California Licensed Geotechnical Engineer (GE) Bus. & Prof. Code § 6731 Attorney Fee Petition Mechanics — BPELSG GE Specialty License (check.bpelsg.ca.gov) Primary Welch Anchor — ASTM D1586-18 SPT N₂₀ Correction Advisory [PURE KETCHUM] — ASCE/SEI 7-22 Site Class F Advisory [PURE KETCHUM] — TWO PRIVATE STANDARDS ON ONE PAGE — DISTINCT FROM Civil PE (§ 6730), CEG (§ 7832), PG (§ 7828) — San Jose 6-Story Mixed-Use N₂₀ Correction Omitted Bearing Capacity Overstated Differential Settlement Red-Tag $285K / Santa Barbara Hillside Wall Site Class F Liquefaction Collapse $195K / Riverside Grading Permit Revoked $95K Three-Track Harm — CCP § 1021.5 Mandatory Attorney Fees — 13.25 hrs = $3,975–$6,625/yr

Statutory Framework: Bus. & Prof. Code § 6731 and the California Licensed Geotechnical Engineer (GE) — BPELSG GE Specialty License Required for Foundation Engineering, Bearing Capacity Analysis, Slope Stability, and Seismic Site Classification — TWO PRIVATE STANDARDS: ASTM D1586-18 SPT [PURE KETCHUM] and ASCE/SEI 7-22 Site Classification [PURE KETCHUM] — CCP § 1021.5 Mandatory Attorney Fees

Bus. & Prof. Code § 6731 establishes the California Licensed Geotechnical Engineer (GE) as a separate specialty license within the California professional engineering licensing framework administered by the Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists (BPELSG). The GE specialty license authorizes the holder to offer and perform geotechnical engineering services in California, defined to include all professional engineering work involving soil mechanics, rock mechanics, foundation engineering, retaining structure design, slope stability analysis, and related earth materials investigation. A Civil Engineer licensed under Bus. & Prof. Code § 6730 may not lawfully perform, sign, or stamp geotechnical engineering work requiring a GE specialty license; the two licenses address overlapping but legally distinct practice domains. Candidates for the GE specialty license must pass both the NCEES Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) examination and the California GE specialty examination, and must demonstrate a minimum of four years of experience in geotechnical engineering under responsible charge. When a person who is not licensed under § 6731 prepares geotechnical investigation reports containing foundation recommendations, bearing capacity determinations, or seismic site classifications that are used to obtain California building permits, and those recommendations prove deficient — causing differential settlement, liquefaction collapse, slope failure, or structural damage — the injured party may pursue a CCP § 1021.5 private attorney general fee petition supported by the two PURE KETCHUM private standards described below.

