Commercial

Schedule of Condition

These can be a useful record when agreed by landlord and tenant parties before the lease is entered into.

Often annexed to the lease, they provide photographic and written evidence of the condition of the property at the beginning of the lease, the aim of which is to assist in establishing any possible repair and dilapidation obligations at the end of the lease term.

Measured Surveys

Whether you want a kitchen extension or full house renovation we can generate accurate scale floor plans, elevations, and cross sections. Using AutoCAD to create technical drawings of the existing layout we are then able to produce design solutions for your home extension or renovation.

The level of detail of the CAD drawings very much depends on each project.

Dilapidations

Based on the new RICS Guidance in 2012 for claims for damages in relation to the physical state of commercial property.

We can assist both landlords and tenants through the claims and liabilities for repairs arising both during and on the termination of a lease. At the beginning of the lease we can also help inform the Client of their responsibilities for repair and support any tenancy agreement negotiations.

TDD (Technical Due Diligence)

Technical due diligence (TDD) requires dedicated, specialist teams of chartered building surveyors and engineers to properly appraise a building. The condition of a building is important, but today’s more rigorous and commercial environment calls for TDD to become a key risk-management tool to help identify the limitations and opportunities of an investment, in the form of pre-acquisition surveys for property transactions.

TDD has changed in line with emerging trends of shorter leases, multi-occupied buildings, sustainability and more stringent legislation, all demanding a wider viewpoint. Different opportunities, such as the feasibility of adding an extra floor or conversion of an underused part of a building, may need to be considered. Landlord and tenant issues will need to be resolved from a neutral standpoint.

Extensive building services installations systems such as heating and cooling, ventilation, building management systems, automation and drainage, often present greater issues than the building fabric itself – although the problems are often not visible. You need an integrated and vigorous approach to all these issues to identify potential liabilities and offer pragmatic advice on correcting deficiencies. Armed with cost liabilities and risks, we will support the negotiation process and your subsequent transaction decision.

Vendor Surveys

A vendor survey gives you an independent analysis of your property and greater control of the transaction process.

It provides reassurance that your purchaser isn’t going to come across an issue that affects the sale, delays completion, reduces the selling price or even breaks the deal.

A vendor survey can also be relied upon by the buyer and their funders, eliminating the need for them to arrange (and pay for) their own surveys.

Each survey we carry out is tailored to the individual needs of our client.

As well as identifying building defects, our surveys will indicate whether a property complies with all relevant statutory regulations and comment on pertinent planning, legal and environmental issues.

We will coordinate any necessary investigations by specialist contractors for service installations, deleterious materials testing and land contamination.

Vendor surveys often need to be carried out quickly to avoid delaying a property transaction. We react rapidly to ensure properties are inspected quickly with a fast turnaround on reports.

Land Surveys

Working alongside our clients, we can create accurate detailed land survey CAD drawings including among other objects; man-made features, physical boundary details, tree positions, contours and natural terrain.

The level of detail is very much project specific, however, so we work closely with our clients to tailor each job to their needs whether it is a simple site plan or a more in depth 3D topographical survey.

Using modern technology, we can create these scaled plans in a time efficient manner.

For projects big and small, a highly accurate quality survey will ensure a smooth design and implementation process and minimise the risk of costly unforeseen mistakes at a later stage.

Lifecycle Surveys

In conjunction with a building condition survey, we have experience in working with various clients, in particular, PFI asset holder portfolios by providing building condition surveys and life cycle surveys.

This allows building owners and asset holders alike, to assess the costs of on-going maintenance in order to get a building through its life cycle. Lifecycle surveys will determine when key works should be undertaken during the life period of the building and can include budget costs to assist with budget allocation.

Lifecycle Survey reports can also be tailored to a client brief, i.e. a plan over a set distance of time, typically 3-5 years, or state the works required to be undertaken to achieve a building life span as indicated by the client.

PPM Surveys

Maintenance goes hand in hand with owning or occupying a building and it is well known that over time building components will deteriorate.

Maintenance does not have to be an unpredictable cost. With a Planned Maintenance Programmer in place, it is possible to budget for, rectify and prevent deterioration of the building fabric, thereby prolonging the life and protecting the value of your property asset. A Schedule can be prepared for building owners or facilities managers to ensure components continue to function and legal obligations are met.

