Start with the opening drawing note of the issued Section 31 62 13.24: confirm that the pile plan and sections give each pile’s location, design load, tension or compression type, size, shape, and length, the locations, sizes, and number of ducts for post-tensioned steel or strands for pretensioned steel with their unit stresses, the reinforcement and tendon details, and any splice and test pile locations, and that they also give the wall thickness and the point of fixity that the fabrication articles say the drawings show. Then check that the alternative kept, the segment joints and grouting, cover, coating, and freezing protection, the test and load test program, the driving and dynamic testing articles, and the tolerances agree with the pile cap and deck details and the geotechnical report.
Assemble the review package
Gather the pile plan with pile marks and test piles, the pile schedule with design loads, tension and compression types, tip and cutoff elevations, and batter, the typical pile section with outside diameter, wall thickness, the duct or strand pattern, spirals, and cover, the pile elevation with the spiral pitch zones, the segment joint and splice details, the build-up, pile shoe, driving point, and pile head details, the pile cap or deck beam details with embedment and the head connection, the structural general notes with bending moments, lateral loads, uplift, mudline, scour, and point of fixity, the coating and freezing protection details, the geotechnical report with boring logs, groundwater, chloride and sulfate results, and the recommended capacities, the test pile and load test locations, the existing structures and utilities near the work, and the issued Section 31 62 13.24 with Sections 03 30 00, 01 45 35, and 01 33 29. Follow one pile from its tip through each segment joint to its embedment in the cap before assuming the others match.
WBDG publishes UFGS 31 62 13.24: Concrete Cylinder Piles as a public guide-specification reference (accessed November 10, 2026). Use your project’s issued specification and amendments for the actual comparison; the guide specification does not automatically govern your project. The checklist below is an original suggested review workflow, not a reproduction of the UFGS requirements.
Eight checks to run against the issued set
Use one record per location or system. The CSV contains the same eight prompts plus fields for source revisions, observed evidence, the review owner, the decision, and closure references.
| Check | Sources to compare | Question to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| Pile plan, schedule, sections, and design loads | Opening drawing note (locations and design loads, tension and compression piles by type, size, shape, and length, duct and strand locations, sizes, and number with unit stresses, reinforcement and tendon details, splices, test piles, soil data) + PART 1 structural engineer note (bending moments, lateral loads) + Manufacturing of Piles and Pile Sections (wall thickness as specified on the plans) + Spiral Reinforcing (point of fixity below mudline as shown) + Lump Sum note (number, capacity, locations, tip and cutoff elevations) + pile plan, schedule, typical section, and general notes | Does every pile mark resolve to a schedule line with its design load, type, outside diameter, and length, are tension and compression piles given separate types where the design has both, does the typical section give the wall thickness and the duct or strand pattern with unit stresses, as the drawing note and the fabrication articles require, and do the general notes give the bending moments, lateral loads, mudline, and point of fixity the structural engineer note and the Spiral Reinforcing article rely on? |
| Alternative I or II: spun post-tensioned or static-cast pretensioned | Opening scope note + Manufacturing of Piles and Pile Sections (centrifugal or static casting; no extruded dry cast) + Alternative I articles (anchorages and end fittings, forms, longitudinal reinforcement without joint or lap, spin casting, ducts, assembly strength, alignment of sections, post tensioning, grouting, stress transfer) + Alternative II articles (collapsible internal forms, no mandrel, conveying, placing and casting, pretensioning, release strength) + Piles shop drawing article (ACI MNL-66, PE certification bracket) + typical pile section | Has the specifier kept one alternative or stated that either is acceptable, do the drawings show the ducts for Alternative I or the strands for Alternative II, or both where both are allowed, are the assembly and release strengths the notes ask the editor to specify filled in, and does the Piles shop drawing article ask for the duct or strand layout, the segment lengths, and the pick-up points for the alternative the fabricator chooses? |
| Segment joints, ducts, grout, and tendons | Joint Sealing Material (core holes for stressing strands and telltales) + Alignment of Sections + Post Tensioning (unit stress as indicated on the plans, gauge and elongation) + Grouting (every duct filled, including unused ones) + Grout article (PTI M55.1 for post-tensioned piles) + Stress Transfer (Detensioning) + Prestressing/Post Tensioning Tendons + SD-05 Grout, Joint Sealing Material, and Prestressing Tendons + segment joint details and pile elevation | Do the drawings or the shop drawings locate the segment joints along each pile, away from the zones of high bending the general notes identify, is the unit stress for the post-tensioned tendons on the plans, as the Post Tensioning article requires, are telltales shown or deleted, since the Joint Sealing Material article mentions their core holes but no article specifies them, and does the grout submittal cover both the cement grout for pretensioned piles and the post-tensioning grout? |