ASTM D1586-18 STANDARD TEST METHOD FOR STANDARD PENETRATION TEST (SPT) AND SPLIT-BARREL SAMPLING OF SOILS — THE ONLY PAGE IN THE FEE-PETITION-MECHANICS SERIES WITH AN ASTM D1586-18 ADVISORY — PRIVATE ASTM INTERNATIONAL (FOUNDED 1898, WEST CONSHOHOCKEN PA; 2018 ED.) — PURE KETCHUM — NO STATUTORY FEE-SHIFTING: ASTM D1586-18 is the governing standard for the Standard Penetration Test (SPT), the most widely used in-situ soil testing method in California geotechnical practice. The SPT involves driving a split-barrel sampler into the soil using a 140-pound hammer dropped 30 inches, recording the number of blows (N-value) required to advance the sampler 12 inches after an initial 6-inch seating drive. Section 5.3 of ASTM D1586-18 establishes the energy ratio (ER) requirement: automatic trip hammers must deliver an energy ratio ER ≥ 60% to produce consistent, reproducible N-values. Because different hammer mechanisms deliver different percentages of theoretical free-fall energy to the drill rod, raw N-values from different rigs are not directly comparable and cannot be used interchangeably in bearing capacity calculations without correction. Section 7.2 establishes the mandatory N₆₀ correction procedure: the corrected SPT blow count N₆₀ is calculated by multiplying the measured raw N-value by (ER_actual/60), where ER_actual is the measured energy ratio of the specific hammer used. If a hammer delivers ER = 72% and records N = 15 blows, the N₆₀ correction yields 15 × (72/60) = 18 — an 18-blow design value rather than the uncorrected 15. Omitting this correction and using raw N-values directly in bearing capacity formulas produces an unconservatively low N₆₀, systematically overstating allowable bearing pressure. Section 7.2 further requires that N-values at refusal (N ≥ 50) be recorded as “50 blows/[penetration in inches]” rather than simply “50+,” to preserve information about partial penetration resistance that affects design conservatism. Section 10.1 establishes boring log documentation requirements: the boring log must document SPT N-values at each 2.5-foot interval, soil description per ASTM D2488, groundwater depth encountered during drilling and upon stabilization, sample recovery percentage, and hammer type with energy ratio documentation. Failure to document hammer energy ratio in the boring log makes post-hoc N₆₀ correction impossible and constitutes a Section 10.1 violation that undermines all bearing capacity and liquefaction triggering analyses derived from the boring program. In a § 6731 fee petition, ASTM D1586-18 is used as a PURE KETCHUM advisory: the geotechnical expert documents what corrections Section 7.2 required, what the corrected N₆₀ values should have been, how the uncorrected values overstated bearing capacity, and how the resulting undersized foundations caused the differential settlement at issue — establishing the causal nexus between the unlicensed GE practice and the $285K harm. ASTM International is a private voluntary standards development organization; ASTM D1586-18 creates no statutory fee-shifting and no private right of action of any kind.

ASCE/SEI 7-22 MINIMUM DESIGN LOADS AND ASSOCIATED CRITERIA FOR BUILDINGS AND OTHER STRUCTURES — THE ONLY PAGE IN THE FEE-PETITION-MECHANICS SERIES WITH AN ASCE/SEI 7-22 ADVISORY — PRIVATE ASCE (FOUNDED 1852, RESTON VA; 2022 ED.) — PURE KETCHUM — NO STATUTORY FEE-SHIFTING: ASCE/SEI 7-22 is the foundational structural loading standard adopted by reference into the California Building Code and used in every California seismic design. Chapter 20 governs Site Classification for seismic design, and Section 20.3 establishes the classification procedure: sites are assigned to Site Class A (hard rock), B (rock), C (dense soil/soft rock), D (stiff soil), E (soft clay soil), or F (soils requiring site-specific evaluation) based on measured shear wave velocity Vₛ,₃₀ (average shear wave velocity of top 30 meters), average corrected SPT blow count N₆₀, or average undrained shear strength Sᵤ. Site Class F applies whenever the site contains soft clay more than 10 feet thick (undrained shear strength < 500 psf, water content ≥ 40%, plasticity index > 20) or liquefiable soils, and it requires site-specific ground motion analysis under Section 21.1 rather than use of the standard mapped spectral acceleration values Sₛ and S₁. Section 11.4.3 implements this requirement directly: a Site Class F designation mandates a site-specific ground motion analysis in which the geotechnical engineer provides project-specific Sₛ and S₁ values with 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years, rather than reading the values from the USGS hazard maps. The standard mapped values assume a Site Class D baseline; applying Site Class D spectral accelerations to a Site Class F site can underestimate seismic demand at intermediate periods by a factor of 1.3 to 1.6, depending on the fundamental period of the structure. Section 11.8 establishes geotechnical investigation report content requirements for seismic design purposes: the report must describe subsurface conditions, boring and test pit locations and depths, SPT N-values and recovery, groundwater level, liquefaction potential with triggering analysis per Youd et al. methodology, post-liquefaction settlement estimates, and the basis for the Seismic Design Category determination. Failure to identify a Site Class F condition from SPT boring data — such as using N₆₀ values below 15 in soft clays to confirm Site Class D instead of conducting Vₛ,₃₀ measurement or undrained shear strength testing required by Section 20.3 for borderline classifications — constitutes both an ASTM D1586-18 Section 10.1 boring documentation failure and an ASCE 7-22 Section 20.3 Site Class F identification failure. In a § 6731 fee petition, ASCE/SEI 7-22 is used as a PURE KETCHUM advisory: the structural engineering expert documents what Site Class Section 20.3 required, what spectral accelerations Section 11.4.3 mandated for Site Class F, how the unlicensed GE’s misclassification reduced seismic design forces below those required, and how the under-designed structure failed during the M 4.8 earthquake — establishing causation for the $195K harm. The American Society of Civil Engineers is a private nonprofit professional engineering organization; ASCE/SEI 7-22 creates no statutory fee-shifting and no private right of action of any kind.

