BIM - Building Condition Assessment

The assessment is requested by building managers, house owners, or the management when their buildings need issues such as improvements, hazards, defects, or if requested by the government agency responsible. Building condition assessment serves as a check for buildings.

The main purpose for BIM assessing the condition of the building is to:

Ensuring if the building is safe for occupation

Monitoring the condition of the building’s equipment’s

Assessing possible hazards, defects, and any failure of the building under review

Predicting deterioration and forecasting future performance & Caring outbuilding valuation

Process of BIM Building Condition Assessment

When carrying out a building condition assessment, the first step is visiting the construction site. An inspection of the surrounding building is done to identify the building’s possible defects, hazards, and failures. The engineers carry out activities such as video recording, photo-taking, measurements, and interviewing the persons in charge of the building to collect data. After collecting useful information on the building, the assessment team will evaluate the information and produce a detailed report containing what they observed, defects and hazards noticed recommendations and proposals. The assessment reports are useful to the house owner when carrying out future maintenances, building extensions, or any other retrofitting work. The assessment team can present the assessment report according to the user’s specifications.

The structure of the building and its foundation
Infrastructure reviews such as drainage system, availability of parking lots
Roofing technique and designs used
Plumbing system
Fire protection measures put in place
Liquid petroleum Gas piping strategy
Electrical system

The main scope of building condition assessment

Having a report of your building condition is an important step to making informed decisions. Also, getting a building condition assessment will help you when carrying out your due diligence of the house for those buying real estate. It will also serve as a guide to detect whether purchasing the building is a good decision or costly decision. They should conduct building condition assessments for house owners since some lenders might request the report to reaffirm their safety. The assessment is also key for those planning to renovate their building since contractors use the report to estimate their renovation cost.

Building and Construction Inspector

Building inspectors are township or city officials who inspect ongoing construction and completed buildings to establish their safety standards. The building inspector enforces the set legislations and standards that need to be followed when building. Building inspectors must be called upon to inspect a building before it begins to be used thoroughly. They have to assess if the building is up to code and is indeed safe for people to live in. Only when the building inspectors are satisfied with the building can be owner start using the building. In most countries, building plans are submitted to the government for approval before a building is constructed. Construction inspectors review the construction plan submitted to the government for approval. Construction and building inspectors permit remodeling of the building, such as making additions and improvements. The inspectors make sure that the process of remodeling is properly and legally following all the set standards and is properly documented. The inspectors also flag out any possible case of violation of building rules and regulations. Such violations include homeowners having authorized additions and remodeling in their building. However, they allocate some time for the homeowners to correct the violations before taking necessary legal actions. Construction and building inspectors also up-date the building codes by adding any latest additions and making possible removals to the code. Construction and building inspectors are mostly certified in one or more departments such as building, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical inspections.

Commercial Property Inspection

Project managers and owners have options of who they hire to carry out their commercial property inspection. They can hire an architect or an engineer since they possess a varied background in building and asset maintenance. Another option is hiring a commercial building inspector. Commercial property inspection aims at resolving the amount of return on investment (ROI) and the residual value. The manager aims to detect the cost of the building and a projection of profit they are likely to make. The commercial property inspection estimates the life span of the following building system:

Building Inspector Certification

After the relevant inspectors inspect your building and it is confirmed to have met all the required standards, it is incorporated with a building inspector certification. The certificate acts as evidence that the building has met all the government requirements.

Dilapidation Survey

An independent surveyor conducts the report on behalf of the property manager or landlord to assess the condition of a commercial property. The survey provides a clear recommendation of what is required to reinstate a property back to its original state. After clearly identifying all the areas that need reinstating, he/she prepares a dilapidation report to be submitted to the property owners and landlord.

Comparison between property condition assessment and building condition assessment

The management of every asset requires a clear understanding of all the properties in their building. Therefore, a bit to understand the properties and the building, property condition assessment, and building condition assessment report should be done. A property condition assessment evaluates the real estate, including all the necessary systems of each building and all improvements. Due diligence is done on the properties in the building. The report is important since a lender may request it before issuing a loan, or a buyer of the real estate can request the report before purchasing the property. Depending on the owner’s needs, the assessment can be conducted by an engineer, a single commercial building inspector, or a specialist such as an electrical engineer or mechanical engineer.

Building condition assessment is prepared for the owners and managers of a building and aims at understanding and maintaining the physical condition of your building by detecting possible defects, hazards, and building failure. Both building and property condition assessment involves a team of one or more specialists who carry out the assessment and prepares the report.