Our thorough assessments and comprehensive reports will give you the knowledge required to make a quick decision whether you are a building owner, property manager, tenant, lender, or leasing agent.
Typical commercial buildings include:
Our principal inspector, Lee Ottewell, undertakes building inspections for both residential and commercial clients, as well consulting services to Government organizations (including BC Housing, VIHA etc.). He is also a volunteer inspector for the Victoria Heritage Foundation. He teaches new inspectors through Ashton College in Vancouver and he is also on the HIABC errors and insurance committee. He has been inspecting since 1988 and over that period has inspected thousands of buildings.
Lee is a Licensed Home Inspector with Consumer Protection BC, an Accredited Home Inspector with Home Inspectors Association BC and a former Chartered Building Surveyor with Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Having worked in the UK providing inspection services, Lee also provided architectural, project management, facilities management services for commercial clients, including projects for the refurbishment of Grade II listed buildings.
Lee has numerous academic credentials, including an Honours degree in Building Surveying (Inspecting) obtained in the UK in 1988 (in the Canada the term “building surveying” is known as “building inspecting”), and a Diploma in Building Studies. He is also a graduate of the Carson Dunlop Home Inspection program and CDW Commercial Inspection program.
In August of 1999, the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) published a standard guide for performing property condition assessments. The purpose of the guide is to define good commercial and customary practice. As the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) does not have a comparable standard, we therefore follow the ASTM standard for due diligence, pre-purchase, pre-lease, or post-lease inspections here in Canada.
A copy of the ASTM standard E2018-15 protocol for Property Condition Assessments can be obtained from www.astm.org.
Our narrative reports are designed for quick decision making, with an easy-to-follow summary of recommendations and priorities.
Typically our reports contain:
We do not assume you are familiar with building terminology. We will spend as long as required to clearly explain any issues found with the property.
It is not a problem if you are unable to attend the review at the end of the inspection. This happens frequently with clients who are buying from outside Victoria. We will email the report and then discuss it with you over the telephone, Zoom or FaceTime.
Prior to the inspection will are required to obtain a completed HIABC contract from you. This can either be scanned in and emailed to us, faxed to us or even photographed and emailed back to us. Click here to download a blank contract.
We are more than happy to talk to clients after the inspection if they have further questions or need advice.