| Cover, spirals, exposure, coating, and freezing protection | Cement notes (chloride and sulfate exposure; marine and seawater conditions) + Reinforcing Steel and Spiral Reinforcing notes (cover by exposure; coating above ground or the water line, shown on the drawings; cover stated at corners and chamfered corners) + Spiral Reinforcing article (pitch limit from the cap soffit to the point of fixity; spiral outside the “prestress bars”) + Epoxy Coating paragraph (state DOT specification blank; coated length) + Protection from Freezing (drain holes, free-draining fill, concrete plug) + Chloride Ion Concentration and Penetration + geotechnical chloride and sulfate results | Do the cement, supplementary materials, and chloride paragraphs kept match the exposure the geotechnical report and the site show, does the typical section give the cover the notes ask the designer to choose, and has the specifier resolved the notes’ cover at corners, wording that does not fit a round pile, is the spiral pitch zone drawn on the pile elevation, is the coated length shown and the coating specification named, and where Protection from Freezing is kept, do the details show the drain holes, the free-draining fill, and the concrete plug it describes? |
| Basis of bid, ordering, test piles, and load tests | Basis of Bid notes + Production Pile Acceptance Criteria + Lump Sum Payment note (test piles and load tests not incorporated) + Unit Prices notes + Payment note (title “(UNIT PRICES)” over a paragraph titled PAYMENT) + Pile Materials article (piles ordered only from the list the Contractor’s Geotechnical Consultant or Contracting Officer provides) + Test Piles note and article + Static Load Tests note and article, Safe Design Capacity (UFC 3-220-01) + Tensile and Lateral Load Tests + boring location plan | Is one basis of bid kept, lump sum only for the small, lightly loaded, well-defined jobs its note describes and then without test piles and load tests, is the Payment note’s instruction about the “(UNIT PRICES)” title applied to the paragraph it actually concerns, are test piles located on the plans or tied to boring numbers, does the schedule give ordering time for production piles that cannot be ordered until the tip elevation list is issued, and where the schedule carries tension or lateral loads, is a tensile or lateral load test kept, with the dynamic driving sentences in the Tensile Load Tests paragraph moved or deleted? |
| Driving equipment, wave equation, and dynamic testing | Installation Procedures + Pile Driving Equipment, Pile Hammers, Driving Helmets and Cushion Blocks, and Hammer Cushion or Capblock note + Wave Equation Analysis of Pile Drivability (driving stress limits; tension limit written in inch-pound form only) + Contractor’s Geotechnical Consultant Documentation (independent registered geotechnical engineer; “Interior Inspection of Damaged Piles”) + Dynamic Pile Analysis (“independent inspection firm”) + Pile Analyzing, Pile Drivability, CAPWAP (“all control piles”), and Dynamic Load Test Reporting + Jetting and Predrilling notes | Is the wave equation analysis kept for each pile size and distinct subsurface profile, with the unit prestress after losses the stress limits need obtained from the fabricator, does one definition of the Contractor’s Geotechnical Consultant govern, since the Documentation article requires a registered geotechnical engineer and Dynamic Pile Analysis calls it an inspection firm, has the specifier said which piles CAPWAP applies to, since “control piles” is used nowhere else, and is the interior inspection of damaged piles specified, since an article asks for procedures for it and none describes it? |
| Handling, cracks, damaged piles, splices, and build-ups | Delivery, Storage, and Handling (PCI MNL-116; precaster’s lifting instructions) + Damaged Piles, Repairable Cracks, and Non-Repairable Cracks + Pile Sweep note (“typically apply to steel piles”) + Handling (lifting strength as a works cube strength) + Pressure Grouting Epoxy + Destructive Pile Testing + Pile Splices note and article + Build-Ups note and article (PCI BDM; Build-Up With Driving and Build-Up Without Driving details) + splice and build-up details | Is the lifting criterion in the Handling article restated as a cylinder strength, since the section tests pile concrete by cylinders, are corrections of damaged piles routed to the structural engineer of record, whom the Damaged Piles article names, is “Splicing of piles is not permitted” kept unless the piles are long or heavy enough to need splices, as the note advises, and where build-ups are allowed, are the two build-up details the article names actually in the set, with the build-up strength and maximum share of build-ups filled in and the treatment of the hollow core at the build-up shown? |
