NationSpec brings an expert team to our commercial home inspections. We are based in Katy, Texas and travel to building sites anywhere within a 75-mile radius of our headquarters.
Commercial property inspections – how important are they?
Your business is your livelihood, and you do not have the time, or the funds, to waste in dealing with a substandard building. Regardless of whether you are purchasing or leasing a commercial building, you need to know beforehand that it is structurally sound, and that the wiring, plumbing and HVAC are up to code.
Purpose-built new construction
If you’re having a commercial building – restaurant, industrial, warehouse, office building – constructed to your specifications, you have the opportunity to ensure that it meets code and matches your specifications from day 1, by ordering construction-phased inspections.
Before you can build in most cities in Texas, you’ll go through the process of obtaining permits, zoning your property for commercial, and submitting your architectural plans to the regulating authority. City inspectors will also inspect the building in each of three phases of its construction:
- Before the foundation is poured
- Before the drywall is installed
- Final inspection
But in these instances, the inspector is only looking to make sure that the building meets code.
At NationSpec, we check to ensure that the building meets code as well, but we go the extra mile in all instances to ensure that the entire construction process is going smoothly.
New building inspection
If you’re leasing space in a brand-new building that a different company has had constructed, it’s essential to have the property inspected as well.
You may think that a brand-new building would surely be built to code, with brand-new heating and air-conditioning systems and plumbing, but builders make mistakes or cut corners, or both. While the building would have been inspected at several phases by municipal building inspectors, again, their task is simply to make sure that everything meets code.
What goes into a commercial building inspection?
In a sense a commercial building covers the same ground as a residential home inspection, only there are many more elements to inspect in a commercial building because of the higher foot traffic, and higher energy usage for office equipment and so on.
Structure: the building’s foundation, the interior and exterior walls, and the roof
Internal: the electrical system, the plumbing system, and the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system (HVAC)
Exterior: parking lot, sidewalks, sprinklers, drainage
Interior: Ceilings, walls, doors, windows, light fixtures
There is an added element in commercial building inspections that aren’t present in residential inspections, and that’s wheelchair access for the disabled and the need for emergency exits.
In addition to performing these tests visually, NationSpec also uses thermal imaging to see what the human eye cannot.
Thermal imaging
Our inspectors are equipped with hand-held thermal imaging cameras, which we use throughout the building.
Infrared imaging allows us to see the entire “building envelope.”
The building envelope refers to all the elements that form the shell of the building, separating the exterior – the outside temperature, weather, or pollutants such as car exhaust – from the interior of the building.
Technical functions of the envelope
- Provide structural support
- Control internal moisture and humidity to prevent mold or mildew
- Regulate temperature to provide comfort
- Control air pressure to ensure airflow which keeps pollutants out and energy efficiency in
What thermal imaging tells us
- If there is air leakage which will result in excessive energy use
- If there are moisture problems which will destroy walls over time
- If the HVAC system is performing poorly, which will result in excessive energy use
- Problems with the electric system which could result in power failure
And much more…
Inspection Reports
After the commercial building inspection has been completed, you will receive an extremely detailed and comprehensive report covering each and every problem found, if any. This includes all the thermal imaging photos, in color, with detailed explanations in how to read them.
The NationSpec Difference
The inspector team at NationSpec has decades of experience in performing commercial building inspections. We take pride in our thorough knowledge of the construction process as well as building codes, and in our attention to detail.
Our clients depend on us and trust us to deliver a thorough inspection, so they can make the right choice about leasing or buying a particular building for their business. We don’t take that responsibility lightly.
