I'll be building a pier and post house on the Big Island, not far from Naalehu/South Point. The soil(?) is rocky (the dreaded blue rock), and I dread having to dig down 12 inches for my piers and corner footings. So I thought it would be easier to bring in enough fill and compact it to make a pad at least 12" high. I could then dig down in the compacted fill for my footings, which would then be resting on the original undisturbed surface. I didn't see anything in the code that would prohibit this (Hawaii uses the 2006 IBC & IRC), but that doesn't mean a lot. Has anyone done or heard of something similar?