Commercial Building Inspections - Tips for Finding a Reliable and Competent Building Inspector
If so when planning to buy a commercial property, the question often arises, 'How MAY I Find a Reliable and Competent Building Inspector for Conducting a Commercial Building Inspection?' While one could easily write an eBook with this subject matter, this article offers several ideas to help you hire a trusted and competent inspector for the purpose of obtaining a thorough and diligent commercial building inspection. So without further ado, i want to begin by telling you 'What Never to Do'.
Never hire a commercial building inspector who was referred to you by the true estate agent or any outside party who has a vested fascination with and stands to get from the sale of the property.
Although this statement goes without saying, it's worth mentioning due to the fact many of those looking to purchase commercial real estate believe it is standard protocol to rely upon the realtor's recommendation for hiring an inspector. The truth is, this practice poses a conflict of interest that can have dire consequences for the party purchasing the property. Unfortunately, real estate agents who knowingly partake in this practice along with inspectors who continue to burn the candle from both ends know just what they're doing and how to get away with it. While there may be a few exceptions to what I am letting you know, I can assure you that most inspectors who rely heavily upon referrals from realtors for their business are not going to rock the boat by disclosing any information to your client during an inspection that may later serve to jeopardize their relationship with the broker or property company who referred them to begin with.
Never hire a house Inspector to conduct a Commercial Property Inspection.
As for hiring a house inspector to conduct a commercial building inspection, suffice it to say that typically, conducting a commercial building inspection is altogether different from performing a home inspection for reasons too numerous to list in this article. However, the proliferation of home inspectors in the last twenty years (everyone wants to be one, especially in those States where home inspection licensing is becoming mandatory making it relatively easy for anybody to become licensed), hasn't helped either as this has spawned an increasing amount of home inspectors who are still struggling to properly inspect a house, significantly less a commercial building, even if their life depended upon it. Moreover, given the amount of significant and distinct differences between residential and commercial property, while experience in inspecting homes may serve as a prerequisite, it really is by no means an alternative for the vast quantity of knowledge and experience required and yet to be learned by most home inspectors before they can even begin considering conducting a diligent and thorough building inspection.
Aside from 'What Not to Do', there are also other criteria you should consider or at least be aware of in your quest to hire a trusted and competent commercial building inspector. namely:
Know the essential difference between a Commercial Building Inspection and a house Condition Assessment (PCA).
Although this topic warrants a separate discussion, it's important to remember that the terms 'PCA' and 'Commercial Building Inspection' are often used interchangeably in the industry sector. This in turn has resulted in a lot of confusion not merely among real estate investors and others looking to purchase commercial property but realtors as well who generally simply have no idea significantly less understand the difference. To create matters worse, the ASTM (American Society of Testing Materials) in addition has gotten in on the act by promulgating their ASTM Standards for Conducting a Baseline PCA. What this means is that since they are actually a nationally recognized organization in the construction industry, in certain respects they're similar to the AMA in the medical profession meaning everything they write on a specific subject happens to bear a lot of weight. The problem arises in that the Standards for Conducting a Baseline PCA are often misunderstood by many in the profession and seldom if ever read by those buying and selling real estate.
To simplify things, all one really has to understand is that the difference between a commercial building inspection and set up a baseline PCA is like all the time since the later can be carried out in a fraction of the time it requires to conduct a thorough and diligent commercial building inspection. The reasoning behind that is pure and simple in that a PCA is essentially a cursory walk-through of the property that relies heavily upon used information obtained through interviews and documentation (that may/may not be easily available aside from veritable) normally obtained through the dog owner and/or occupants of the house. Hence, my advice to anyone who's seriously considering having a PCA in deciding whether or not to purchase a commercial property is to forget it since usually a PCA is a total waste of time and money in providing information contained in a house condition report that's not worth the paper it's printed on.
Try to obtain just as much information as possible about the company and the inspector beforehand
That is another statement that goes without saying but I mention it because lots of people feel uncomfortable in asking questions of the nature especially when speaking with someone they don't know. However, if you reflect upon what I've just said for an instant, the fact you don't know anything about the company or the inspector should be reason enough to ask all the questions it is possible to to solicit answers without having to be embarrassed.
Be sure to ask the business or building inspector for references
Finally, don't be embarrassed to ask for bonafide references regarding recent clients for whom they have conducted similar commercial building inspections. If the company or inspector is reputable and when they will have confidence in the service they offer, they normally won't have any reservations whatsoever in providing you with this information.
Check out here will provide tips as to what questions you must ask and what else you should be aware of in seeking to hire a reliable and competent commercial building inspector.
The author can be an independent and accomplished commercial building inspector and consultant of over twenty-five years, providing commercial property/building inspections in the town of Chicago in addition to surrounding and outlaying Illinois suburbs.
Aside from performing an intermittent home inspection occasionally, the author focuses on conducting commercial property inspections of both small and large office, warehouse, and apartment buildings including shop outlets and strip shopping malls.