Certified Foundation Repair
Foundation Masters provides engineer led foundation repair in Florida under Certificate of Authorization CA# 30969, with sealed drawings, documented systems and written warranties.
Certified is not one thing, and on its own it is not a credential. Four different certificates get used in this industry, each covers something different, and none of them covers the part that decides whether your repair works.
This page explains what each one actually certifies, so you can read a proposal properly and check any firm you are considering, including ours.
Contractor Execution With Engineering Behind It
Foundation Masters is a licensed Florida engineering firm, CA# 30969, and a structural repair contractor. We work across the state on settlement, washout and internal erosion, karst related movement, seawall and waterfront failure, slab cracking, drainage failure and structural deterioration, from single family homes to commercial and industrial property.
Because the investigation, the sealed design and the installation come from one company, the diagnosis is not handed off and the accountability does not move around. That is the practical meaning of the credentials on this page.
For work in a specific market, start with the foundation repair Florida hub. For the engineering side, see civil engineering and geotechnical engineering.
What follows is the honest version of what certified means in this trade. It is more useful to you than a badge.
- The Certificate of Authorization number of the engineering firm, checkable against the state register.
- The name and licence number of the professional engineer who will sign and seal the drawings.
- The evaluation report number for any proprietary pier or pile system being proposed.
- The contractor licence of whoever is physically doing the work.
- Whether soil borings are included in the scope, and to what depth.
- Whether an elevation survey was taken before the repair was designed.
- Written warranty terms, including what voids them and whether they transfer.
- Sealed structural drawings and calculations you can hand to a building official, an insurer or a buyer.
There Is No Certified Foundation Repair Licence
Florida does not issue a licence called certified foundation repair contractor. No state board hands out that title, and no examination confers it. When a company advertises itself as certified, the useful question is not whether the word is true. It is which certificate they are referring to, because there are four in circulation and they do very different things.
The first is the engineering firm certificate. Under Florida Statute 471.023, a certificate of authorization is required for any business organization, or other person practicing under a fictitious name, offering engineering services to the public. It is worth being precise about what that certificate does. It does not license the organization itself to practice engineering. It permits a qualified business entity to offer engineering services through licensed individual engineers, who must sign and seal all final deliverables. Foundation Masters holds Certificate of Authorization CA# 30969.
The second follows directly from that. Someone with a personal licence has to sign the work. The seal on a drawing is a named individual putting their licence behind a design, which is a materially different thing from a company logo on a brochure. Both the firm certificate and the individual licence are verifiable through the Florida Board of Professional Engineers, and they are the two you should check first.
The third is the product evaluation report, and this is the one most often meant when a salesperson says certified. Helical pile systems are evaluated against ICC-ES AC358, the Acceptance Criteria for Helical Pile Systems and Devices. A report issued under it establishes allowable capacities, torque to capacity correlations, installation procedures and limitations for the product. It is a genuine engineering document. It certifies the hardware.
The fourth is the contractor licence, which establishes that a firm may legally perform construction work. It is necessary and it is not an engineering credential. A licence to build is not a licence to diagnose.
Investigation & Diagnosis
Elevation survey, crack mapping, soil borings, void detection, and a written engineering opinion that names the cause rather than listing everything it might be.
Sealed Design
Structural drawings and calculations prepared for permitting, insurers and future buyers, signed and sealed by a licensed Florida professional engineer.
Documented Execution
Installation records, capacity verification where the design calls for it, and closeout documentation that supports the warranty rather than sitting beside it.
No Certificate Covers the Decision.
Take the strongest of the four, the product evaluation report, and look at what it actually contains. Under AC358 the allowable load on a helical system is established across four separate elements: the bracket, the shaft, the helix, and the soil. Torque to capacity correlations, full scale field load testing and a corrosion allowance over a fifty year design life all sit inside it. It is a serious document.
