute and the quality of a previous examination.

Important: the final set of parameters depends on the object, site history, disputed circumstances and the court's or Customer's questions.

A court dispute requires precise definition of the subject of the soil science examination. The condition of soil on a site, the quality of delivered soil and comparison of soil traces require different objects, samples and specialist knowledge.

Subject of examination

Soil cover, earth materials and individual samples
Case materials and information on sample provenance
Inspection, sampling and laboratory test data

Sample questions for the expert

Which soil properties and changes are confirmed by the materials?
Are the samples sufficient to answer the questions posed?
Which causes of changes in properties can be investigated?
Which sampling, storage or access limitations affect the conclusions?

The final questions are formulated according to the objects and circumstances of the particular task.

What to prepare

A court order or draft questions
Site plans, use history and documents on work performed
Records of sample collection, packaging and transfer
Laboratory test reports and previously prepared opinions

How the examination is conducted

The examination is planned around specific questions. When comparing soil traces, the provenance, preservation and comparability of comparison samples are checked separately. Ordinary site fertility or contamination testing does not replace this task.

Scope and limitations

Comparative forensic examination of soil objects requires a separate assessment of expertise and feasibility. Geobotanical description and determination of land boundaries are not automatically included in this work.

What the deliverable records

The opinion states the objects, methods, reasoned answers and limitations. Any inability to answer from the available samples is stated expressly.

Inquiry

Describe the task

Specify the site area, address/district, what needs to be proved and which documents are already available.

Your nameContact phone number or email *Briefly describe the task *Documents, site photographs, records, plans and laboratory results I give consent to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of considering and responding to my enquiry.

How data is processed: Personal Data Processing Policy. Attach only materials relevant to the inspection; obscure unnecessary data about other people.

Leave blank

An initial estimate can be made from a description, documents, photographs and information about the land parcel.

Attachments: up to 10 files of up to 10 MB each, with a maximum combined size of 15 MB. If a file is rejected, the enquiry is not sent.