What type of commercial building survey do I need?
If you own or lease a commercial property, or if you are about to purchase or rent one, you might be considering using a commercial building surveyor.
Commercial building surveyors are experts in commercial property. Commercial buildings can vary widely, from industrial sheds to period pub properties, to GP practices and shopping malls.
Commercial building surveyors not only have an in-depth understanding of building pathology, defects and repairs and maintenance; they are also trained in legal aspects of acquiring commercial property, and can advise on leases, legal obligations and regulatory issues.
Commercial surveyors can be accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). This is a professional body that upholds the highest standards of surveying practice across the world.
What are Commercial Building Surveys
Building surveys are inspections and assessments of a property’s condition and structure.
They allow you to understand the current state and structural integrity of the property, whether it is suitable for the way you plan to use it, and what future costs and other liabilities you will be responsible for.
A thorough building survey should look at the building extent, construction and location, and assessments of the internal and external condition and structure of the property, along with comprehensive photographs.
A building survey report will include details on required repairs and maintenance in the immediate, short, medium and long term. Tasks are prioritized and estimated budgets are provided.
It will also include information on any deleterious or harmful materials (e.g. asbestos and RAAC) that may be present, advice on legal compliance issues, consideration of environmental hazards and advice on whether specialist investigations, such as drainage surveys or land contamination assessments, need to be carried out.
What type of commercial building survey do I need?
The type of survey you need will depend on several factors.
1) Are you taking on a new property, or looking at a property you already own or lease, or disposing of a property?
Taking on a property, you may want to consider:
- a pre-acquisition survey, to understand the condition of the property and repair and maintenance requirements
- a schedule of condition, to get a photographic record of the condition of each element of the property at the start of lease.
If you already own or manage the property, a condition survey will give you up to date insight on the state of the building.
2) Are you a landlord or a tenant?
Tenants commonly instruct a schedule of condition before taking on a lease.
We support both landlords and tenants with interim and terminal schedules of dilapidations.
3) Do you need insight into a single property or a portfolio of buildings?
Single condition surveys cover individual buildings, whereas stock condition survey series are used to ensure consistent reporting across a property portfolio; this also allows for cost-savings if repairs and maintenance common to several properties are required.
4) What level of detail do you need?
All building survey reports will include budget estimates for significant repairs, along with recommended timescales and the urgency of carrying out the works.
A planned preventative maintenance survey will give an element-by-element, year-by-year budget for those needed precise estimates for budget planning.
5) Do you need insight into the condition of the entire building, or one particular element or area?
If you are only concerned about one particular area of a building, such as the roof, or a particular wall, or even whether RAAC is present, a specific defect survey is the appropriate choice.
Pre-Acquisition Building Surveys
Pre-acquisition surveys are surveys that are carried out before you agree to lease or buy a new property.
As well as reporting on the condition and the structure of the property, they will make sure that you have a thorough understanding of the building’s suitability for your needs, and also the liabilities you are taking on.
A good pre-acquisition survey will allow you to anticipate any potential problems and plan accordingly.
The survey will identify any items of concern that could become an issue in the immediate to medium term and will apply budget costs for the more significant items of work.
You may decide to set extra budget aside for repairs and maintenance or negotiate on the purchase/lease price and conditions of rental or sale.
Condition Surveys
Condition surveys are typically carried out for people who have owned, occupied or managed a property or estate for several years and need up-to-date insight into its state and whether it is safe and fit for purpose. They are also often used to understand the repairs that need to be done in the short, medium, and long term.
Condition surveys can also be requested before carrying out significant refurbishment works, and can be used to support funding applications for alterations and repairs.
Lastly, condition surveys are sometimes requested when clients come to sell a property (a ‘vendor’s survey’). This helps vendors understand any defects that could affect the value and saleability of the property, and can also help speed up sales by being used as part of an information pack for the prospective purchasers (note: in such cases, this must be agreed with the surveying firm to ensure that the status of their indemnity insurance is not affected).
We are often asked for condition surveys when clients are taking on a new property – we refer to these as ‘pre-acquisition surveys’. Similarly, if a client needs condition surveys across a series of buildings, these are known as ‘stock condition surveys’.
As with all building surveys, a condition survey will comprise a thorough and detailed examination of the structural state and condition of all of the interior and exterior elements, along with consideration of legal, environmental and health and safety issues.
Stock Condition Surveys
Stock condition surveys are surveys carried out across a portfolio of properties. They include everything that a single-estate condition survey would, and in addition, will consider the repair and maintenance requirements across groups of properties.
The reports will be consistent across the series, giving you insight into what to prioritise and whether repairs can be grouped to make cost savings. Executive summaries will give an overview of the total amount of work required, helping you understand if there are issues common to all properties.