Three-Track Harm: San Jose 6-Story Mixed-Use Differential Settlement Red-Tag ($285K), Santa Barbara Hillside Retaining Wall Liquefaction Collapse ($195K), and Riverside County Grading Permit Revoked ($95K)

• SAN JOSE 6-STORY MIXED-USE BUILDING GE LICENSE EXPIRED 22 MONTHS ASTM D1586-18 SECTION 7.2 N₆₀ CORRECTION OMITTED RAW N-VALUES USED DIRECTLY IN BEARING CAPACITY CALCULATION ALLOWABLE BEARING PRESSURE OVERSTATED BY FACTOR OF 1.8 SPREAD FOOTINGS UNDERSIZED POST-CONSTRUCTION DIFFERENTIAL SETTLEMENT 3.2 INCHES STRUCTURAL FRAME CRACKING BUILDING RED-TAGGED AND EVACUATED BPELSG COMPLAINT FILED $285,000 CIVIL PENALTY AND REMEDIATION COSTS: A six-story mixed-use building with ground-floor retail and five floors of residential units was constructed on infilled Bay Mud soils in San Jose’s downtown redevelopment corridor. The geotechnical investigation report was prepared and stamped by an engineer whose GE specialty license (Bus. & Prof. Code § 6731) had expired 22 months prior to the report date; the engineer retained an active Civil PE (§ 6730) but no valid GE license. The boring program used an automatic trip hammer with a measured energy ratio of ER = 78%, but the boring logs recorded only raw N-values without the N₆₀ correction required by ASTM D1586-18 Section 7.2. Using raw N = 12 blows rather than the corrected N₆₀ = 12 × (78/60) = 15.6, the allowable bearing pressure for the spread footings was calculated using Terzaghi’s bearing capacity equation at qₐ = 2,800 psf instead of the corrected qₐ = 4,800 psf — a factor of 1.8 overstatement in the wrong direction that caused undersized footings. Post-construction monitoring revealed differential settlement exceeding 3.2 inches between the northwest corner footings and the central core footings within 18 months of occupancy. Structural frame cracking appeared at the second and third-floor beam-column connections; the city building official issued a red-tag requiring vacation of all residential units. BPELSG received a complaint and opened a formal investigation. The property developer incurred $285,000 in emergency underpinning costs, tenant relocation expenses, and BPELSG civil penalty assessment, with ongoing remediation costs not yet resolved at time of the fee petition filing.
• SANTA BARBARA COUNTY HILLSIDE RETAINING WALL UNLICENSED GE ASCE/SEI 7-22 SECTION 20.3 SITE CLASS F SOFT-CLAY DEPOSIT NOT IDENTIFIED FROM SPT DATA SEISMIC DESIGN USED SITE CLASS D INSTEAD OF F WALL FOOTING UNDERSIZED FOR SITE CLASS F SPECTRAL ACCELERATIONS M 4.8 EARTHQUAKE GROUND SHAKING TRIGGERED LIQUEFACTION WALL COLLAPSED HOMEOWNER PROPERTY DAMAGE $195,000 PLUS REMEDIATION: A residential property owner in the Santa Barbara County hillside zone retained an unlicensed engineer — a Civil PE without a GE specialty license — to design a 14-foot tall reinforced concrete retaining wall to terrace a residential lot for a pool and outdoor living area. The engineer prepared a geotechnical investigation that identified a 16-foot thick layer of Bay Mud-equivalent soft alluvial clay underlying the site at a depth of 4 feet; SPT N-values in this layer ranged from N = 3 to N = 6 blows per foot with water contents measured at 