Now notice two things about it. First, the allowable load is governed by whichever of those four elements is weakest, and on most Florida sites that is the soil. A pier rated for a large number on paper is worth what the ground will actually give you, which is a site specific question the certificate cannot answer.
Second, and this is the part that matters most, the report certifies the product. It does not certify that the pier belonged there. It says nothing about whether the diagnosis was correct, whether the movement was compression or removal, whether the depth was chosen from borings or from habit, how many piers the structure needed, or whether the real problem was a water path that nobody closed. Every one of those decisions is made before the certified hardware comes off the truck, and no certificate on any of the four lists covers a single one of them.
That is why a certified installation can still fail, and why it usually fails for a reason that has nothing to do with the product. The hardware performed exactly as evaluated. It was simply asked to solve the wrong problem, or the right problem in the wrong place.
The credentials are worth checking and we publish ours. But the thing to actually judge a firm on is whether they will establish the cause before they propose the cure, and whether they will put that reasoning in writing where you can hold them to it.
What Each One Covers, and What It Does Not
Read any proposal against these four. If a firm claims to be certified, one of them is what they mean, and it is fair to ask which.
1. The Engineering Firm Certificate
A Certificate of Authorization, required under Florida Statute 471.023 for a business organization offering engineering services to the public. Foundation Masters holds CA# 30969.
Covers: the firm may lawfully offer engineering services. Does not cover: it does not license the organization to practice engineering, and it is not a construction credential. Verify it through the Florida Board of Professional Engineers.
2. The Individual Engineer Licence
The personal licence of the professional engineer who signs and seals the drawings. Under the same statute, final deliverables must be signed and sealed by a licensed individual engineer.
Covers: a named person is accountable for the design. Does not cover: it says nothing about who installs the work or how well. Ask for the name and licence number before the drawings are produced, not after.
3. The Product Evaluation Report
An ICC-ES evaluation report issued under AC358, the Acceptance Criteria for Helical Pile Systems and Devices, establishing allowable capacities, torque correlations, installation procedures and limitations.
Covers: the hardware performs as stated within its limits. Does not cover: whether that hardware suits your site, your soil, your structure or your actual failure mechanism. Ask for the report number and read the limitations section.
4. The Contractor Licence
State licensure to perform construction work, held by whoever is physically doing the installation. Necessary, verifiable, and frequently the only credential a foundation company actually holds.
Covers: the firm may legally build. Does not cover: engineering judgment, sealed design, or diagnosis. A licence to build is not a licence to decide what should be built.
When to Get a Certified Opinion
- Stair step cracking through block or masonry joints, particularly at corners and above openings.
- Diagonal cracks running from the corners of doors and windows.
- Cracks that are widening, or weathered cracks reopening after they were patched.
- Floors sloping or dishing, or doors and windows binding on one side of the structure.
- A depression or soft spot that keeps coming back after it is filled.
- Soil pulling away from a slab edge, a footing, a step or a stem wall.
- Rust staining, spalling concrete or exposed reinforcement. See steel corrosion.
- Separation between the main structure and a porch, garage, addition, chimney or pool deck.
- Water intrusion, slab moisture or crawlspace dampness that has not been explained.
- A proposal from another firm that you would like read by somebody with no stake in it.
- A property you are about to buy, or one you are about to insure or sell.
- Anything a building official, adjuster or lender has asked for an engineering opinion on.
A second opinion on a repair proposal is one of the cheapest things you can buy in this trade, and it is worth most on the proposals that look most confident.
Certified Foundation Repair Services
- Structural inspection with elevation survey and written engineering opinion.
- Soil borings and subsurface investigation.
- Sealed structural drawings and calculations for permitting and insurance.
- Helical pier and push pier underpinning.
- Timber piling, concrete pile, pipe pile and pile driving.
- Compaction and pressure grouting, void filling and washout replacement.
- Slab lifting and house leveling.
- Concrete and masonry repair, with carbon fiber and steel reinforcement.
- Drainage and waterproofing and hydrostatic relief.
- Second opinions and review of other firms proposals and reports.
