When a building inspector inspects a home, they check to ensure the house is safe and up to code. This includes providing fire doors are closed and that they don’t have to be propped open to allow people to escape the home in an emergency.
Leveraging a robust checklist during these inspections empowers teams to identify and document issues before they become serious violations.
Roof
If a building has a roof, it must be inspected regularly to ensure that the top is safe and well-maintained. Building materials deteriorate with age, and regular inspections can help prevent the need for costly repairs in future. For more building inspection checklist, check this out.
Look for loose ridge and valley tiles, rust on corrugated iron, holes in the eaves guttering and rotten floor framing. Also, check for evidence of termites, borers, or dampness in the ceiling lining.
Depending on your builder’s construction schedule and policies, you might have the opportunity to conduct walkthroughs or specialised inspections of your new home while it’s under construction. These building inspection checklists can help you spot and record problems that may otherwise be missed or ignored during the hectic process of completing a new home.
Many building owners take a “squeaky wheel” approach to maintenance, only making repairs when visible and noticeable—this type of haphazard maintenance results in costly repair bills and unnecessary damage to facilities. However, with a thorough and systematic inspection program, maintenance can be simplified and made less expensive.
Exterior
The family home is often the most significant purchase anyone ever makes, yet too many people launch into this expensive venture without sufficient care. It would be absurd for a car buyer to buy a vehicle without first having the motor checked and even more so for a building buyer to purchase a house without having its exterior examined. For more building inspection checklist, check this out.
A building’s exterior is a complex composite system, working together for weather protection and structural integrity. Judging its condition from a photo is impossible, so a complete onsite inspection is required.
In addition to being aesthetically unappealing, exterior wall defects are serious safety hazards and can compromise the structure’s integrity. Exterior surfaces must be treated periodically with a penetrating preservative to protect the building from weathering and maintain its attractive appearance. Exterior doors and windows are significant sources of energy loss through air infiltration, which can be reduced by adequately installing weatherstripping. Inspecting these components is critical to energy conservation.
Interior
The interior of a building is an integral part of the overall condition of the facility. Property management teams are tasked with finding structural problems and safety issues that might go unnoticed and become much more costly to fix later in a commercial setting. By using a thorough checklist during the inspection, these teams can stave off significant repair costs and ensure that their buildings comply with mandated regulations and standards.
Building inspectors look for cracks in the walls, floors, and ceilings. They also check the condition of masonry units, brick, and stone. These include wet spots, stains, bulges, and blisters, spalling and efflorescence, missing brick, and soft or crumbling mortar.
They also examine the condition of soffits, window conditions and seals, weep holes, and the presence and condition of screen enclosures. They also look at the grading of the land and for hose bibs, downspouts, and gutters. They should also ensure that the entry points to a building are free of any furniture or other obstacles that could hinder people’s escape in an emergency.
Electrical
A building doesn’t function without electricity, so the electrical work should be up to standard. Inspectors will check the fuses, wires, switches, and other components to ensure no problems might cause an outage or fire.
They will also check that all electrical boxes are flush with the wall and large enough to hold the number of wire conductors and devices they will contain.
In addition, the inspector will look at extra features such as illuminated mirrors, in-drawer or under-cabinet outlets, and electric car charging stations to ensure they’re working correctly. They will poke around the attic and crawl space to ensure they are free of errant tools or construction leftovers. They’ll check that electrical wiring is anchored to the wall studs and protected with metal plates from penetration by drywall screws and nails. For more building inspection checklist, check this out.