42–48% and plasticity indices of 28–34. These parameters satisfy all three of the ASCE/SEI 7-22 Section 20.3 Site Class F soft-clay criteria (Sᵤ < 500 psf, water content ≥ 40%, PI > 20), but the unlicensed engineer classified the site as Site Class D — the default class used in standard practice when no Vₛ,₃₀ measurement is available — without performing the required undrained shear strength testing that Section 20.3 mandates before accepting Site Class D for a site with N-values below 15. The wall footing was designed using Site Class D spectral accelerations, which produced a seismic lateral earth pressure approximately 40% below what Site Class F ground motions would require. During an M 4.8 earthquake, ground shaking triggered liquefaction in the soft clay layer; seismic lateral pressures exceeded the wall’s passive resistance capacity and the wall collapsed, destroying the retaining structure and depositing approximately 200 cubic yards of saturated soil on the adjacent property. The homeowner sustained $195,000 in property damage, retaining wall replacement costs, and neighbor damage remediation, with the unlicensed engineer unable to satisfy judgment from professional liability coverage that excluded unlicensed practice claims.
• RIVERSIDE COUNTY COMMERCIAL GRADING PROJECT NO GE REVIEW GE LICENSE NEVER OBTAINED BPELSG VERIFICATION ABSENT COMPACTION SPECIFICATION ABSENT CITY GRADING PERMIT REVOKED STOP WORK ORDER $95,000 IN CIVIL FINES AND RE-PERMITTING COSTS: A commercial developer sought to grade a 4.2-acre site in Riverside County for a retail pad development. The developer retained a Civil Engineering firm whose principal held only a Civil PE (§ 6730) license; no GE specialty-licensed engineer was involved. The grading plan submitted to the City of Riverside included a soils report signed by the Civil PE stating that no geotechnical investigation was required because the site was “underlain by competent native alluvium.” The City’s grading inspector noted during grading operations that imported fill was being placed without a geotechnical engineer-of-record monitoring compaction, and that no compaction specification had been prepared. The city building official reviewed the permit file, determined that the soils report was signed by a Civil PE rather than a licensed GE in violation of the Riverside County Grading Ordinance requiring GE-stamped compaction reports for graded pads intended to support structures, and issued a stop work order and permit revocation notice. The developer was required to obtain a BPELSG-licensed GE, prepare a complete geotechnical investigation from scratch, resubmit grading plans with a GE-stamped compaction specification and earthwork inspection protocol, and pay $95,000 in civil fines assessed by the City of Riverside for grading without a valid permit and for engaging in unpermitted grading that altered natural drainage patterns, in addition to the cost of demolishing and recompacting previously placed fill that lacked certification.

Distinct From Civil Engineer PE (Bus. & Prof. Code § 6730), Engineering Geologist CEG (Bus. & Prof. Code § 7832), and Licensed Geologist PG (Bus. & Prof. Code § 7828)

