The present study was carried at Wachimo University which is located northeast of Hossanarntown in Southern Ethiopia, 230 km from Addis Ababa city. The main objective of the presentrnstudy was to assess the suitability of the foundation condition for the new building site atrnWachemo University campus. In order to achieve the proposed objective systematicrnmethodology was followed. The methodology adopted for this purpose includes an integratedrnapproach where geophysical and geotechnical investigation was carried out. For geophysicalrninvestigation Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) and magnetic methods werernemployed. For geotechnical investigation the physical properties of the foundation soils wererncharacterized and classified based on their visual interpretation and different laboratory tests.rnThe recently developed technique of Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) gives 2-Drnelectrical resistivity variation of the subsurface geological conditions. During the presentrnstudy four profiles of ERT were conducted to know the different electrical properties of subsurfacernconditions at the proposed building site. The ERT results showed presence of thickrntop soil, weathered and fresh bedrocks, continuous moisture content and geological weakrnzone below the proposed building site. Further, the stacked apparent resistivity pseudornsection map presented the depth-wise electrical variation at the proposed building site. ThernVES and well log results indicated that the site has deep groundwater table. Magneticrnanomaly map prepared during the present study exhibits good anomaly contrast. From this itrnmay be deduced that high magnetic anomaly responses are the results of fresh igneous rocksrnwhereas, low magnetic anomaly responses are resulted due to weak zones and high degree ofrnweathering in rocks. Analytical signal map clearly presents a contrast between lithologicalrncontacts and geologic structures. The correlation of the magnetic anomaly and the inversernmodel resistivity section has enabled identification of geological weak zones where specificrndesign considerations are essential.rnDuring the present study in total soil samples from 9 test pits were tested for specific gravity,rnnatural moisture content, grain size distribution, Atterburg limits and swelling potential. Allrnsoil samples from the study area falls in low plasticity silts to intermediate clays, except forrntwo soil samples which showed high plasticity silt soils. Low to intermediate plasticity soilsrnof the study area shows good to fair engineering property but high plasticity silt show poorrnengineering property. In general, the soils of the study area may be classified as CI, ML andrnMH. In terms of suitability for building foundation 33.3% of the soils possess good to fairrnbearing capacity, 44.4% as fair and remaining 22.2% of soils possess poor bearing capacity.rnShallow foundation material in the study area is thick residual soils which possess moderaternto good bearing capacity and may be suitable for low rise buildings. Further, the geophysicalrninvestigation has revealed potential hazardous sub-surface conditions which may havernadverse effect on the proposed buildings therefore, it is strongly recommended that thernbuilding foundation sites should be selected away from these geologically active/weak zones.rnThe study area is situated in seismically active zone therefore designers should consider thernseismic code in addition to the building code before designing the multi-story buildings.