Safety is the most important aspect during design, construction and service time of any structure, especially for challenging projects like high-rise buildings and tunnels in urban areas. A high level design considering the soil-structure- interaction, based on a qualified soil investigation is required for a safe and optimised design. Due to the complexity of geotechnical constructions the safety assurance guaranteed by the 4-eye-principle is essential. The 4-eye-principle consists of an independent peer review by publicly certified experts combined with the observational method. The paper presents the fundamental aspects of safety assurance by the 4-eye-principle. The application is explained on several examples, as deep excavations, complex foundation systems for high-rise buildings and tunnel constructions in urban areas. The experiences made in the planning, design and construction phases are explained and for new inner urban projects recommendations are given.