Inspection Flashcards
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
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
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
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
How would you check the age of a building?
-Ask the client/check land registry/local historical records; date of planning consent
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
What are the main purposes of an inspection?
- Valuation
- Property Management
-Agency
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
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
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
what are the most common types of building foundation?
-Trench
-Piled
-Raft
-Pad
What are the main methods of wall construction?
Solid wall and cavity wall
What is a cavity wall
two layers of brickwork are tied together with metal ties, perhaps filled with insulation.
no headers are used
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
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
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
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)
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)