Inspection Flashcards by Sherman McCoy

What is the four step process when undertaking an inspection?

Consider your personal safety - make sure you know your firm’s health and safety procedures for site inspections
Inspect the local area
External inspection
internal inspection

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What should you take on inspection?

Fully-charged phone with a camera
Something to record notes (e.g. Dictaphone/notepad & pen)
Any relevant documents, including floorplans
calibrated laser distometer to record any measurements
PPE (e.g. non-slip soled shoes, high viz jacket, steel toed boots, ear defenders, gloves, protective goggles

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What should you look for when undertaken an inspection of the surrounding area?

Location; local amenities; public transport links
Any environmental/contamination issues; proximity to electricity substations/high voltage powerlines
Market conditions (e.g. are there many agents’ boards?); comparable evidence

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What would you be looking for when doing an external inspection?

Method of construction
repair and condition of the building
parking/access/loading arrangements
any structural defects
-check site boundaries using OS map and/or title plan

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How would you check the age of a building?

-Ask the client/check land registry/local historical records; date of planning consent

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What would you be looking for when doing an internal inspection?

Specification/layout
Age and condition of the services
Defects
-Compliance with statutory obligations (e.g. asbestos, fire safety, Equality Act (2010), health & safety)
Compliance with lease obligations
Fixtures and fittings and any improvements
Repair and maintenance

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What are the main purposes of an inspection?

Valuation
Property Management
-Agency

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If inspecting for valuation purposes, what would you be looking for?

The main factors that influence value, including:
-Location/Aspect/condition/method of construction/repair and maintenance/defects

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If inspecting for property management purposes, what would you be looking for?

If the asset is occupied, you would check for compliance with statutory and lease obligations; repair & maintenance; requirement for any repairs
If vacant; you would check for statutory compliance/condition of building/security arrangements/assess risk of vandalism or damage to the building

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If inspecting for agency purposes, what would you be looking for?

The location of the building and its condition/statutory compliance/any repairs required/defects etc.
Flexibility/marketability/presentation of the accomodation

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what are the most common types of building foundation?

-Trench
-Piled
-Raft
-Pad

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What are the main methods of wall construction?

Solid wall and cavity wall

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What is a cavity wall

two layers of brickwork are tied together with metal ties, perhaps filled with insulation.
no headers are used

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What is the difference between a stretcher brick and a header brick?

Stretcher - laid horizontally and flat, so that the long side of the brick is exposed
Header- the short end of the brick is exposed

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What are some common defects to bricks?

Efflorescence - appearance of white marks on brickwork as a result of water reacting with the natural salts within the bricks
Spalling - damaged brickwork caused by freeze/thaw, which makes bricks crumble

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What is the typical institutional specification of shops?

Steel or concrete frame construction
Concrete floor and no suspended ceilings
services capped off
let in a shell condition, ready for the retailer’s fit-out

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What are some of the common forms of air conditioning system?

-Variable air volume (VAV)
- Variable refrigerant volume (vrv)
- heat recovery
- comfort cooling
- mechanical ventilation
-fan and coil (usually 4-pipe)

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Are you aware of any rules relating to the use of refrigerants in air con systems?

As of 2015, the use of R22 is illegal (this is a powerful greenhouse gas)

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what are the different types of office fit out?

Shell and core - the common parts of the building are completed but the floors themselves are left in shell condition, ready for the occupier to complete their own fitout
Cat A - the floor is fitted out to an institutional category A standard, including raised access floors, suspended ceilings, lighting and heating/cooling systems
- Cat A+/Cat B - the fit out is completed to the occupier’s specific requirements (e.g. cellular offices, IT systems, furnishings etc.)

What is the institutional specification of an industrial unit/warehouse?

-Steel portal frame construction with plastic coated steel profile cladding with brick or blockwork walls up to approx 2m.
-Minimum 8m clear eaves height with 10% roof lights
- 40% site cover
- 10% office content + toilet provision
- at least 30 kn/m^2 floor loading capacity
- Led lighting
- full height loading doors (electronically operated)
- three-phase electricity power
- main services capped off

What is an inherent defect?

A defect in the design of a building or a material used in its construction that always been there

What is a latent defect?

A defect that could not be discovered by a reasonably thorough inspection of a property

What can cause a building to move?

Subsidence and heave

What is subsidence?

The vertical downward movement of a building due to a loss of support of the site beneath the foundations

What is heave?

The expansion of the ground beneath a building - can be caused by the removal of trees

What would indicate the failure of cavity wall ties?

Horizontal cracking

What are the three types of damp?

Rising damp, wet rot and dry rot

How high does rising damp typically rise?

Up to 1.5m above ground level

What causes wet rot

damp and timber decay

what causes dry rot?

fungal attacks

What are some of the common defects found in older, period buildings?

-Tile slippage on roof - wet/dry rot - timber decay caused by death watch beetles - water ingress near doors and window openings - penetrating damp at roof and ground floor level - structural movement

What are some of the common defects you might find in an industrial warehouse?

-Roof leaks around the roof lights - blocked valley guttering - water ingress from burst pipes - cut edge corrosion - damaged cladding panels

What are some of the common defects you might find in a modern office?

-Damp penetration at roof and ground floor levels - water damage from burst pipes/failed a/c units - damaged cladding - damage to brickwork (e.g. efflorescence)

Is there any RICS guidance around contamination?

There is a guidance note on contamination from 2010; it sets out the general principles that the polluter or landowner is responsible for remediation

What are some common signs of contamination potentially being present?

Evidence of subsidence, oildrums/oils, chemicals, underground tanks

How would you approach valuing a site with contamination present?

1. Do not provide any advice until a specialist report has been commissioned 2. Caveat any advice with a disclaimer highlighting the issue 3. Deduct remediation costs from the gross site value

What are deleterious materials?

Materials that are susceptible to deterioration over time, causing structural issues to a building

What is an example of a deleterious material?

RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) - commonly used in construction of buildings between 60s and 90s

what is the difference between a deleterious and a hazardous material?

A deleterious material is susceptible to deterioration over time, causing structural problems whilst a hazardous material is in itself harmful to health

What are some examples of hazardous materials?

Asbestos lead piping

what is Japanese knotweed and what does it look like?

It's an invasive plant species that can cause damage to hard surfaces, including tarmac and foundations It has a green or purple hollow stem and green shovel-shaped leaves It can be disposed of legally by chemical treatment

When inspecting the office in St James's, what defects were you looking for?

Talk about common defects found in offices (e.g. damp penetrations, damage to brickwork/cladding etc.)

You mentioned the office was in category A condition - what does this mean?

the floor is fitted out to an institutional category A standard, including raised access floors, suspended ceilings, lighting and heating/cooling systems

What air conditioning system was used?

VRv (variable refrigerant volume)

Were you concerned about contamination when you inspected the supermarket/

Yes, given that there was a petrol filling station with underground fuel tanks, I was aware that the site was susceptible to contamination and therefore would have commissioned a specialist survey were we to proceed further with our interest.