Swedish Foundation Depth & Width: Why Boverket Sets No Fixed Number

Transitional projects: check the older-rule eligibility note.

The requirement

Choose footing depth, width and thickness from the site design. Soil, loads, frost and water all affect that design. A depth that works on one site may fail on the next. Ask the engineer to show the basis for the sizes on the plan.

BFS 2024:6 sets duties for strength, stability and durability. Chapter 7 covers ground structures. Its rules must be read with the rest of the text. They are not a ready-made footing design for every home.

Chapter 2 section 1 contains general advice on Eurocodes. It accepts the listed Eurocodes, with Swedish national annexes, as a way to meet the rules. It does not make that design system the only permitted route.

1. 1 footing
2. 2 ground

Use the design’s concrete grade, steel and cover. Check the exposure and service life too. Do not choose them just from the concrete volume or a stock trench size. The volume tool does not check structural safety.

Work out the concrete volume

Use the concrete sizes on the approved plan. Embedment is the depth from ground level to the base of the footing. It is not the thickness of concrete to pour. A strip, wall and trench fill each have their own shape. Work out each part on its own. Where parts meet, count that concrete once.

This example uses a straight concrete strip with the same size all along:

• Total concrete length: 26 m.
• Concrete width: 0.50 m.
• Concrete thickness, measured from its top to its underside: 1.0 m.

These are example sizes, not code limits or a footing design. Check the shape and size on the plans. Then check how deep the base must sit. It must meet the soil and frost rules for the site.

Volume = length × concrete width × concrete thickness.

26 × 0.50 × 1.0 = 13.0 m³.

That is the volume before any extra for waste or uneven ground. Measure the trench or forms. Agree the extra amount and final order with the supplier. The tool does the sum. It does not choose safe footing sizes.

Do it in 5 seconds

Related

• Part of the Swedish building regulations hub. One national rule book, rewritten in 2025, with the calculators that solve it.
• Setting out the stairs on the same build? See Swedish stair & guard rules.

Sources

• BFS 2024:6 official text, chapter 2 §1 general advice and chapter 7. Read 6 September 2026. Full site design and the applicable standards need an engineer’s review.