The importance of the vertical response of a structure was well recognized after the Hyogoken-Nanbu earthquake of Japan. However, most of the seismic design codes does not specified the site sail profiles, and the sail and foundations conditions were mostly neglected in the vertical seismic analyses of a structure. In this paper, the effects of foundation size, sail layer depth under the foundation, foundation embedment and pile foundation on the vertical seismic response spectra for both surface and embedded mat foundation were studied to investigate the effects of the soft soil layer on the vertical response of a structure excited with the vertical components of Taft and El Centro earthquakes, considering the sail profile types of $S_A,S_C,S_E$ in UBC-97, the medium and large size foundations, the soil layer depth under the foundation of 30 and 60m, the foundation embedment of 0 and 15m, and the precast reinforced concrete bearing piles installed in the soft soil deposit. According to the study results, the foundation size has a little effect on the vertical seismic response, However, the soil layer depth under the foundation of 60m has to be considered for the vertical seismic analysis of a structure as for the horizontal one. The embedded pile foundations as well as the surface ones built on the soft soil layer amplified the vertical seismic response of a structure very much.