Condo Inspection

A condo inspection focuses on the part of the building you’ll actually own: your unit, the systems that serve it and the finishes inside it. Complete Home Inspections inspects condos for $450 including HST. You get the same full-colour emailed report as a house buyer does, with all the photos, and you get the report the same day.

Your unit and the common elements

In Ontario, buying a condo means owning a unit outright and sharing ownership of the common elements, such as the roof, hallways, lobby, parking garage, grounds and the building’s main structure, through the condominium corporation. Where the line falls for things like windows, balconies and the equipment that heats your unit depends on that corporation’s declaration. Balconies and patios are often exclusive-use common elements: only you use them, but the corporation is responsible for them.

That split shapes the inspection. Jim inspects what is inside your unit and what he can see and reach from it. The rest of the building belongs to everyone, and its condition shows up in other paperwork.

What Jim looks at in the unit

• Electrical: the unit’s panel where it sits inside the suite, outlets, switches and visible wiring.
• Plumbing: fixtures, visible supply and drain lines, shut-offs, and any water heater serving the unit.
• Heating and cooling: whatever equipment serves the suite, from a furnace to a fan coil or heat pump.
• Windows and doors: operation, seals and signs of water getting in around the frames.
• Appliances: the ones that come with the unit.
• Floors, walls and ceilings: cracks, damage, and stains that hint at leaks from a neighbour or the roof.

Water is the condo buyer’s main worry, because it moves between units. A stain on the ceiling, a swollen baseboard under the kitchen sink or damp drywall below a window can be the first sign of a problem that started somewhere else in the building. Jim photographs what he finds so you can raise it with the seller, your lawyer or the property manager.

Balconies and patios get a visual look as well. Even when the corporation is responsible for them, cracked concrete, rusting railings or water draining toward the unit’s door are worth knowing about. They say something about how the building is being looked after, and the repair may already be on the corporation’s list, which your lawyer can check against the status certificate.

What’s usually out of reach

A unit inspection is a visual, non-invasive look at what is accessible from your suite. As a rule, inspectors can’t get onto the roof, into mechanical rooms or electrical vaults, or into other owners’ units, and they don’t assess the parking structure, elevators or the building envelope from the outside at height. Those belong to the corporation, which looks after them through its own maintenance and reserve fund planning.

The status certificate is a separate document

In Ontario, a buyer’s questions about the building as a whole are answered by the status certificate, which the condominium corporation issues on request. It typically includes the budget, the reserve fund balance, notice of any special assessment, and whether the corporation is involved in legal proceedings, along with its declaration and rules. Reviewing it is your lawyer’s job, not an inspector’s.

The two answer different questions. The inspection tells you about the condition of the unit you’re buying. The status certificate tells you about the corporation’s money, rules and plans. Between them, you get a much fuller picture than either gives alone, so plan to have both done before your conditions come off.

New condos and townhouse condos

A brand-new unit can still hide problems, from missed caulking around a tub to an exterior door that doesn’t seal. Jim’s point about newer houses applies here too: buyers often assume new means fine, and the inspection is how you find out. If you’re buying a townhouse condo, more of the house may be your responsibility under the declaration, so it’s worth telling Jim what kind of condo it is when you call, and asking which price applies.

Booking a condo inspection

Call 519-550-4998 or email chi-1@bell.net. Jim is available 7 days a week. You can also use the quote form and include the unit number and building access instructions. Much of the region’s condo stock is in London and Middlesex and Brantford, and Jim covers both. For how condo pricing compares with houses, see home inspection costs in Ontario. Buying a detached house instead? See the home inspection page.