Vicesima Wrocław — soil testing and remediation in Poland

Testing is carried out before buying a plot, before starting a project and when the use of a site changes — particularly for post-industrial land. Under the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment of 1 September 2016 on land surface contamination assessment (Journal of Laws 2016, item 1395), it is the only way to document the condition of the ground at the time of purchase. The land owner is the party primarily responsible for removing contamination.

A geotechnical survey answers whether a building can safely be founded on the ground in question — it establishes the geological profile, the groundwater level and the bearing capacity. Contamination testing establishes what is in the ground: soil and water samples go to a laboratory, where petroleum substances and heavy metals are the primary focus. These are two different studies, although they are often carried out from the same borehole.

Remediation means treating soil, ground and groundwater to remove or reduce risk-causing substances, so that the site no longer poses a threat to human health or to the state of the environment. The obligation rests with the party in control of the land surface — even where it did not cause the contamination. That is why testing before purchase is a financial safeguard, not merely a formality.

Reclamation is the broader concept: restoring useful or natural value to land by shaping the terrain, regulating water conditions, rebuilding the soil layer and introducing vegetation. Remediation is narrower and concerns the removal or control of harmful substances — but it also covers groundwater and surface water, which reclamation does not.

Contamination of the land surface is treated as historical if it occurred before 30 April 2007 or results from activity concluded before that date, and likewise damage to the environment caused by an emission or event more than 30 years ago. The distinction matters in practice because it determines the procedure that applies and who is responsible for the clean-up.

Fieldwork on a typical plot usually takes a single day. The laboratory accounts for most of the elapsed time — chemical analysis results normally take from about two weeks to several weeks depending on the range of determinations. We confirm the timescale with the quote, so that it fits the project schedule.

Yes. Sampling and analysis are carried out together with an accredited environmental testing laboratory, following reference methodologies. Accreditation is what gives the results evidential weight in administrative proceedings — the Environmental Protection Law expressly requires emission measurements to be performed by an accredited laboratory.

Yes. Since 19 September 2020, following the amendment to the Construction Law, every architectural and construction design must include a geotechnical opinion — including for single-family houses. In geotechnical category I archival data can sometimes be used, but not every plot has been surveyed before.

No. A local groundwater monitoring network is not mandatory equipment for industrial facilities — its scope follows from the specific administrative decisions in force. Where ground and water conditions allow, the scope can be optimised, which reduces the cost of installing piezometers and of the analyses that follow.

The Project Information Sheet (KIP), environmental impact assessment (EIA), Environmental Site Assessment (ESA), Health & Safety Environmental Due Diligence Assessment (HSEDDA), the Remediation Action Plan (RAP), remediation completion reports, local groundwater monitoring programmes, fire safety instructions and explosion protection documents.

Partly. The regulation on training in occupational health and safety was supplemented in 2007 to allow guided self-study based on materials supplied by the organiser, in particular using the internet. The workstation briefing nevertheless remains an on-site activity. We deliver the remote part on our VITRIX platform.

Our registered office is in Wrocław and our operations office, together with the equipment base, is in Kiełczów just outside the city. We deliver projects throughout Poland — including in the Lower Silesian, Pomeranian, Lublin, Masovian and Subcarpathian regions — and we have also worked abroad.