Foundation (engineering)
Foundations are designed to have an adequate load capacity depending on the type of subsoil/rock supporting the foundation by a geotechnical engineer, and the footing itself may be designed structurally by a structural engineer. The primary design concerns are settlement and bearing capacity. When considering settlement, total settlement and differential settlement is normally considered. Differential settlement is when one part of a foundation settles more than another part. This can cause problems to the structure which the foundation is supporting. Expansive clay soils can also cause problems.
Base fee
In law, a base fee is a freehold estate of inheritance which is limited or qualified by the existence of certain conditions. In modern property law the commonest example of a base fee is an estate created by a tenant in tail, not in possession, who bars the entail without the consent of the protector of the settlement. Any attempt to bar the entail without the consent of the Protector would only be partially successful. Though he bars his own issue (the rights of the future tenants in tail), he cannot bar any remainder or reversion, and the estate ("i.e." the "base fee") thus created is determinable on the failure of his issue in tail. The base fee can be defined as rights that would last for as long as the fee tail would have lasted, but which will end when the line of descent stipulated in the fee tail ran out.