Common Questions About Certified Foundation Repair
Is there such a thing as a certified foundation repair contractor in Florida?
Not as a licence category. Florida does not issue a credential called certified foundation repair contractor, and no state examination confers that title. The word is doing real work in some cases and no work at all in others, which is why the useful response to a firm describing itself as certified is to ask which certificate they mean. There are four in normal circulation and they cover very different things.
What is a Certificate of Authorization?
It is the credential that allows a business to offer engineering services in Florida. Under Florida Statute 471.023 a certificate of authorization is required for any business organization, or other person practicing under a fictitious name, offering engineering services to the public. Importantly, it does not license the organization itself to practice engineering. It permits a qualified business entity to offer engineering services through licensed individual engineers who must sign and seal all final deliverables. Foundation Masters holds CA# 30969.
Who actually signs and seals the drawings?
A licensed Florida professional engineer, as an individual. That is how the statute works and it is worth understanding, because it means the accountability sits with a named person rather than with a company. Ask any firm for the name and licence number of the engineer who will seal your drawings, and ask before the work starts rather than when the plans arrive. A firm that cannot answer that question quickly is telling you something.
What does an ICC-ES evaluation report certify?
The product. An evaluation report establishes that a pier or pile system complies with code performance requirements, and it sets out the allowable capacities, the soil correlations, the installation procedures and the limitations that apply. It is a real engineering document and it is worth asking for by number. What it does not do is certify that the product suits your site, your soil or your structure, because it was written about the hardware and not about your property.
What is AC358?
AC358 is the ICC-ES Acceptance Criteria for Helical Pile Systems and Devices, the standard a helical system is evaluated against. It determines allowable load across four separate elements, the bracket, the shaft, the helix and the soil, and it covers torque to capacity correlations, full scale field load testing and a corrosion allowance over a fifty year design life. The practical consequence is that the weakest of those four elements governs the allowable load, and on most Florida sites the governing element is the soil.
What does a manufacturer certified installer programme certify?
That the installer has been trained on that manufacturer product line. That is a genuine thing and it is not nothing. It is also not an engineering credential, and it is worth being aware of the incentive that sits inside it, because a firm certified on one product tends to arrive at that product. The question to ask is not whether they are certified to install it, but what the investigation showed and why that system was selected over the alternatives.
Does a certificate mean the repair will work?
No, and this is the most important thing on this page. Every certificate in the industry covers hardware, licensure or authorization. None of them covers the decision. Whether the diagnosis was correct, whether the movement was compression or removal, whether the depth came from borings or from habit, how many support points the structure needed, whether a water path was left open. All of that is decided before any certified product is installed, and a certified installation of the wrong repair fails exactly like an uncertified one.
How do I verify a firm is what it says it is?
Check the engineering firm certificate number and the individual engineer licence through the Florida Board of Professional Engineers. Check the contractor licence with the state. Ask for the evaluation report number of any proprietary system being proposed and read its limitations section rather than its cover page. None of that takes long, all of it is public, and a firm that is reluctant to give you the numbers has answered the question.
Do I need an engineer, or is a contractor enough?
For most structural repairs an engineer is involved whether you choose one or not, because permitting generally requires sealed drawings. The better reason is that engineering is what establishes the mechanism, the depth support has to reach and whether the movement is still active, and those three decide the repair. A contractor without engineering can install a system correctly. Establishing that it was the right system is a different discipline.
Do you perform soil borings, or just look at the structure?
We perform borings. A visual inspection tells you what the structure is doing. It does not tell you what is beneath it, whether the process has finished, or how deep support needs to go. Borings establish soil strength with depth, where competent bearing exists if it exists, whether there are compressible or organic layers, whether there is evidence of a void, and where the water table sits at your address. A pier depth chosen without that data is a guess with a price attached.
What should I ask before signing a repair proposal?
