We provide pre-acquisition, pre-lease, and existing occupier Commercial Building Surveys to a high level of technical due diligence translated into recommendations to assist our clients to make informed decisions about the subject property. Our reports are detailed, yet clear, identifying defects, environmental and sustainability issues, together with risks. We confirm matters for your legal advisors to make enquiries on and recommend any issues which may require further investigations by specific specialists, if necessary.

There are three types of survey that an individual may wish to consider when purchasing a home, for which Bayside Building Consultancy only offer the highest option, known as “Level-3 Survey”, formerly known as a “Structural Survey”. Our reports for Residential Building Surveys are benchmarked to the RICS Home Standard so clients can be assured that they provided with the advice necessary before committing to purchase the property.

Prior to entering a commercial lease, it is important for Tenants to fully understand the condition in which they need to return the property to the Landlord at the end of the proposed lease. We prepare a Schedule of Condition that provides a record of the state of the property prior to lease commencement and to be referred to in, or appended to, the new lease. The value of a Schedule of Condition is often only realised at lease expiry when a Tenant will be served a Schedule of Dilapidations from the Landlord detailing obligations to return the property to a specific condition and aids any dilapidations negotiations between the parties, or their appointed surveyors.

To ensure property assets sustain value and do not fall into disrepair, Planned Preventative Maintenance is critical. We provide Planned Preventative Maintenance Schedules on a single property, or portfolios of properties. Our reports can be tailored to our client’s specific maintenance requirements but generally we survey and schedule-out works over a given period of time, usually anything up 25-years, and allocate priority ratings. Our Planned Preventative Maintenance Schedules are fully budget costed assisting our clients to forecast and programme their expenditure on their properties.

Building Pathology is the skill of looking at a structural or material failure in buildings together with non-structural and other construction-related problems, such as water penetration or dampness. Our Defect Diagnosis Reports focus on a specific defect or concern that an owner or occupier has raised to us with their property, analyses the causes and advises on the remedies, or next steps required in order to mitigate or resolve the issue(s). Our Defect Diagnosis inspection can be tailored to suit a client’s specific requirements in terms of the level of survey required, such as visual only or intrusive investigation where, for example, opening-up or test tracing may be necessary. The level of detail in our Defect Diagnosis Reports can also align to a client’s specific needs from providing a basic appraisal and outline recommendations, or a comprehensive assessment supported by a full specification of remedial works.

Dilapidations is a primary area of our expertise. The expression relates to breaches of lease obligations in connection with the state of a property. Bayside Building Consultancy can advise and act on behalf of Landlords or Tenants at all stages of the Dilapidations process. We offer Assessments of Dilapidation that provide detailed advice on a Tenant’s potential liability at lease end allowing them to plan and forecast for the dilapidations works required. We provide Interim Schedules of Dilapidation on behalf of Landlords, which can be served to the Tenant during the lease term if they are in breach of their lease obligations. We also provide Terminal Schedules of Dilapidation to be served to Tenants shortly before, or at lease expiry. Related services that we provide include advising Landlords and Tenants on timings regarding their decisions and actions in the dilapidations process, procuring dilapidations works, advising on the implications of certain legislation in connection with dilapidations matters and acting on behalf of the instructing party in negotiating dilapidations claims to reach a settlement.

The impact of certain construction activities on adjoining land or properties can be managed by following the Party Wall Act etc 1996. We provide a full package of Party Wall services ranging from acting as:

·Building Owner Surveyor, for the party intending to do works.

·Adjoining Owner Surveyor, for the party that will be affected by the works.

·Agreed Surveyor, for the Building Owner and Adjoining Owner(s) parties where agreed.

·Third Surveyor, where nominated by the surveyors acting as Building Owner Surveyor and Adjoining Owner Surveyor in the event of a dispute between them.

We can prepare the necessary Party Wall Notices, Schedules of Condition and Party Wall Awards ensuring that the statute of the Party Wall Act etc 1996 is applied in connection with the works. We provide these services to Landlords, Tenants, Developers, Builders and private individuals of commercial and domestic properties.

Building insurance can be a significant operational expense for property investors, occupiers, and property managers. We provide Reinstatement Cost Assessments on single and portfolio-wide properties. The assessments are made on the basis of total loss, or of such substantial damage that the entire building will require demolition and rebuilding. Our investment in current construction-cost data together with our experience acting in a number of construction project roles over the years allows us to provide an accurate assessment of rebuild costs for our clients to consider when insuring their property asset or forecasting necessary budgets.