OF HIRING AN NG OU

OF EN

ENGIN ER TO NSP YOU

N IINEER TO INSP CT YOUR BUILDING

F HIRIING NG AN T

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By Becky Weber, CDT, Sr. Architectural Consultant, Waldman Engineering Consultants, Inc.

LDING

NS G

SPECT

The right maintenance can prolong the life of the major components of your building. From the foundation to the roofing, the building systems need periodic inspection and maintenance. Nothing lasts forever and each building system has a finite life expectancy.

Who is the right person to perform these inspections? An inexpensive way to get this inspection service completed is to contact a contractor that would do the repair or replacement work. The obvious problem with having a contractor do the inspection is that they have a vested interest in seeing repairs or replacements get completed. The contractor typically will do the inspection for no cost in hopes of getting the contract for the actual repair work. Another drawback in having a contractor do the inspection is that, if you have multiple systems that need inspections, you need multiple contractors involved since roofers do not usually do masonry work and concrete installers do not install siding, etc.

By hiring a building inspection engineering consultant, you will have a greater chance of receiving a non-biased inspection. The right engineer will be knowledgeable on all of the building systems and understand how each component can impact the other components. The engineer will typically provide a written report documenting their findings from the inspection. This report should also include recommendations for repairs or replacements.

For purposes of this article, the focus will be on the following major building systems that need routine repair or replacement:

14 | COMMON INTEREST® A Publication of CAI-Illinois Chapter