What the visit produces
A written report with photographs, locations and urgency ratings, and a call to walk you through it. The report is the deliverable. The visit only produces observations, and turning those into something a board can approve money from is the part that takes the work.
It is written in plain terms on purpose. Roof reports full of trade language get filed and forgotten, because nobody in the approval chain can tell which of the twenty findings matters. Sorting them by consequence solves that. A lifted lap beside a drain and a rusting fastener in the middle of a dry field are both faults. Only one of them is about to put water into the tenant space below.
What we do not do on the visit
We do not price the repairs while standing on the roof. A number produced up there without the building open in front of you is a guess, and guesses in front of a board cause more trouble than they save.
We do not cut the roof open without asking first. Core samples make holes, holes have to be patched properly, and the patching is part of the job. Where a core or a moisture survey is the only way to answer a question that matters to your decision, we say so and let you decide.
We do not write findings we did not see. Where a section could not be reached safely, or a solar array covers the membrane, the report says so and says why, rather than rating it from the edge.
When managers book
The common triggers are a tenant complaint, a budget cycle where a roof line has to be defended, a change of management where nobody can say what condition the buildings are in, a warranty that requires documented inspections, and a storm that may have done something. The last common trigger is a sale, where somebody is going to ask for a condition report and it is better to know the answer first.
The one that costs the most is the leak. By the time water reaches a ceiling tile it has usually been in the assembly for a while, travelled some distance from the opening that let it in, and soaked insulation along the way. Everything found before that is still small.
Common questions
Who gets the report and what form does it come in?
It goes to whoever engaged us, as a written document you can forward. It is built for forwarding, because a roof report ends up in front of people who were never on the roof.
- Owners, boards, lenders, insurers, tenants and contractors asked to quote
- Each finding carries a photograph, a location, a cause and an urgency rating
- Readers can act on it without calling us first
- Several buildings stay separate reports, one per building
Tell us at booking who else is meant to receive it, so permission is settled at the start rather than later. Ask for the photograph log alongside the written summary, because some readers want the narrative and some want the pictures.
Can you inspect a roof while tenants are working below?
Usually yes. Most commercial inspections happen during business hours without anyone below noticing, because walking a roof is quiet work.
- Disruption comes from access: a ladder in a corridor, a hatch inside a suite
- Gates held open and a lift in a parking lot need blocking off
- Medical, laboratory, food preparation and trading hours are worth discussing first
- Lifting a ceiling tile inside a tenant space has to be arranged
Tell us where the roof is reached from when you book, and flag anywhere noise carries. Early morning visits solve most of it. Seeing both sides of the assembly on one visit produces a far more confident report, so arrange interior access where a stain has appeared.
Can you inspect a building we manage but do not own?
Yes. A large share of our commercial work is instructed by property managers, and what we need is someone with authority to let us onto the roof and a clear ownership position.
- On multi building and association sites, roof responsibility is sometimes split
- Rating a roof nobody in the conversation owns is wasted work
- Rooftop equipment often belongs to someone other than the roof owner
- Reports can be written to hand upward to an owner or board
Tell us at booking which sections fall under your management and whether any part belongs to a tenant or a neighboring owner. Urgent items are separated from routine ones, because the request for money follows the report.
What if the building has several roofs of different ages?
Then it is several inspections and the report should read that way. Rating sections of different ages together produces one number that is wrong for all of them.
- Each section identified on a plan, with its own system description
- Its own condition rating and its own repair list
- Additions and part replacements make this normal on commercial property
- A section generating repeat repairs is telling you something
This is what answers the question that follows, which is where the money goes first. Replacing the failing section alone is often right even though the building then carries roofs of different ages for a while. Ask for the sections to be priced separately.
What happens after the report if repairs are needed?
You decide how to handle them. Each finding has a location, a photograph, a cause and an urgency rating, which is what any contractor needs to price the same scope.
- Ask us to quote, use your own contractor, or go out to several
- Anything letting water in runs on its own timescale, not the package
- The cost of waiting on those items is the insulation underneath
- Everything else can be grouped and scheduled
When you price the work, ask each contractor to break out access, the repair, and insulation replacement if wet material turns up once the roof is opened. That last line is where quotes differ most. Keep invoices and completed work photographs with the report.