What is the cause of the movement, and what evidence establishes it. Was an elevation survey taken. Were borings taken, and to what depth. Is the movement still active or has it stopped. Why this system rather than the alternatives. What depth are the supports going to and what determines when to stop. Who seals the drawings. What voids the warranty. If a proposal cannot answer those in writing, it is a price for a product rather than a solution to a problem.
What documentation should I receive?
A written engineering opinion naming the cause, the elevation survey and boring logs the design was based on, sealed drawings and calculations where the scope requires them, installation records including depths and capacity verification where the design calls for it, permit documentation, and the written warranty with its terms. That package is what a building official, an insurer, an adjuster or a future buyer will want, and assembling it after the fact is considerably harder than producing it as you go.
Are your foundation systems warrantied?
Yes. Helical pier systems include a 25 year transferable warranty, and concrete or timber piling systems include a 15 year warranty. Transferable matters, because it is a benefit that follows the property to the next owner rather than expiring with you. Because many components are designed and fabricated in house, we keep quality control across engineering, manufacture and installation. Full terms are on our warranties page.
What does certified foundation repair cost?
The same as any foundation repair, because the certification is not the line item. Costs vary with the mechanism, the repair method, the number of support points, the depth required, whether grouting volume is significant, site access and engineering scope. Depth and count are usually the two largest drivers and both come out of the investigation. What the engineering adds is not cost so much as the ability to price the correct repair rather than a general one. Foundation Masters provides detailed repair proposals following inspection.
Solutions We Commonly Use
After an on site structural and geotechnical evaluation, we develop a prioritized repair strategy based on the structure, the cause of movement, whether material is being removed rather than compressed, soil strength with depth, groundwater, site drainage and long term performance requirements. Depending on the property, that may include:
- Closing an active water path first, where material is still being removed.
- Compaction and pressure grouting to densify loose ground and fill voids.
- Helical piers to stabilize and lift settled foundations and slabs.
- Push piers for deeper load transfer on heavier structures.
- Timber, concrete and pipe pile, and driven piling where capacity and depth require it.
- Slab lifting to recover elevation where movement has already occurred.
- Concrete and masonry repair, with carbon fiber and steel reinforcement.
- Drainage correction, regrading and subsurface drainage.
- Monitoring where the right answer is to establish whether movement is still active before committing to a repair.
Helical pier installations include a 25 year transferable warranty. Concrete and timber piling systems include a 15 year warranty. Full terms on our warranties page.
Engineering Capabilities That Strengthen the Repair
This page focuses on credentials and documentation, but our broader engineering support is what makes them mean something:
- Foundation Inspection Florida
- Geotechnical Engineering Florida
- Civil Engineer Florida
- Structural Engineering
- Soil Borings
- Structural Engineering Drawings
- Commercial Foundation Repair
- Industrial Foundation Repair
- Our Pile Systems
Those disciplines do not replace contractor execution. They make it sharper and more accurate.
Related Pages
This page covers credentials and how to read a proposal. These pages cover the work itself, and the ground conditions behind it change considerably from one market to the next.
Foundation Repair That Holds Up Technically
Foundation Masters provides engineer led foundation repair across Florida with the technical depth needed for permitting, insurance documentation, real estate transactions and real structural performance. We coordinate with city and county building officials, associations, realtors, insurers and adjusters, and we produce sealed drawings when the review requires them. For current Florida structural design and foundation requirements, see the Florida Building Code. Our Certificate of Authorization and the licence of the engineer who seals our drawings can both be verified through the Florida Board of Professional Engineers.
Check our numbers. Then judge us on whether we establish the cause before we propose the cure, which is the part no certificate covers.
Diagnose the Cause. Repair the Foundation. Protect the Asset.
Whether you are looking at cracking you cannot account for, a slab that has dropped, water intrusion nobody has explained, or a repair proposal from another firm that you would like read by somebody with no stake in it, Foundation Masters brings contractor execution and engineering-backed clarity to foundation repair in Florida.
Built on real diagnosis, technical depth, and clean execution.