Commercial Inspection

A commercial property inspection gives a buyer, owner or landlord a clear picture of a building’s condition before money changes hands or a lease is signed. Complete Home Inspections takes on commercial buildings across Southwestern Ontario, and Jim Ward’s construction background, which started at a young age, covers commercial projects as well as houses.

Commercial inspections Jim offers

• Commercial property inspection: a full look at a building you own, lease or manage.
• Pre-purchase inspection: before you buy, so the price reflects the condition.
• Rental property inspection: for buildings with tenants, from a duplex to an apartment block. See rental inspections.
• Pre-listing inspection: before you put the building on the market.
• General property inspection: when you simply want to know where things stand.

What a commercial inspection looks at

The core is familiar from residential work: structure and foundation, roofing, the exterior, electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling, and the interior finishes. On a commercial building Jim also looks at the type of windows, the elevators, the fire protection systems and the water lines, because those are where commercial buildings tend to carry costs a house doesn’t.

Why those four? Window systems on older storefronts and offices are often original and expensive to replace. Elevators have long service lives and big price tags when they need modernizing. Fire protection, from sprinklers to alarm panels, has to be kept up for the building to be used as intended. And water lines in older commercial buildings may be galvanized steel or other materials that are nearing the end of their life, which is a cost a buyer wants to know about before the deal closes.

Fire protection notes are not a Fire Code inspection

Jim’s report records what he can see of a building’s fire protection systems. Those are observations for your report, not a fire department’s Fire Code inspection. In Ontario, the Fire Code is enforced by the municipal fire department, and testing and certifying systems like sprinklers, fire alarms and extinguishers is work for qualified fire protection technicians. If a lender, insurer or the municipality needs that kind of sign-off, plan for it separately.

The same goes for elevators. Elevating devices in Ontario are regulated by the Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) and maintained by qualified elevator contractors, so an inspector’s notes on the elevator describe its type and visible condition rather than certifying it.

Scheduled to limit interruptions

A store, office or restaurant can’t close for the morning because someone is looking at the roof hatch. Jim schedules commercial inspections to limit interruptions to the business. When you call, tell him how the building is used, who has keys, which areas are locked or occupied, and whether tenants need notice, and he’ll work out timing with you.

Multi-residential buildings

Jim has experience inspecting multi-residential buildings as well as single-family homes. Duplexes, triplexes and small apartment buildings sit between residential and commercial: each unit has its own kitchen and washroom to look at, while the roof, the foundation, the shared systems and the common areas behave like a small commercial building. If you’re buying one as an investment, a careful inspection of both halves is what tells you whether the rent will carry the repairs.

Visual, and honest about it

Commercial inspections follow the same visual, non-invasive approach as Jim’s house inspections. He reports on what is visible and accessible on the day. Larger or more complex buildings sometimes call for a structural engineer, an electrical contractor or another specialist on a particular system, and the report can point you toward where that kind of follow-up makes sense.

You get a full-colour report by email, with all the images from the inspection and a recommendation for each defect. Like all his reports, it isn’t released to anyone without your written consent, which matters when a building’s condition is part of a negotiation.

Pricing and booking

Commercial inspections are priced on the building, so call 519-550-4998 for pricing, or send the address, size and use through the quote form. Jim covers Brant, Oxford, Middlesex, Elgin, Norfolk and Haldimand counties, including London and Middlesex and Tillsonburg and Oxford. Buildings outside those counties are inspected at an adjusted cost, agreed before the inspection is scheduled. Before you hire anyone for a commercial job, our questions to ask a home inspector are a good place to start.