Survey Works provides foundation surveys in San Antonio and across Bexar County for general contractors, commercial builders, residential construction teams, and owners. A foundation survey documents the as-poured location and elevation of a new foundation against the approved site plan and the property lines, so the project has a sealed record of where the concrete ended up before framing starts on top of it.
Foundation surveys are ordered right after the pour, once the forms are stripped. The deliverable is a sealed drawing, prepared by a licensed land surveyor, that confirms the foundation sits where the design intended and records any deviation for the project file.
What a foundation survey confirms in San Antonio
The survey compares the as-poured foundation against two references. The first is the design layout the construction team worked from, and the second is the recorded property lines and setbacks the permit was issued against. In San Antonio that second check matters because the city's Development Services Department permits residential work from a site plan that has to match the recorded plat, so a foundation that drifts past a setback line has to be resolved with the city as well as the design team. On a typical project the survey covers the foundation corners and perimeter, top-of-foundation elevations, slab-edge offsets to the property lines and setbacks, and any deviation from the design layout, called out on the deliverable for the project record.
When San Antonio builders order a foundation survey
A general contractor orders one to confirm the foundation is within tolerance before committing framing crews to work on top of it. An owner or construction manager orders one to document as-poured conditions for the lender and the project record. A custom builder in Timberwood Park or Castroville orders one where a sloped or irregular lot makes the as-poured elevations worth confirming. On production work across Leon Valley, Windcrest, and Kirby, the foundation survey pairs with a form survey before the pour, and running both gives the builder a documented record from formwork to cured concrete.
"A foundation survey confirms where the concrete actually ended up compared to the layout. On commercial foundations, we see differences from the form survey in the majority of pours, which can be caused by form movement, vibration, or normal placement conditions."
— Rick Kinsaul, PLS
That variance is not atypical on commercial work. The value of the survey is the documented record of where the pour landed, so the design team can confirm the result is within tolerance or respond before framing starts.
Foundation surveys and foundation inspections
A foundation survey, the service this page describes, records the location and elevation of a new pour and carries a licensed surveyor's seal in the construction record. A foundation inspection is a different service, a condition assessment of an existing slab performed by structural engineers and repair companies when settlement or cracking is the concern. A homeowner dealing with a failing slab needs the engineer, and a builder documenting a new pour against the plan and the property lines needs the survey.
Survey Works has run foundation surveys across Texas for over 10 years, on commercial, civil, and residential projects. Every project is scoped to the tolerances and deliverable format the design team specifies, on a schedule that fits the construction sequence.
For a foundation survey anywhere in the San Antonio area, Survey Works has the expertise to deliver the sealed as-poured drawing on a schedule that fits the construction sequence.