A Guide To Surveying an Industrial/Warehouse Building

A Guide To Surveying an Industrial/Warehouse Building

Whether as a commercial building surveyor you are undertaking a survey for the purpose of completing a schedule of condition, schedule of dilapidation, technical due diligence survey or for a Party Wall Award there are things that a commercial building surveyor can look out for that are often typical for a certain type of building. 

This blog discusses the various types of defects which may be found and the typical associated issues that should be considered on an element by element basis:

Foundations

As with all surveys it can often be difficult to identify the exact construction of a building’s foundations, and this can normally only be verified if as-built documentation is available for review. With some surveys like a schedule of condition or a schedule of dilapidation it is not the most important item to determine, however with technical due diligence reports such as pre-acquisition surveys, vendors surveys and pre-lease surveys it is often useful to gain an understand as it may impact the functionally and performance of a building.

Most warehouses are constructed using a steel frame, and more often than not this is a steel portal frame. With this type of construction, the foundations are typically either pad foundations or piled, and this will depend on the ground conditions. Older, smaller industrial units may have a more traditional strip foundation or raft foundation. The superstructure construction can be used as a guide to assist with identify the foundation structure. 

As with most buildings a surveyor is looking for defects associated with ground movement and/or inadequate foundation design/construction when they survey a probably with the tell-tale signs of cracking, distorted frames, shrinkage/heave of adjacent external ground levels etc. 

Structure and External Wall

Unlike some other building types the structure in warehouses/industrial units is normally visible which can assist the commercial building surveyor in identifying the construction and condition when undertaking surveys such as schedules of condition, schedule of dilapidations and technical due diligence surveys.

As suggested above a large number of warehouses are constructed using a steel portal frame, however other common structure types are lattice and space frames, or traditional masonry walls. External walls are often a combination of traditional masonry walls to lower areas which could be subject to impact damage and then a type of cladding system to the upper sections. 

Common defects could be impact damage, cracking resulting from movement, effloresce, cut edge corrosion to cladding etc. 

Roof

Owing to the height of warehouses, a commercial building surveyor is likely to need access equipment to survey a roof covering. It is important that a close inspection can be undertaken of the roof covering for the purposes of all types of surveys to ensure schedule of dilapidation and schedule of condition can be produced accurately and technical due diligence surveys provide precise indication of the building condition.

Roof coverings are normally pitched and often comprise metal profiled sheet cladding systems incorporating roof lights. Some older warehouses could have a corrugated concrete sheet covering which in some instances contains asbestos. Some smaller, older units may have flat roofs with a bitumen or felt roof covering. 

With profiled sheet cladding systems typical defects are cut edge or spot corrosion, UV degradation of the factory coating, build up of debris and vegetation etc. The same applied to the metal box gutters. GRP roof lights can often become brittle and misted. Flat roofs can be subject to cracking and UV degradation. 

Windows and External Doors 

Warehouses often have a limited number of windows owing to the use of the building, but if they do then this are often a relatively practical type and could be doubled glazed powder coated metal units or single glazed metal units. External doors could be a combination of many difference types depending on the age and use of the building so could be timber, metal, aluminium framed glazed units etc. Warehouse buildings will lightly contain roller shutter doors or dock levellers. 

It is important that a commercial building surveyor takes into consideration the purpose of their inspection when assessing the condition of these elements as the extent of repair and commentary will differ depending on if the instruction is a schedule of condition, schedule of dilapidation etc. 

Window and door defects will be the same as those found on other buildings such as UV degradation of the decorative finishes, timber decay, damage glazing, failed double glazing etc. Roller shutters and dock levellers should be inspected carefully as can often be subject to impact damage and if not inspected/serviced regularly can fall into disrepair. 

Internal Finishes

Internal finishes within warehouses can be very hi-tech depending on the use, however most common warehouse are very basic in their finish. You would typically expect to see if internal face of the frame, roof and external walls. The floor covering is likely to be a concrete slab and then any ancillary spaces such as offices, welfare accommodation etc. is normally functional and basic in appearance. 

Again the extent to which a commercial building surveyor focuses on these items will be dependant upon the type of instruction. A schedule of condition may just provide a broad overview of the condition with typical examples otherwise documents can become too large and unusable. A schedule of dilapidation will be more specific and focus on items of disrepair.

Other than the typical defects and disrepair found to internal finishes, specific items which a commercial building surveyor should focus on are the condition of the floor slab which may have cracking, and the condition of the internal parts of the frame, roof etc. 

External Areas

External areas will often comprise a concrete hardstanding to a service yard of the like and maybe tarmacadam car parks or pedestrian walkways. Surface water drainage will be provided to these areas. 

The commercial building surveyor should again look for any signs of movement which could be a result of shifting ground conditions or below ground drainage issues. It is important that a surveyor looks for any signs of previous uses for the site which may lead to contaminated land etc. as this can have significant implications especially in relation to technical due diligence surveys.  

At Commercial Building Surveyors, we offer homebuyer surveys in the following locations: Homebuyer Survey Bristol, Homebuyer Survey Cardiff, Homebuyer Survey Birmingham