Commercial Building Survey of Sheffield Property: Case Study
Brief: Our client was buying a commercial property in the centre of Sheffield and required a detailed Building Survey.
Property: Four-storey period property with a restaurant on the lower floors and offices above.
Instructed by: Commercial property consultancy.
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Project specification
- This commercial property was located on a corner of a busy and prominent city centre road.
- The property was Grade II listed, and was built around 1880. It was in Tudor Revival style, with many original period features.
- The ground and basement levels had been used as a restaurant, whilst the upper floors of the building were utilised as office space.
Key survey findings
- Overall, the building was in a fair state of repair, but poor state of maintenance.
- The flat roofs and associated rainwater goods needed immediate repairs to fix leaking areas that were causing damp inside the building.
- Recovering the roofs and repairing the chimneys was estimated at £100,000
- The stonework was intricate, and was in a reasonable state of repair for a property of that age.
- There were a few areas where facing finishes of the stonework had eroded, allowing water penetration around windows.
- In addition, freeze thaw action had led to the opening of joints between stones, and among brickwork; this will contribute to water ingress and internal damp.
- We provided detailed recommendations regarding the repair and maintenance of the masonry, with a suggested budget of £8500 for repointing and £28,500 for removal and replacement of render.
- Internally, water leaking through the roofs had damaged the ceilings and walls. We found significant damp, with areas of debonded and saturated timber lathes.
- Once the source of the water ingress has been fixed, the ceilings will need to be completely hacked back and replaced – we would allow a budget of £18,000 for this.
- We also found vertical cracking below water-saturated areas, possibly as a result of freeze–thaw action.
- The damp and water ingress had also led to significant damage to the walls and floor coverings, with an estimate of £63,000 for repairs and replacement.
- Furthermore, rot, and fungi associated with wet rot were present. The rot would need to be treated to avoid weakened timbers and consequently structural issues.
- We also noticed that little to no compartmentation or fire stopping had been incorporated throughout. We recommended that a full fire risk assessment is undertaken. Refurbishment would provide a good opportunity to add compartmentation separating the ground and upper floor levels, and to add fire stopping around service penetrations.
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