Part C - Minimum Requirements on geotechnical investigations 
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Part C: Minimum Requirements on geotechnical investigations as a 
basis for planning and designing offshore structures 
1 Regulations and codes of practice 
1.1 General 
The construction of offshore wind energy converters involves a high degree of difficulty, their 
foundations are classified under geotechnical category 3 (earth and foundation structures and 
geotechnical measures involving a high geotechnical risk; difficult design and/or difficult soil 
conditions, and unusual loading cases). These require geotechnical surveys, investigations 
and assessments by a geotechnical expert with in-depth knowledge and wide-ranging 
experience in this field (see Part A, section 4). 
Minimum requirements of geotechnical field and laboratory investigations as part of funda 
mental design are specified in Part C, sections 2 and 3. In addition, necessary investigations 
arise due to specific requirements of the respective foundation structures and soil situation, 
particularly with innovative solutions. 
1.2 Standards 
The geotechnical expert must apply the following standards with corrections and normative 
references: 
DIN EN 1997-2: Eurocode 7: Geotechnical design - Part 2: Ground investigation and testing 
DIN EN 1997-2/NA: National Annex - Nationally determined parameters - Eurocode 7: Geo 
technical design - Part 2: Ground investigation and testing 
DIN 4020: Geotechnical investigations for civil engineering purposes - supplementary guide 
lines to DIN EN 1997-2 
It must be considered that these standards are used in conjunction with the following codes: 
DIN EN 1997-1: Eurocode 7: Geotechnical design - Part 1: General rules 
DIN EN 1997-1/NA: National Annex - Nationally determined parameters - Eurocode 7: Geo 
technical design - Part 1: General rules 
DIN 1054: Soil - verification of safety in earthwork and foundation work - supplementary 
guidelines to DIN EN 1997-1 
In addition, relevant DIN norms also apply for planning, execution, documentation and 
assessment of field and laboratory investigations and these are supplemented by the stipula 
tions of this guideline. 
The most recent version of standards published as a white paper applies in all cases. 
The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency reserves the right to remove individual stand 
ards from having to be applied.