Florida Laws on Installing Pilings

Pile Foundations

• Florida building codes allow for a variety of piling foundations. The structure designers may use a pile foundation made of concrete, wood or steel. The builder can drive the material into the ground or use a cast-in place method. Some types of piling acceptable under Florida's building code includes, caisson, timber, steel-cased, enlarge-base, driven-case and concrete-filled steel pipe and tube piles.

  Each method has it distinguishing attributes. Caissons piles consist of concrete cast-in-place extending down to the rock layer Timber piles have tapered edges; the small tip is driven into the soil. Concrete-filled steel pipe and tubes involves a steel pipe forced into the soil, filled with concrete and left in place permanently.

Site Evaluation

• The structure's designer or contractor must obtain a foundation investigation and report from an approved engineer before any installation. The investigation must include a soil classification by observance and testing of the soil made in the proper locations. The study must also assess the slope stability, soil strength the sufficiency of load-bearing soil at the location. It should also consider the consequence of moisture changes in the soil. The building code inspector may require a report in writing.

Report Provisions

• The report must include a variety of information including the recommendation of the types of piles and the load-bearing capacities and center-to-center spacing of pilings. The report should state the durability requirements of the pile and associated materials, specify the bearing strata of the rock or soil and designate the load test requirements. In addition, the engineer's report should state the driving procedures, such as a diesel or hydraulic hammer and installation instructions. The engineer should also specify the field inspection and reporting requirements and confirmation of the piles bearing capacity.

Installation

• The builder must follow Florida's codes for the approved installation method based on the type of piling used for the project. For example, builders must use a mandrel for driving steel-casing piling into the soil. This driving method inserts a steel rod into the pile before starting the installation.

  Florida's caisson piling rules require the builder to clean the pile and the rock socket, where the pile inserts into the ground. The builder must embed steel cores in cement grout at the bottom of the rock socket, then, fill with concrete. The builder can only pour the concrete through water using tremie or other approved techniques. The tremie method requires the builder to pour concrete through a steel pipe. At the bottom, plastic concrete surrounds the pipe, which prevents water from contacting the poured concrete.