ISO 19901-8:2014 specifies requirements, and provides recommendations and guidelines for marine soil investigations regarding:

a) objectives, planning and execution of marine soil investigations;

b) deployment of investigation equipment;

c) drilling and logging;

d) in situ testing;

e) sampling;

f) laboratory testing; and

g) reporting.

Rock materials are only covered by ISO 19901-8:2014 to the extent that ordinary marine soil investigation tools can be used, e.g. for chalk, calcareous soils, cemented soils or similar soft rock.

ISO 19901-8:2014 is intended for clients, soil investigation contractors, designers, installation contractors, geotechnical laboratories and public and regulatory authorities concerned with marine soil investigations for any type of offshore and nearshore structures, or geohazard assessment studies, for petroleum and natural gas industries.