All things need some kind of inspection, and even buildings have a so-called “building inspection”. Imagine you have a baby. This baby is your building being built. If it has a good foundation and planned construction, the newborn will have a good, healthy adult life (or so we hope it will be).
But without periodic and preventive medical inspection, vaccinations, hygiene care, healthy eating, and two parents or family members who have good teamwork to keep the family base together and provide a good education for the child. What would she become?
At the very least, he would present a lot of future problems, wouldn’t he? And taking another example, what happens to adults who do not inspect their own health?
Take medicine or die
Making a parallel with the examples above, construction without a good building inspection can present very serious problems. It is quite common for constructions to present defects due to poor coordination between teams responsible for specific tasks, human error, or simply due to weather actions; it can collapse on its own or become a failure as a building. Do you understand now why building inspection is so important?
Below, we’ll focus a little more on everything you need to know about a building inspection.
What is building inspection?
Just like our bodies, buildings wear out over the years of their useful life. Periodic consultations with the doctor are necessary to find out if everything is ok, and we can treat what is not as soon as possible before things get worse.
A building inspection is practical in that, a “doctor” (in this case an engineer or architect specialized in inspections) consulting his patient (building) to investigate possible illnesses (flaws within the general structure of the building). Yes, a preventive action that aims to identify the general state of the building and its construction systems.
So that, in this way, the construction does not acquire “pathologies” that are the result of defects in hydraulic installations, electrical and gas installations, façade coatings, etc.
It is recommended, before hiring a professional, to find out if he has any specific course for building inspections, as not all undergraduate courses have this subject in their curriculum.
Who is responsible for building inspection?
The building inspection must be sent by the person responsible for the maintenance of the condominium, that is, the manager. After all, it’s his job to maintain the state of conservation of the building.
The inspection is then directed to professionals in the area, qualified by the execution of a pathology report and a building inspection.
Items inspected during a building inspection
As with every medical check-up, it is necessary for the inspector to analyze the following diagnoses:
- Apparent structural elements;
- Sealing systems (internal and external);
- Coating systems such as facades;
- Frame systems;
- Waterproofing systems, which check for leaks;
- Hydraulic installation system (hot and cold water, gas, sewage, water and sewage reuse, etc.);
- Electrical installation system;
- Generators;
- Elevators;
- Protection system against atmospheric discharges (lightning rods);
- Roofing system (roofs, flashings, gutters, etc).
See how it’s not a simple job? There is a lot at stake here to be analyzed!
How much does building inspection cost?
Speaking roughly, we can say that a building inspection costs between $1,000 to $6,500. Not an exact amount, is it? This is because there are some factors that we must take into account whenever we want to know the price of a building inspection. Below we will go through each of these factors so that you can understand them better, follow them!
1 – The total number of reports
The first thing you should consider here is: how many reports will this inspection generate? Depending on the number of reports, this will directly affect the total price of your building inspection.
But, contrary to what you might be thinking, here the logic is reversed, that is, the more reports, the cheaper the final price. This is because the individual report is more expensive than if you order several at once. A single assessment of a single aspect of the structure varies between $1,000 and $3,000, while if you ask for all the reports you need, each one comes out at an average of $600 to $1,000.
2 – How much does the technical hour cost?
The technical hour value of each region must also be taken into account here. Of course, this depends a lot on the hired professional, however, most of them, when setting a price, is based on the price list.
So, if you want to know how much the building inspection will be, take a look at this table. Playing by average, we can say that the technical hour varies between $ 280 and $ 350. In the table, you will find information regarding the value, as well as the number of hours needed to perform this service.
3 – Time of existence of the building
And lastly, the age of the building also has an influence here. Normally, there are listed values for buildings up to 30 years old. For older buildings, 10% is added to the value for every 5 years of this limit.
Once you have the value of each of these items in hand, it will be easy for you to stipulate an average amount you will have to pay for the building inspection.
Just like our bodies need periodic and preventive inspections to avoid pathologies or death itself. This also happens with buildings, whatever.
Think about it, in a 40-story building that houses tens or hundreds of people, if that building doesn’t go through regular inspections, there could be terrible fatal accidents or even the collapse of the building itself with the people inside. Just to give you an idea, most of the origin of building accidents (66%!) are caused by the failure of maintenance and use.
That’s why building inspection is sorely needed!
Another article on this blog that may interest you:
Technical Building Inspection Best Affect On Sale Of Apartments?
Frequently Asked Questions About The Best Technical Buildings Inspection
