For commercial property inspectors, assessing a concrete building requires a clear understanding of the various construction types. This article focuses on concrete panels precast in a factory and provides an…
Tragedies in commercial buildings have directly influenced changes to locally and internationally adopted building codes. In 1993, a bomb detonated at the World Trade Center, cutting both normal and emergency…
Exit Signs vs Emergency Lighting Exit signs mark the path to safety. Emergency lighting illuminates the path to safety. In the hotel inspection video below, exit signs are installed in…
In basic terms, smoke control systems manage the movement of smoke and air within a building and vary based on its design, use, and occupancy. These systems contain or exhaust…
Commercial real estate has long been one of the most powerful vehicles for building wealth, generating income, and creating long-term financial stability. Whether you are considering your first commercial property…
A proposal is a document that presents a scope of service and fee to a prospective client before the inspection agreement is signed. It’s a service alignment and sales tool.…
Once the inspector establishes a fee for his/her services, he or she needs to present it to their client for approval and acceptance. Unlike a residential inspection, where the inspector…
The baseline scope of the International Standards of Practice for Inspecting Commercial Properties (ComSOP) excludes predicting service life expectancy, providing repair estimates, or offering opinions of cost to remedy. However,…
The commercial property inspection process requires experience, knowledge of commercial building design to meet safety and functional standards, and a structured and consistent methodology. The following case study describes a…
An outbuilding is a detached, accessory structure located on the same parcel as a main building. It provides supplemental space for storage, services, or operations and is not intended for…
During commercial property inspections, retaining walls are often found at parking lots, along property boundaries, and where changes in site elevation create access to lower levels. Some walls serve only…
In this article, we review how the commercial real estate property insights platform CoStar can help inspectors improve workflow and client communication, and how continued use can turn a single…