| Placement, cutoff, survey, monitoring, and records | Pile Placement and Tolerances in Driving note and article (batter, butt location, clear distance to the cap edge, heave) + Rejected Piles + Pile Cut-Off (no explosives) + As-Driven Survey (licensed surveyor; review before concrete) + Fabrication Tolerances (straightness values; cross-section table) + Protection of Existing Structures, Vibration Control, Noise Control, Preconstruction Condition Survey, and Instrumentation notes and articles + seismic special inspection note and Section 01 45 35 + Pile Records (pile driving log link) + pile cap and deck details | Do the cap or deck beam details leave the clear distance from pile to edge the tolerance article requires at the pile diameter drawn, do they show the embedment and head connection of the hollow pile, are the existing structures within reach of the driving located for the condition survey and vibration monitoring, has the specifier reconciled the straightness limit, whose metric and inch-pound values in Fabrication Tolerances disagree and differ from Alignment of Sections, and does the Pile Records article point to the pile driving logs WBDG publishes with the section, since its own link contains a space and a different path from the forms link elsewhere in the section? |
Worked example: spun piles with no duct layout, a freezing plug nobody drew, and two definitions of the consultant
Illustrative example: a pier replacement at a northern naval station is carried on hollow concrete cylinder piles in tidal water, with a cast-in-place deck on pile caps. The issued Section 31 62 13.24 keeps Alternative I only, the post-tensioned spun piles, but the typical pile section shows a strand pattern with no ducts, gives the outside diameter but no wall thickness, and the general notes give no point of fixity, though the Spiral Reinforcing article measures its pitch zone to it. The section keeps Protection from Freezing, but the pile elevation shows no drain holes or concrete plug, the epoxy coating length is left blank, and the cap details show the pile head embedded with no detail of its hollow core. The section also keeps CAPWAP on “all control piles” and the Dynamic Pile Analysis paragraph’s “independent inspection firm”, and keeps the Build-Ups article with neither named detail in the set.
Ask the structural engineer to choose the alternative to match the drawings, Alternative I with a duct layout and tendon unit stresses or Alternative II with the strand pattern, to add the wall thickness and the point of fixity, to detail the drain holes and the concrete plug or delete Protection from Freezing, to fill in the coated length and the coating specification, and to detail the pile head and its core plug at the cap. Ask the specifier to state which piles CAPWAP applies to, to keep one definition of the Contractor’s Geotechnical Consultant as an independent registered geotechnical engineer, and either to add the two build-up details to the set or to delete the Build-Ups article and require longer piles instead, and ask the contracting officer to confirm the ordering schedule for production piles that wait on the tip elevation list.
See the published structural revision finding. The illustrative scenario above is separate from that published finding.
Avoid a false conflict
Section 31 62 13.24 covers hollow concrete cylinder piles, post-tensioned spun sections or pretensioned static-cast piles, and their driving and testing. Other precast prestressed concrete piles follow Section 31 62 13.20 and the precast concrete pile guide, cast-in-place concrete piles in steel casings follow Section 31 62 13.13, steel pipe and H-piles follow Sections 31 62 16.13 and 31 62 16.16, and timber piles follow Section 31 62 19, each with its own guide. Pile caps and the deck follow Section 03 30 00 and the concrete guide, special inspection follows Section 01 45 35, and sustainability reporting follows Section 01 33 29, so check those before calling a requirement missing. Some of the section’s own wording needs resolving before it is compared with the drawings: an article asks for procedures for an interior inspection of damaged piles that no article specifies, CAPWAP names control piles the section never defines, the Contractor’s Geotechnical Consultant is defined two ways, the straightness tolerance and the metric equivalents of the design strength disagree, the notes on cover and sweep carry wording from square and steel piles, the lifting criterion is a cube strength, the References article does not list ISO 9002 and titles PCI MNL-116 differently from the Fabrication article, the SCM content sentence counts four materials over a five-row table, the Pile Records link is malformed, and the PDF does not include the data form its table of contents lists. Ask the specifier which wording the project intends before treating a difference as a design conflict.
When requirements disagree, follow the project’s document-control and clarification process. Do not assume that drawings always override specifications, or the reverse. Identify the exact sources and request an authorized decision.
Close the issue across the affected documents
Record the location or tag, drawing and specification references, issue dates, observed difference, and the decision needed. Assign an owner and keep the item open until the response identifies the governing requirement. Check the revised drawings and specification references together; a response email alone may leave the issued package inconsistent.
For the overall process, use the guide to drawing and specification conflicts. Mark an inapplicable checklist row with a reason, and distinguish a verified correction from a question that still needs design information.
Where Groundbook fits
Groundbook’s drawing and specification review helps investigate potential disagreements in the documents you supply. Include the relevant specification sections and drawing references, then verify the cited evidence with the responsible reviewers before acting on a finding.