Stage 01 · How we work
Understand the building before you repair it
A condition survey establishes what the building is actually doing, so the scope that follows is written against the building rather than against a guess.
Stage 01 · How we work
A condition survey establishes what the building is actually doing, so the scope that follows is written against the building rather than against a guess.
What this stage produces is a written record of the building as it stands, and a scope that can be priced, filed and built from. It is the difference between a number and a plan.
The elevation, the roof line, the parapet, the setbacks and the areas at grade, recorded as they stand.
Cracked and spalled brick, displaced or bulged sections, open joints, failed sealant, corroding lintels and shelf angles.
Slab edges, decks, columns and walls, and the difference between a surface defect and a section that has lost cover.
Where a condition cannot be judged from the ground or from a window, the areas that need access, probes or openings to be read properly.
What it will take to reach the work over an occupied street, which is part of the scope rather than an afterthought to it.
Conditions that will decide sequence, protection and duration once the repair is priced.
The reports, filings and violations already attached to the building, and what the last cycle said about it.
Our own field crews on the elevation, not a description taken over the phone.
Conditions photographed and located, so a finding can be found again on a drawing and on the wall.
The findings turned into defined work, in the order it has to happen.
What has to be corrected now, what can be programmed, and what should be watched.
A scope written from a real survey is easier to price, easier to file and easier to build. The conditions that usually blow up a facade job - the section of wall nobody opened up, the lintel behind the sealant, the access that turns out to need a shed - are the ones that were never looked at before the number was agreed.
No. Under the Facade Inspection & Safety Program a critical examination is carried out by a Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector, who files the technical report with the Department of Buildings. A condition survey is our own field assessment of what the building needs, and it is often what the repair scope is then written from.
FISP applies to buildings taller than six stories. Cycle 10 opened on 21 February 2025, and buildings file within the sub cycle set for them.
A defined scope of the work, the conditions it is based on, and the sequence and access the work will need.
A photograph of the condition, the last facade report, or the violation is enough to begin a conversation about what the survey would need to cover.