Advanced Building Condition Assessment

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Apply structured visual inspection methods to assess building components and systems.
• Select appropriate destructive and non-destructive testing techniques based on their strengths, limitations, and suitability for different materials.
• Interpret condition assessment findings for structural, envelope, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and life safety systems.
• Evaluate deterioration, functional risk, and remaining useful life across major building elements.
• Prepare practical assessment documentation, checklists, and reports to support maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, and capital planning decisions.

Description

As buildings age, professionals are often required to assess complex structures and systems with incomplete information, visible deterioration, and competing priorities for repair, rehabilitation, maintenance, and capital planning. A reliable building condition assessment requires more than identifying deficiencies. It requires a structured process for evaluating materials, selecting appropriate investigative methods, interpreting findings, and clearly communicating the condition and risk of building elements.

This course provides a practical, system-by-system approach to assessing concrete, steel, timber, masonry, foundations, building envelopes, roofing, doors and windows, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, fire safety, mould, moisture, and site elements. You will examine visual inspection methods, destructive and non-destructive testing techniques, component-level deterioration, useful life considerations, documentation practices, and reporting requirements.

Through case studies, checklists, and applied discussion, you will strengthen your ability to conduct building condition assessments that support sound decisions about maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, replacement, and long-term asset management.

Who This Course Is For

This course is designed for:

• Structural engineers, consulting engineers, project engineers, and design professionals
• Facility managers, building services managers, and asset management professionals
• Technicians, technologists, inspectors, and capital planning personnel
• Architects, construction managers, and professionals involved in building renovation or rehabilitation
• Professionals responsible for assessing building condition, developing inspection checklists, preparing reports, or supporting maintenance and repair decisions

Day I

Welcome, Introduction, Course Preview, Learning Outcomes and the Assessment Method

Assessing the Condition of a Building

• The objective of building condition assessments
• Procedures and checklists for assessing buildings
• A comprehensive study of the condition survey of a building
• Examples of assessing various building components

Assessment and Evaluation of Wood Structures

• Wood as a construction material, pressure-treated wood
• Visual inspection of columns, beams, fasteners and connectors, structural panels, glue laminated timber and metal plate-connected wood trusses
• Material evaluation
• Destructive and non-destructive testing
• Strength considerations
• Assessing the risk of failure
• Case Study
• Checklist for wood structures

Assessment and Evaluation of Wood Structures (Continued)

Assessment and Evaluation of Steel Structures

• Types of damage: corrosion, structural deficiencies and distress
• Visual inspection of columns, beams and trusses
• Material evaluation
• Destructive and non-destructive testing techniques
• Performance rating of components
• Upgrading of existing structures
• Reporting data reduction
• Case Study
• Checklist for steel structures

Assessment and Evaluation of Steel Structures (Continued)

Assessment and Evaluation of Masonry Structures

• Types of damage: dampness, spalling, efflorescence, corrosion of ties, structural deficiencies & distress
• Visual inspection of load-bearing walls, columns and brick veneer
• Material evaluation
• Destructive and non-destructive testing
• Statistical evaluation of test data
• Strength considerations
• Assessing the risk of failure
• Reporting-data reduction
• Case Study
• Checklist for masonry structures

Adjournment

Day II

Assessment and Evaluation of Concrete Structures

• Causes of concrete deterioration: frost action, chemical attack, alkali-aggregate reaction, mechanical abrasion, non-uniform volume change, corrosion of embedded reinforcement
• Types of damage: cracking, water leakage, staining, corrosion-related damage, structural deficiencies and distress, fire damage
• Visual inspection of columns, beams, slabs, parking garages
• Material evaluation
• Destructive and non-destructive testing
• Statistical evaluation of test data
• Strength considerations
• Durability considerations
• Assessing the risk of failure
• Reporting-data reduction
• Case Study
• Checklist for concrete structures

Foundation

• Soil type and bearing capacity
• Soil modifications
• Type of foundation-shallow or deep
• Foundation cracks/repairs
• Foundation settlement

Case Study

• Checklist for foundations

Testing and Monitoring Building Envelope

• Standard, non-destructive testing and monitoring of building envelopes will be discussed, encompassing the techniques and advantages of ground penetrating radar and impact-echo to evaluate building envelope conditions, including:
• Standard tests: testing brick mortar in the field, testing vapour pressure in the field
• NDT tests: general principles of ground penetrating radar, general principles and uses of impact-echo testing, comparison of the two NDT methods using case histories: evaluating the presence of cracking in stone masonry, evaluating the presence of voids in solid masonry units, evaluating the internal deterioration of historical masonry
• Monitoring buildings, including stress, crack and building envelope movement methods and accuracies, moisture methods and accuracies
• Case Study

Roofing

• Inspection
• Warranties
• Condition - membrane, aluminum/copper sheets
• Repairs and Replacements
• Case Study
• Checklist for Roofs

Adjournment

Day III

Doors and Windows

• Procedure for Inspection
• Deterioration
• Repairs or Replacement decision
• Case Study
• Checklist for Doors and Windows

Mould

• Areas of highwater episode potential
• Musty odour
• Floor coverings with water damage
• Behind wallpaper
• Ventilation equipment: filters, insulation, ducts, fan rooms
• Humidification units
• Case Study
• Checklist for Mould

Site Elements

• Parking lot, pavement, lights, signs, parking meters, drainage, fire hydrant,
• Substation, water and electricity hookups
• Condition survey and corrective action
• Case Study
• Checklist for Site Elements

Fire Safety

• Life safety and property protection
• Containment
• Early warning system
• Fire alarm
• Egress
• Suppression
• Checklist for Fire Safety

Adjournment

Day IV

Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning

• System type- air furnace, central hot water boilers, electric furnaces, forced air, ducted forced air, hot water, cooling tower, humidifiers, evaporators, condensers, evaporative coolers
• Condition assessment of components
• Tests
• Assessing the risk of failure
• Reporting-data reduction
• Case Study
• Checklist for HVAC

Plumbing System

• Fixtures, drains and vents
• Domestic hot and cold water piping systems
• Sump and ejector pumps
• Hydronic systems
• Plumbing system materials and valves
• Checklist for Plumbing

Electrical System

• Single and three-phase wiring
• Metering arrangements
• Fuse panels and circuit breakers
• Transformers
• Feeders and services
• Subsystems: fire alarm system, life safety system, emergency lighting, emergency power
• Case Study
• Checklist for Electrical

Case Study at Venue Location

Workshop

• Check Lists
• Documentation Collection
• Notes
• Tables

Adjournment

Day V

Life Expectancy

• Calculating the expected useful life of a building from the expected life of its components
• Case Study

Written Report and Presentation

• General condition report for the owner
• Introduction to the report
• Order of magnitude estimate for required repairs
• Unpredictable repair
• Descriptive text for each element
• Appendices: pictures, maintenance recommendations, glossary
• Presentation
• Case Study

Facility Condition Index

• Overview
• Deferred Maintenance Costs
• Case Study

Building Condition Assessments

• Overview
• The Process
• The Tables
• The Report
• Case Study

Questions and Answers and Feedback to Participants on Achievement of Learning Outcomes

Concluding Remarks and Final Adjournment