Typically, stock condition surveys are used to plan budgets and find the most efficient and cost-effective schedules for carrying out repair and maintenance works. They can be carried out looking at the entirety of each property or can focus on specific issues, such as damp and mould, or structural issues.
Technical Due Diligence
In most cases, technical due diligence surveys are synonymous with commercial building surveys.
As with all building surveys, they provide an independent, professional assessment of the condition of the property, any defects, its maintenance and repair requirements, suitability for current or planned use, deleterious materials and non-compliance with legislation.
Clients also sometimes request technical due diligence to inspect and manage structural works, in which case they come under the umbrella of structural engineer inspections.
Schedules of Condition
A schedule of condition is a descriptive photographic and text record of the state of repair of every item and element within a property at a particular moment in time (i.e., the time at which the survey takes place).
Because every single part of the building and its fixtures are recorded, a schedule of condition report typically contains thousands of images, each accompanied by a written description of the condition of that part of the property.
Schedules of condition are usually instructed by tenants about to take on a new lease. They are then appended to the legal lease document to prevent the tenant from becoming liable for damage that was already present before they took over the lease.
Schedules of condition are allied to building surveys, but they are not the same. A building survey reports on the condition of the property and the works required, with a view to the needs the building will have in the future.
A schedule of condition, on the other hand, focuses on describing the precise condition of each individual item and element within a property’s demise at the precise moment in time that the survey is carried out.
Planned Preventative Maintenance
Planned preventative maintenance (PPM) is maintenance that has been anticipated and then scheduled to be carried out on a regular, proactive basis. It helps prevent failure of any of the elements within and outside a building, reduces unexpected repair costs and minimises unplanned downtime for remedial works.
A planned preventative maintenance (PPM) survey involves a building surveyor visiting a property and assessing the repair and maintenance needs for each item or element within the estate. The surveyor will produce a PPM schedule. Schedules report the works that need to be done and the estimated costs that need to be budgeted to repair and maintain each item, by year. They will also report the severity of any defects and the year in which each of the items of work will need to be carried out.
PPM schedules are tailored to each client but typically cover a
10–15 year period.
The information is normally presented in a spreadsheet, allowing clients to easily manipulate the data to view anticipated works and costs by area of the estate, by year or by severity.
Dilapidations
Dilapidations are breaches of repair clauses in a property lease by a tenant. They describe items in disrepair that the tenant was legally obliged to keep in a state of repair.
Surveyors can support either tenants or landlords through dilapidations claims and negotiations. They can prepare dilapidations schedules both during the lease and at the termination of the lease.
Interim dilapidations schedules can prepare landlords and tenants for future costs and help resolve conflicts at an early stage.
Terminal dilapidations schedules for landlords will contain detailed, itemised claims for each item of disrepair. It will also cover any financial losses due to delays in being able to re-let the property.
Terminal dilapidations defence for tenants involves the completion of a Scott Schedule. This is based on the landlord’s terminal dilapidations schedule and provides the tenant’s response to each item the landlord is claiming, with the tenant’s opinion on whether the works are valid and what the costs would be to carry out repairs.
Typically, dilapidations claims lead to negotiation between landlords and tenants, who are supported by their respective surveyors. Because a landlord’s claim is limited by the actual financial loss that is incurred by the property being returned in a state of disrepair versus in a full state of repair (the ‘diminution value’), these negotiations can be complex and are often supported by general practice surveyors who are skilled in expert witness and commercial valuation.
Specific Defect Survey
Specific defect surveys are also referred to as ‘specific structural inspections’ or ‘specific structural surveys’.
These are surveys that focus on a particular aspect or element of the property that is causing concern
Commonly we are asked to survey roofs or cracking in walls, or look for the presence of RAAC, but specific inspections can also include balcony assessments, flood damage inspections, review of structural alterations or inspecting steelwork for deterioration or corrosion.
Allcott Commercial’s surveying services
Our team at Allcott Commercial can talk you through your options and help you decide what type of survey is right for you
We also have several example reports available, which will provide an overview of what to expect from your survey.
Sometimes services allied to building surveying are required:
- Expert witness if you are involved in a building dispute.
- Commercial valuations if you require a Red Book RICS valuation of commercial assets.
- Structural engineering assessment or calculations if structural designs or calculations are required.
Contact us today on 0333 202 6386 or info@allcottcommercial.co.uk, to find out more about how we can support you with your commercial property.
We're here to help
If you would like to discuss a potential project with our consultants or get advice on any aspect of building surveying or engineering, please don’t hesitate to complete our contact form, call us on 0333 202 6386, or contact one of our regional offices.
