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Cushman & Wakefield
What Does a Commercial Roof Inspection Cost and Why Are They Important?
Commercial roof inspections shouldn’t be a mystery. We’re going to take you through the most common questions about commercial roof inspections we offer throughout Virginia, Maryland, and DC, and all of the details, costs, and preparation they require.
One of a building owner’s worst nightmares is finding out that your building requires an emergency roof replacement and you don’t have the funding to support the project. Maybe the single-best action you can proactively take is a planned approach to your commercial roof maintenance by scheduling bi-annual roof inspections with a certified commercial roofing contractor, along with conducting your own routine basic maintenance. You don’t want to be “that guy” caught off guard with the burden of an unplanned major building expense.
Would you buy a brand new car and expect it to run 100,000 miles without a bit of routine maintenance? Maybe you could get away with that, but to really get the most out of a new or used vehicle, routine maintenance is required. Standard maintenance on any car includes tire rotations, oil changes, fluid refills, tire replacements, brake replacements, regular checkups, and a lot of gas in between. Commercial roofs are much the same, and to get your roof to 100,000+ miles, they need to be inspected, maintained, and cared for.
What sort of preliminary work is conducted before a contractor arrives on-site?
Before one of our commercial roofing contractors ever arrives on-site, they’ll conduct extensive pre-inspection homework to learn everything they can about your commercial roof’s history and composition.
They’ll take a hard look at historical satellite imagery to get an understanding of its history, identify potential ponding water, see how the roof has aged, and determine whether it’s undergone any major replacements or changes. They’ll also bring along the satellite imagery to the inspection itself so the engineer can mark any specific areas of concern. The more we know stepping foot on your roof, the better.
To get as much information as possible, they will also cross reference your building addresses with all major roof system manufacturers. This will help determine your warranty’s standing and scope of coverage and better inform you of any roof manufacturer recommendations to keep your warranty in good standing, in addition to any recommendations we may provide in your roof inspection report.
If you have a work order history with Simpson, then rest assured we can provide you with sound recommendations based on the most up-to-date information of your commercial roof and building envelope history. If that’s not available or you’re a first-time customer, our estimator will speak to the building engineer directly to learn as much as possible about the history of your building.
How much does a roof inspection cost?
No two commercial roofs (or roof inspections) are the same so the scope of an inspection can be broad depending on the square footage, access, number of roofs, roofing system type, and customer needs.
Traditionally our basic commercial roof inspections are free of charge or inclusive in other roofing services. These involve a walkthrough with one of our roofing experts who will create an inspection and photo report that compile general takeaways, recommendations, and costs to complete.
A more comprehensive walkthrough would include a service crew who conducts on-site repairs, quick fixes, and basic maintenance, such as cleaning leaf debris, trash, minor repairs, and small punctures. It’s the same level of detailed inspection as any walkthrough but comes with a squad of commercial roofing professionals ready to button up your roof on-site.
If you’re considering a roof replacement and need a core sample taken or have an irregular roof composition that will incur additional on-site repairs, those elements may add to the scope and cost of your inspection. But we’ll have all of these details defined before anyone arrives on-site.
No matter what the scope, all of our inspections are incredibly detailed and carefully documented, and will each include a detailed photo report.
What will the commercial roofing contractor inspect?
Once they’ve arrived on-site, discussed any questions or concerns with the building engineer, and established safe access to the roof, our estimator will inspect every major component of your commercial roofing system. This includes the field of roof, flashing details, penetrations, roof drains, metal flashing components (ie. coping cap), and other critical components that are related to the integrity of the roof, such as brick/masonry and HVAC units. (See a detailed list of all our commercial roofing repair and maintenance services here)
The seams, flashing, roof penetrations, and roof drains are considered the most vulnerable areas of a commercial roof, so those will be given extra attention.
Part of our preliminary discussions with the engineer is determining whether there have been any recent leaks so we can prioritize our focus and attention to those specific areas. If there are any reported leaks or signs of water damage on the inside of the building, we’ll do an interior walkthrough as well.
Our estimators are able to identify areas of concern on the building envelope as well, though this obviously depends on the size of the building. A 10-story building can’t include a thorough building envelope inspection without a swing stage, but assuming your building is 1-2 stories, they’ll inspect the building facade from the ground level to identify any obvious issues, like control joints with deteriorated sealant.