If you're purchasing a commercial building like a restaurant or convenience store, it's important to have it inspected before you close on the deal. Commercial property inspection plays the same role as having a home inspected before you buy it. It allows you to check the structure of the building in order to make sure that it's sound, which lessens the likelihood that it will soon require expensive repairs. While commercial property inspection serves a similar purpose to residential property inspection, there are a few important differences that make it important to find an inspector that has extensive experience inspecting commercial buildings.
Assesses Features Not Commonly Found in Homes
Commercial buildings have more complex features than homes, so a commercial building inspector needs a broad level of construction knowledge to assess the condition of what they find during the inspection. For example, automatic fire suppression systems are an important safety feature in restaurant kitchens, but an inspector would be unlikely to ever see one in a home.
Commercial building inspectors need to be familiar with all of these complex features in order to accurately assess the condition of the building. In addition, commercial inspectors also hire subcontractors like electricians, plumbers, and HVAC conditions when they need additional expertise in order to accurately inspect a commercial building.
More Thorough When Looking for Safety Hazards
One major component of commercial property inspection is carefully examining the building for safety hazards like narrow stairs or poor lighting. This is a larger part of commercial building inspection compared to residential inspection due to the increased liability involved.
Customers or employees who are injured as a result of a safety hazard on the property may sue the building owner, and they may be liable if they knew about the hazard and didn't correct it. The liability that commercial properties face makes eliminating dangers more important, so assessing the building for safety hazards is a large part of a commercial property inspection.
Gives You an Overview of the Building's ADA Compliance
Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act isn't relevant when an inspector is looking at a home. However, it will be assessed as part of a commercial property inspection. The inspector will see if your entire building can be accessed by employees and guests who have a disability, and they can make recommendations about the changes you can make in order to improve accessibility. As part of the inspection, they'll also give you a general idea of how much these improvements will cost.
If you're thinking of purchasing a commercial property, it's important to have it inspected by a service that has a large amount of experience with the type of building you're thinking about buying. A commercial property inspection is more thorough than a residential property inspection, and it also requires experience with the building features commonly found in commercial buildings. It also requires a keen eye for possible safety hazards on the property along with its ability to be accessed by people with disabilities.
For more information about commercial inspections, contact a local company.