This is a checklist for commissioning a property condition assessment and for reading the one that comes back. It covers the scope, the documents, the site work and the report, with the roof treated as its own item because it is routinely the largest number in the whole exercise.
Use it in that order. Almost every disappointing assessment was scoped loosely, and no amount of careful reading afterwards recovers a visit that never looked at the right things.
Before you commission
| Settle | Why |
|---|---|
| Who will read the report | A lender, a committee and an owner want different depth |
| Which standard applies | Lenders often name one, and scoping below it means paying twice |
| The cost table term | Ten or twelve years is common, and it has to be stated |
| Who walks the roof | By name and background, not by job title |
| Whether testing is included | Moisture survey, cores, infrared, and who pays for access |
| Access and timing | Tenant notice, hatches, keys, and the diligence window |
| Who owns the report | And whether a lender may rely on it later |
Documents to supply or request
- As built drawings, and any roof plan that exists.
- Age of each major system, with the basis for the figure.
- Maintenance and repair records, going back as far as they exist.
- Warranties in full, with their conditions rather than only the certificates.
- Permits, and any record of work carried out without one.
- Any prior assessment, reserve study or roof report.
- Rooftop equipment agreements, including antenna and solar leases.
- A list of known problems from whoever manages the building.
What comes back is itself evidence. A building with no records is a building whose condition cannot be verified from paper, which raises the value of testing and lowers the value of anybody’s opinion.
On site
| Area | What has to be covered |
|---|---|
| Site | Paving, drainage, retaining structures, lighting, signage |
| Structure | Visible movement, cracking, deflection, water staining |
| Envelope | Walls, windows, sealants, parapets, flashings |
| Roof | Walked, area by area, with photographs and locations |
| Mechanical and electrical | Age, condition, capacity, remaining life |
| Vertical transport | Equipment age, service record, outstanding orders |
| Life safety | Alarms, suppression, egress, documented testing |
| Accessibility and code | Observed conditions, with the basis stated |
| Interiors | Representative units, common areas, back of house |
The roof is where scopes most often quietly narrow. A roof viewed from a hatch, or from an adjacent building, is not a roof that has been inspected, and the report should say which of the two happened. The roof due diligence checklist covers the roof portion in full.
What the report must contain
- A purpose statement. Who it was written for and what it supports.
- The method. What was walked, what was tested, who attended.
- Findings by system, each located, photographed and rated.
- Immediate repairs, separated from longer term capital items.
- A cost table over the agreed term, with the basis for each figure.
- Remaining life per system, with a stated basis rather than a bare number.
- Limitations, written as instructions: what was not seen, why, and what would resolve it.
Reading the draft
Read it once for structure and once for substance. The first pass checks that every section above is present and that none of them is a paragraph of boilerplate. The second checks whether the findings are about this building or about buildings in general, which is usually obvious within a page.
Then correct facts, not conclusions. Supply any document that arrived late. Question any finding whose basis is not stated, and any limitation written as a generic disclaimer rather than as a specific gap.
Then check the roof line against reality. Assessment cost tables carry allowances rather than bids, and an allowance for a roof is usually built from area and a unit rate rather than from the condition of this particular assembly. Why the roof cost in a report rarely matches a contractor’s bid covers where that gap comes from, and whether it matters depends entirely on what the number is being used for.
Walked by Date Roof
Common questions
What do I give the assessor before they start?
Everything the building already knows about itself. Drawings, the age of each major system, service and repair records, warranties, permits, any prior assessment, and the operating history from whoever manages the property day to day. Assessors find most of what is wrong; owners already hold most of what is relevant.
- As built drawings and any roof plan that exists
- Service records for roof, mechanical, electrical and elevators
- Warranties, with their conditions, not just the certificates
- Permits and any record of unpermitted work
- A list of known problems from the site manager
In a transaction this arrives as a document request to the seller, and what comes back is itself a finding. A building with no maintenance records is not necessarily a badly maintained building, but it is a building whose condition cannot be verified from paper, which pushes more weight onto testing and onto the time you have to do it. [The roof document request checklist](/checklists/roof-document-request-checklist/) covers the roof part of that list.
How much of a property condition assessment is a document review?
More than most people expect, and it is the half that is easiest to skip. The walk establishes present condition. The documents establish history, obligations and what has already been promised to somebody, and a finding without that context is frequently read the wrong way round.
- Records show whether a defect is new or recurring
- Warranty conditions decide who pays for a failure
- Permits show what was approved and what was not
- Prior assessments show the rate of change
- Interviews catch what no document records
A patched area on a roof means one thing on its own and something else entirely beside four invoices for the same location over three years. The second version is a recurring defect that has been managed rather than fixed, and it belongs in the capital plan rather than in the maintenance budget. That distinction is invisible from the roof and obvious from the file, which is why both halves of the work are needed.
Who actually carries out a property condition assessment?
Usually one lead assessor supported by specialists for the systems that need them. A generalist can walk a building and report sensibly on most of it, but the roof, the structure and the mechanical plant are each areas where a specialist sees things a generalist records as satisfactory.
- Ask who walks the roof, by name and background
- Specialist input may be a subconsultant or a separate report
- The lead assessor still owns the final document
- Conflicting findings between specialists must be reconciled, not stacked
- A single generalist on a large asset is a limitation
The roof is the item most often delegated to the generalist and the item that most often carries the largest single number in the report. Asking who will be on it, and what they do for a living, is a reasonable question at the proposal stage. [The roof section of a property condition assessment](/services/pca-roof-section/) covers how specialist input is usually written into the main document.
What should I do with the draft before it is finalized?
Read it against the checklist, correct the facts and leave the opinions alone. A draft review is the right moment to fix a wrong building area, a misdescribed system or a missing document you have since found. It is not the moment to soften a conclusion.
- Check areas, quantities, ages and system descriptions against your own records
- Supply documents that arrived after the site visit
- Query any finding whose basis is not stated
- Ask for limitations to be specific, not generic
- Never ask for a conclusion to be removed
The distinction protects you later. A report corrected on facts is stronger evidence than one that was never questioned. A report edited to remove an inconvenient opinion is worth very little to the person who commissioned it and nothing at all to anybody relying on it afterwards, which in a transaction is usually a lender who will read the same building independently. Correct the facts, keep the opinions, and note your disagreement separately if you have one.
Which level of property condition assessment should I ask for?
The one that matches what the report has to support. A walk through with a short memorandum suits an early look at a small asset. A full assessment with specialist input, document review and a cost table over a defined period is what a lender or an investment committee will expect.
- Scope follows the reader, not the building size
- Lenders usually name the standard they want followed
- A cost table needs an agreed term, commonly ten or twelve years
- Specialist input is an addition, not an upgrade
- Agree the level in the proposal, in writing
Ask the reader before you ask the assessor. A lender that requires a particular standard will say so, and scoping below it means paying twice. Where no standard is imposed, the practical question is what decision the report has to support: a price adjustment, a reserve schedule, or a board paper. Each of those wants a different depth, and all three want the roof done properly.