Henry Scott, Head of Building Surveying at Bradley Hall, explains why building surveying is an essential service within commercial property ownership and occupation.
Henry Scott, Head of Building Surveying at Bradley Hall, explains why building surveying is an essential service within commercial property ownership and occupation.
The role of a chartered building surveyor can involve a wide range of commercial and residential projects. This is often surprising to those outside of the industry as it is assumed a building surveyor is only used by home buyers, looking to acquire their next home. While residential property surveys and conversion projects form a key area of our services, so do a greater variety of commercial projects.
Employing a professional building surveyor will often provide savings and value for money to a project, the value of which can significantly exceed the surveyor’s fee, while long-term financial planning can be made thanks to planned preventative maintenance schedules.
When running a business, the aim is to minimise costs without cutting down on quality, while also maximising revenues. Investing in property requires upfront and continued investment, for ongoing maintenance – for this reason maintenance planning will help predict cash flow and avoid unexpected costs.
Professional building surveying can assist tenants by limiting repairing liabilities through detailing the condition of the property on commencement of the lease. When a comprehensive schedule of condition is put together the tenant will not be expected to leave the property in a higher standard than when they began their tenancy – which can mitigate further disputes, so costs are limited where possible. When the lease expires, dilapidation assessments can be modelled to help predict a landlord’s likely damages claim. Depending on the findings of the assessment strategic decisions can be made by a tenant to ensure an economic exit strategy is instigated.
The construction of any building must also be carefully assessed within our preacquisition surveys to ensure existing and potential issues are identified and their associated risks considered. We regularly provide rebuild cost advice to landlords and tenants so that they have the comfort of knowing they are not over insured, and more importantly confirming that they are not underinsured.
Additionally, the health and safety of your staff and visitors is something which should be carefully considered when moving to a new property. The liabilities and risks are high, so this part of the process must be completed to the highest standard, including identifying fire precautions and escape options.
The Bradley Hall Building Surveying team offer a wide range of services and add protection and value to all clients