Asbestos Surveying (Management and Refurb/Demolition) and Removal Project Management

We offer you the complete range of asbestos surveys currently available. All of our asbestos surveying and sampling services include the latest in survey techniques. We cater for every eventuality and are expert in delivering all types of asbestos surveys to every type of building, premises or location.

Project Management

McCarron Building and Construction Consultants coordinates building projects through:

• Detailed Work Schedules or Instructions
• Tendering and contractor selection
• Contract selection and formulation
• Contract Administration

Disability Access Audits

Providers of services to the public have a statutory duty to make reasonable adjustments to the physical features of their premises to overcome physical barriers to access for all.

An access audit is an essential part of the DDA. It is a critique of the accessibility of an environment against established design, guidance and legislative standards. We have extensive experience in access audits and design for all types of property, to ensure compliance with DDA.

Q: What is a Disability Access Certificate?
A: A Disability Access Certificate is a certificate granted by a Building Control
Authority which certifies compliance of the design of certain works (e.g. new buildings
(except dwelling houses), some extensions to, and some material alterations to buildings
(except dwelling houses) with the requirements of Part M of the Building Regulations.

Q: When is a DAC required?
A: A DAC is required in respect of the following works to buildings other than
dwellings (but including apartment buildings), in so far as the Requirements of Part M
apply and which commence or take place on or after 1 January 2010.

Fire Certs

A Fire Safety Certificate (FSC) shows that suitable escape facilities are present in a building. It indicates that the building is designed in a way that prevents and limits the spread of a fire.

All buildings must comply with Part B (Fire) of the Building Regulations 1997 – 2010, however not all buildings need a Fire Safety Certificate, for example houses and certain agricultural buildings.

A fire safety certificate is granted after the plans and specifications for a new building are assessed by a fire officer for compliance with Part B (Fire Safety) of the Building Regulations . It is a certification of your proposed fire safety design, not the fire safety design of your finished building.

In the construction industry, the contract administrator is the individual responsible for administering the construction standard contracts.

Fire Risk Assessment

A fire risk assessment is a review undertaken of a building in order to assess its fire risk and offer recommendations to make the building safer, if necessary.

If there are less than 5 occupants regularly in the building, then it isn’t required for the fire risk assessment to be written down. So it isn’t always a document.

We do, however, recommend that a fire risk assessment always is in writing, since that is the easy way for the findings to be communicated and to ensure that any recommendations are carried out.

Design and Contract Administration

The role of a contract administrator (CA) is broad, but the most basic definition is managing the contract between the employer and the building contractor. Contract administration is required whenever contracts are involved and traditionally starts from the contract award stage and continues throughout until contract closeout or termination.

The role of a CA was originally usually carried out by the architect, however projects team roles have widened to include that of a project manager who often carries out the role, or it may be a role in its own right, depending on the size and complexity of the project.

Certificates of Compliance

Certificate of Compliance is required for all new build work and for all alterations, additions or extension work to an existing property to ensure that all works have been carried out in accordance with any Planning Permission granted and the Building Regulations. Since the introduction of the Building Control Amendment Regulations 2013, it is now part of a statutory process, which is managed on the BCMS system for all new building work over 40 sq.m.

A Certificate of Compliance can be provided by us, to certify that we have supervised your construction project and that it has been built in compliance with Building and Planning Regulations.

You will be asked to supply this on the sale or mortgage of your house. If you have not employed us to carry this role out, and you do not have a Certificate of Compliance, then we can provide an Opinion of Compliance.

Assigned Certifier

The Assigned Certifier is appointed by the Building Owner to develop an inspection plan, coordinate inspections in tandem with other members of the professional design team and certify the compliance of the building or works with the building regulations by way of collating certification, inspection records and the submission of appropriate documentation to show compliance upon completion.

We are registered Building Surveyors with SCSI (Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland) to undertake this role and hold all relevant insurances.

Freelance Building Surveying

We provide support in the form of freelance Building Surveying to larger firms and multi-national companies, providing resource on all forms of commercial, industrial and domestic building surveying requirements.