• DISTINCT FROM CIVIL ENGINEER PE (BUS. & PROF. CODE § 6730) — BROAD ENGINEERING SCOPE DOES NOT INCLUDE GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING SPECIALTY; GE REQUIRES SEPARATE EXAMINATION AND FOUR YEARS SPECIALTY EXPERIENCE: Bus. & Prof. Code § 6730 licenses Civil Engineers (PE) with a broad scope that includes structural engineering analysis, transportation engineering, water resources and hydrology, sanitary engineering, and general civil engineering design. The Civil PE license does not authorize geotechnical engineering practice as defined under § 6731. The GE specialty license requires a candidate to pass both the NCEES PE examination and the California GE specialty examination — a separate examination covering advanced soil mechanics, foundation engineering design including deep foundations, retaining structure stability analysis, slope stability by limit equilibrium and finite element methods, liquefaction triggering and consequences, and seismic site characterization. A minimum of four years of post-licensure geotechnical engineering experience under responsible charge is required before GE licensure. A Civil PE who signs and stamps a geotechnical investigation report containing bearing capacity recommendations, allowable bearing pressure determinations, or seismic site classifications is practicing outside their license scope under Bus. & Prof. Code § 6731 regardless of how many years of civil engineering practice they have accumulated. For fee petition purposes, the BPELSG check.bpelsg.ca.gov system maintains separate license type categories for PE (§ 6730) and GE (§ 6731); a search confirming only a PE license with no GE designation establishes the unlicensed geotechnical practice element.
• DISTINCT FROM ENGINEERING GEOLOGIST CEG (BUS. & PROF. CODE § 7832) — GEOLOGY-PERSPECTIVE GEOHAZARD CHARACTERIZATION VERSUS ENGINEERING-PERSPECTIVE FOUNDATION ANALYSIS; NEITHER LICENSE SUBSTITUTES FOR THE OTHER: Bus. & Prof. Code § 7832 licenses Certified Engineering Geologists (CEG) to perform geologic mapping, fault investigation under the Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zone Act, landslide hazard assessment, natural geohazard characterization, and geologic report preparation from a geology discipline perspective. The CEG approaches site characterization from the perspective of geologic structure, stratigraphy, and geologic hazard identification. The GE (§ 6731) approaches geotechnical problems from an engineering analysis perspective, performing quantitative bearing capacity calculations, retaining wall lateral pressure analysis using Rankine or Coulomb earth pressure theory, infinite slope stability factor of safety calculations, and numerical liquefaction triggering analysis using the Robertson and Wride methodology or NCEER 2001 framework. A CEG cannot sign a geotechnical investigation report containing foundation recommendations, and a GE cannot sign a geologic hazard mapping report characterizing Alquist-Priolo fault traces. For fee petition purposes, confirming the absence of a GE specialty license at check.bpelsg.ca.gov while observing only a CEG designation establishes the unlicensed geotechnical engineering practice; the two registries are maintained separately within the BPELSG licensing system.
• DISTINCT FROM LICENSED GEOLOGIST PG (BUS. & PROF. CODE § 7828) — ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCE ASSESSMENT SCOPE DOES NOT INCLUDE GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING DESIGN OR FOUNDATION RECOMMENDATIONS: Bus. & Prof. Code § 7828 licenses Professional Geologists (PG) to perform environmental geology investigations, mineral resource assessment, subsurface geological mapping, groundwater geology, and general geological investigation. PG practice does not authorize geotechnical engineering design or the preparation of reports containing foundation recommendations, allowable bearing pressure determinations, slope stability calculations, or retaining wall design recommendations; those services require a GE specialty license under § 6731. In some California environmental site investigations, a PG and a GE collaborate on the same project — the PG characterizing the geologic framework and contaminant fate and transport, the GE addressing foundation engineering implications of site conditions. When a PG signs geotechnical engineering work beyond their scope, it constitutes unlicensed practice under § 6731 in addition to potential § 7828 scope-of-practice violations. For fee petition purposes, the BPELSG check.bpelsg.ca.gov search must confirm the specific absence of a GE specialty license, distinct from the CEG or PG registries; all four license types (PE, GE, CEG, PG) are searchable within the same system but are categorically distinct.

Billing Gaps 1–3 Summary (13.25 hrs/yr = $3,975–$6,625/yr)

Frequently Asked Questions