It used to be that building inspectors had to make due with residential inspection software in order to prepare commercial reports, because commercial inspection software was not readily available. The problem with this is that residential tools and software just do not have the details and parameters required to carry out commercial inspections. If a software is designed specifically for residential applications, there are plenty of important details that will be missed if you are trying to use that same software to prepare a commercial report. You will want your report to appear professional, and using a residential software will not provide that appearance.
The difference between residential and commercials buildings are numerous, but one of the main and most obvious differences is sheer size. Many commercial buildings are multiple levels, with numerous units within the building. Some buildings are mixed use, meaning they may be half commercial and half residential. You want to have a good commercial inspection software that is going to give you a comprehensive checklist that you can work through while you gather the necessary information to prepare your report. The commercial building report is important on many levels, and any potential buyers of a commercial building will be relying on your report when they are ready to make an offer to purchase the building.
Good commercial inspection software should have templates for various types of buildings, so that you don’t have to prepare a report from scratch each time you start a new one. There are various systems that need to be inspected, including air conditioning and ventilation, heating, roof, exterior, structure, plumbing, electrical, and the health of the people who work in the building. All of the buildings systems should be listed in your final report, but some of these such as the elevator, will be contracted out to specific companies for maintenance, etc.
It can take a fair amount of time to prepare a commercial inspection report, but if you are using commercial inspection software, you can get the job done in a lot less time. The software that you use should be intuitive with drop down menus where you simply add in sentences with the click of a button to complete the body of the report. It should also be simple to add in pictures and any other sort of supporting documentation to complete your report. The software should guide you through the various steps, setting up the report and customizing it as you work through your inspection process.
If you have a digital signature and accreditations, it should also be easy to insert these with commercial inspection software programs. Using this type of software can allow you to get multiple reports done in the same amount of time it would have taken you to prepare just one report. While the software may seem fairly costly, when you consider what you can charge a client for one of these comprehensive reports, you will recover that amount after preparing just one or two reports.
We offer the Pre-Spect ASTM Commercial Report Writing Software Focus Edition as a great solution for your report writing needs.
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