ISO 19901-8:2023

Overview

ISO 19901-8:2023 - "Oil and gas industries including lower carbon energy - Offshore structures - Part 8: Marine soil investigations" provides requirements, recommendations and guidance for planning and carrying out marine soil investigations for offshore structures. The standard covers objectives, project planning, equipment deployment, drilling and logging, in situ testing, sampling, laboratory testing and reporting of factual and interpreted data. It focuses on obtaining measured and derived geotechnical values (not on deriving design values or specifying foundations). Limited guidance is included for chalk, calcareous soils, cemented soils and weak rock.

Key technical topics and requirements

• Objectives & planning: defining scope of work, integrated geoscience workflows, health, safety and environmental requirements, and project specifications.
• Deployment of equipment: procedures for non‑drilling and drilling deployments, vessel and seafloor drilling arrangements, depth and horizontal positioning uncertainty.
• Drilling & logging: project-specific drilling requirements, drilling operations planning, recording of drilling parameters, and borehole geophysical logging and reporting.
• In situ testing: standardized approaches for tests such as cone penetration test (CPT), pore pressure dissipation tests, ball and T‑bar penetrometers, and seismic CPT; equipment, procedures, calibration and reporting.
• Sampling: sampler selection for drilling and non‑drilling modes, sample recovery, handling, transport and storage (offshore and onshore).
• Laboratory testing: specimen preparation (intact, disturbed, reconstituted), instrumentation and calibration, minimum specimen sizes, quality evaluation and presentation of results.
• Reporting & interpretation: required content for field reports, factual data presentation and limited guidance on data interpretation (note: this standard excludes requirements to determine design/representative design values).

Practical applications

ISO 19901-8 is applicable to marine geotechnical investigations for:

• offshore oil & gas platforms and subsea facilities
• lower carbon energy installations (e.g., offshore wind foundations and floating platforms)
• geohazard assessment studies where soil investigation aspects are needed
  The standard helps ensure consistent, defensible geotechnical data collection and reporting that supports site investigation, risk assessment, and later foundation design performed under the relevant design standards.

Who should use this standard

• Clients and project owners commissioning site investigations
• Geotechnical contractors and vessel operators conducting offshore investigations
• Offshore designers and foundation engineers (as a data source)
• Geotechnical laboratories performing tests and reporting results
• Regulators and certifying authorities reviewing investigation programs

Related standards

• ISO 19901-4 (foundation design considerations referenced)
• ISO 19901-10 (planning, execution and interpretation of marine geophysical investigations)

Keywords: ISO 19901-8, marine soil investigations, offshore structures, geotechnical, cone penetration test, CPT, in situ testing, sampling, laboratory testing, drilling and logging, geohazard assessment.