How much do you charge for a commercial inspection?

[Tim Spargo]

I ask the client what they are looking for, if they would like back flow, roof certs and such coordinated with the inspection. A small strip with some basic stuff I'll do, but for the most part if there's a bunch of roof top heat pumps, flat roof areas and such I DO bring trades with me... they can coordinate estimates/repairs, certs and such directly with the folks needing them leaving me out of the loop to some extent.

I've been out of the loop minus a few calls here and there lately with Commercial stuff. It is a good market to get into, less emotional ties to the purchase.

Although I did get a call for one, a week ago asking if "I could fill in for someone" the inspector didn't show up for a Retail Restaurant .... had quoted $500. I explained they may have quoted a price and then later realized was in over his/her head having not shown up

[prichardson]

For a standard PCA by InterNACHI COMSOP I start at $.20 per square foot with a $500 minimum. After the basic the scope of work determines the price

[Martin Pasquinelli]

I do a lot of commercial inspections because I'm realistic about pricing and reporting. To quote $12,500 for the described building is outrageous. No client in their right mind would agree to that. Most environmental firms offer some sort of PCA service which is the general inspectors strongest competition. If you are confident in your commercial inspection abilities, no outside consultation is needed. You need to spend no longer than 1/2 day on-site and no more than five hours putting the report together. Most buildings, significantly less time. There are a lot of commercial inspections out there. Most of the forum post info I see here are based on inexperience and false expectations. Understand that the commercial client typically cares about one thing - how much is this building going to cost from a repair and replacement perspective.

[James A. Levy]

Originally Posted by bgromicko

How about a 87,000 warehouse with an RTU and AHU on the roof. 3-phase, 300-amp panel. With a switch gear, multiple panels, multiple disconnects, and a back-up generator with an ATS. Office space. With a few offices. Fire alarms. Horn strobes. Sprinkler system in ceiling. 2x4 troufflers in office area. 6-8 offices. 2 sets of bathrooms. Two womens. Two mens. Both ADA. Parking lot with pole lights. Exterior lights on the building. Part of the area used to be a restaurant with hoods, ANSUL system, ventilation. Commercial stainless steel sinks in corner. Dishwasher unit.

I am finishing up a report tomorrow on a 42,000 sf POS in my area with a 1200amp switch gear, CT cabinet, 6 panels, office space (4000 of 42,000). M&W locker rooms and many of the above mentioned goodies. The building has been all but abandoned for five years with a skeleton crew in the office. The corrugated roof decking is so rotted from leaks that some of the bar joists were affected. I actually didn't walk some of the roof because of it. The job was $4200.00 and there is a 1300sf converted Cape Cod on the property used as an Annex Building, I got an additional 300.00 for that. $4,500.00 for two days work! Commercial is where the money is!

[Arthur Gould]

Originally Posted by jlevy1

Open warehouse, or one with 85,000sf of pallets piled 12' high. The other question I would ask is how many loading docks with dock levelers? I did a 100,000sf warehouse/office combo that I didn't ask those questions. I'll never do that again.

Wood pallets is about the worst thing to store in a building. Fire protection (sprinkler) requirements are extremely high.

For a comparison example lets compare a building storing metal car parts with a small amount of plastic up to 12' high. This would require a density of .20 gpm over 1,500 sq. ft. plus 250 gpm for hose for a theoretical minimum requirement of 550 gpm.

For wood pallets stored between 8' and not exceeding 12' the requirement is a density of .60 gpm over 3,500 sq. ft. (NFPA #13 Table 12.1.9.1.2(a) Control Mode Density-Area Protection of Indoor Storage of Idle Wood Pallets) plus 500 gpm hose stream demand. That's a theoretical demand of 2,600 gpm and that is a lot of water even for the largest industrial parks.

The difference between 550 and 2,600 gpm is huge and those are theoretical minimums that are never achieved. You can easily at 10 to 20% to each of those gpm estimates.

An alternative for wood pallet storage would be to install an ESFR (Early Suppression Fast Response) sprinkler system which would allow storage to 25' in height with building heights (measured at peak or highest point) not exceeding 40'. These are demanding as well... assume a building is 35' you need a system that would deliver 121 gpm from 12 sprinklers with 250 gpm hose stream allowance for a total of 1,702 gpm (most likely around 1,800) which is a whole lot less water but end head pressures are so high in most parts of the country the facility would need a fire pump. My guess is less than 3% of public water systems in the country would be capable of delivering the amount of water at pressures required so a pump would not be required.

Just because a building has sprinklers does not mean it meets requirements and I doubt you will find a warehouse haing a heavy enough system to cover wood pallet storage unless it was specifically designed for the task when installed.

Generally speaking sprinkler systems are pretty light if area covered exceeds 100 sq. ft. per head and/or distance between sprinkler on lines or distance between lines exceeds 12'-0.

Doesn't sound like a big deal until the new tenent moves in only to discover he can't obtain fire insurance or his rates increase from $0.20/$100 to $1.90/$100 which is a big deal when you are trying to insure $5 million in commodity. Imagine expecting a fire insurance premium of $10,000 only to have it roll in at $95,000.

If it is any consolation in most buildings the existing sprinkler would probably be adequate as long as storage did not exceed 12'-0" in height and did not involve wood pallet, plastic or flammable liquids storage.

If a system is hydraulically calculated (all newer ones are from mid 1980's on) there should be a "Hydraulica Calculation Placard" at the riser. It will read similar to:

This system is protected with a hydraulically calculated system for a density of x.xx gpm over most remote xxxx sq. ft. when supplied with xxx.x gpm @ xx.x psi at the base of the riser.

That would help in the report.

If it is of real concern you might want to bring in someone knowledgable for an engineering review which would involve either a professional engineer knowledable in sprinkler protection or someone certified as Level III or IV in fire sprinkler layout by the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technology (NICET) which is a non-profit division of the National Society of Professional Engineers.

With sprinklers it helps to remember oftentimes we're only 5% of the project but represent 50% of the problems.