You’ve scheduled your commercial property inspection with us. Now what?
If you are like many of our clients, you may not be at the property every day. In fact, you may not even be in the same state as the building. That is one of the reasons you hired a professional inspector.
There is no need for you, or anyone, to walk the building before we arrive. However, there are a few things you can do to help us make the most of the inspection and provide you with useful information about your property.
Make Sure We Can Access the Property
The most important thing you can do is make sure we can access the building and the areas included in the inspection. If you have a property manager, tenant, maintenance person, or other representative who will meet us at the property, please make sure they know when we will be there.
Depending on the property and the scope of the inspection, we may need access to mechanical rooms, electrical rooms, storage areas, utility spaces, roof access points, and other areas that may not be accessible without a key or someone familiar with the building. If there are areas that require special access coordination, please let us know in advance.
Tell Us About Any Concerns You Already Know About
While you do not need to walk through or inspect the building yourself before we arrive, if you already know about a problem, please let us know in advance. For instance, if a tenant has reported a leak, the HVAC system has been giving the property manager trouble, or there has been a recurring issue with the roof, we do want to know.
Even if you are not sure whether something is important, let us know. Information from the owner, property manager, or tenant can give our inspectors additional context as they evaluate the property.
Provide Previous Inspection and Maintenance Records
If you have previous inspection reports, maintenance records, repair invoices, roof information, HVAC service records, or other documentation related to the property, please share those with us.
We understand that commercial properties often have years of records, multiple vendors, and different people involved in maintaining the building. So, you do not need to organize everything into a perfect package. Any information you can provide may help us better understand the history of the property and put our observations into context.
Let Us Know About Recent Repairs or Planned Projects
If a major repair was recently completed, let us know that also. If you already have the roof scheduled for replacement next year, again, let us know. If you are preparing a capital improvement budget, the more we know about your needs and plans, the better we can tailor your report.
If you are considering selling the property or renewing a tenant’s lease, that is also useful information for us to know. Understanding why you are having the property inspected allows us to focus on the information that will be most useful to you.
Make Sure We Have the Right Contact Information
If you are an out-of-state owner, we may be relying on someone locally who knows the property better than you do. That person could be a property manager, tenant, maintenance person, facility manager, or another representative.
Please make sure we know who that person is and how to reach them if we have questions during the inspection. Having someone available who can answer a question about the building can sometimes save significant time and help us better understand what we are seeing.
You Don’t Need to Get the Building Ready for Us
One of the most important things to remember is that you do not need to make the building look good before we arrive. We are inspecting the property as it exists. Our job is to observe, document, and report on visible conditions. We are looking for the things that may need attention now, as well as the small problems that could become much larger problems if they are allowed to continue.
Our experience managing more than 400 properties taught us the value of identifying small problems before they became major expenses. Regular inspections helped us maintain properties in good condition, keep maintenance costs under control, and reduce unexpected high-cost repairs. That experience is a major part of why Bright Leaf Commercial Property Inspections is now on a mission to educate commercial building owners about the importance of annual inspections.
We look forward to helping you turn uncertainty into clarity and confidence in your building.
