the newsletter of tbd consultants - 4th qtr 2016
						Printable PDF version Subscribe to our newsletter In this Edition Property Conditions Assessments Hyperconnectivity Island of Stability
		Construction Management Specialists 111 Pine Street, Suite 1315 San Francisco, CA 94111 (415) 981-9430 (San Francisco office)   6518 Lonetree Blvd., Suite 164 Rocklin, CA 95765 (916) 742-1770 (Sacramento office)   9449 Balboa Avenue, Suite 270 San Diego, CA 92123 (619) 518-5648 (San Diego office)   8538 173rd Avenue NE Redmond, WA 98052 (206) 571-0128 (Seattle office)   2063 Grant Road Los Altos, CA 94024 (650) 386-1728 (South Bay office)   7083 Hollywood Blvd., 4th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90028 (424) 343-2652 (Los Angeles, CA office)   www.TBDconsultants.com
		Property Conditions Assessments Property conditions assessments can be carried out for a wide variety of purposes, including: ADA assessment Seismic upgrade assessment MEP upgrade assessments Due diligence reports on a building considered for purchase Building report for a potential lender or insurance company Assessing required maintenance requirements The detail and extent of the assessment will naturally depend on the requirements of the building owner or other person commissioning the report, but the procedure involved in preparing the report will normally follow a similar pattern. Initially, the person commissioning the report should provide any relevant documents that are available, which might include existing plans and elevations and other appropriate drawings, any previous reports, and maintenance records if available. A point of contact should also be named, through whom requests for clarifications or additional information can be made. The person or company carrying out the report can then prepare and submit any preliminary questions and prepare for the initial building walkthrough/site inspection. There may be standard checklists available, especially for ADA surveys and other common reports, or the surveyor may need to prepare a custom checklist. Once all the initial documentation has been collected and reviewed, and the appropriate arrangements have been made, the initial building walkthrough can be conducted. One walkthrough may be sufficient to survey any deficiencies, with the walkthrough participants including consultants from all appropriate disciplines. Alternatively, a walkthrough by a general purpose surveyor can ascertain what sections need to be looked at in more detail, and consultants can be called in later to look at these items. The detail in the report should be appropriate for the required purpose, but should include: Details of how and when the walkthrough was carried out. A general summary of the property condition, and of problems observed, ideally including photographs of items highlighted in the report. Recommendations for remedial action, which should identify the recommended timeline, i.e. is it critical work (such as code violation or life-safety issues), or can it be scheduled over a period of time. A cost report showing the anticipated approximate cost of the recommended work (since detail design work is not usually carried out for the report, such estimate can only be order-of-magnitude). Information on what was excluded from the survey and report. Such exclusions may arise from the instructions of the person commissioning the report or because portions of the building could not be accessed (e.g. locked rooms, unsafe conditions, work hidden by other construction, etc.) Property conditions assessments would normally be prepared in conformance with ASTM standard E2018, Standard Guide for Property Condition Assessments: Baseline Property Conditions Assessment Process.
		Hyperconnectivity Technology is connecting us all to each other and to multiple services and sources of information. Here we look at how this hyperconnectivity is affecting us and the construction industry.
		Island of Stability The economy has been steadily improving here in the US, but other nations have generally not been doing as well. In this article we take a quick look at what is happening with markets worldwide, and looking at how events are likely to affect construction costs.
		Design consultant: Katie Levine of Vallance, Inc.