Office Building Roof Leak Damage Assessment

RBA were commissioned to undertake a survey with supporting services of an office building located in Manchester to compile a full list of resultant damage to the building due to a roof leak which had flooded sections of the building. This was for all structure, fabric and mechanical and electrical components which visibly had, or possibly could have been affected as a result of the  water leak. This building had a gross internal floor area of circa 8,500m² but also required inspection of relevant facades and roofs.

This project included the following services:

• Damage Assessment Survey
• Potential Damage Risk Assessment
• Repair Survey

The project initially required collaborative communication and information flow between ourselves, the Client, the facilities management company and various trades on site to ascertain what the initial issue was, the events that followed on from the roof leak and any remedial or temporary remedial measures which had been undertaken in the two week period between the leak and RBA being commissioned to undertake the survey.

Once a clear picture had been obtained, this was used to inform the survey on site. This involved a detailed survey of all affected, and potentially affected, areas including relevant roofs, offices, circulation areas, plant areas and relevant elevations. The building was fully operational at the time of the survey so access required careful planning and communication so that all areas could be assessed accordingly.

The survey itself required the visual assessment of any assets which had been affected or damaged by the water flow as well as a risk assessment of assets which, although visually unaffected at the time of the survey, could pose a potential operational risk due to reduced lifecycles or hidden failures (such as flooded electrical equipment and bonding agents). The assessment also required the taking of evidential photographs (including void spaces and underneath the raised access flooring) as well as consideration of moisture levels and the provision of indicative costs for any repairs, replacements or any further investigations as required.

Once all the data had been collected, this was reviewed multiple times though our rigorous quality management processes and compiled into a fully costed, evidenced and risk assessed report. This also included a full written commentary of the events which had occurred and the findings of the survey as well as interactive tabulated and graphical results to allow effortless further analysis by our Client once the report was issued. This improved its usability as a costing, general management and planning tool for both the Client and the insurer.

The project was completed efficiently, for the agreed fee and to a quality level that surpassed our Client’s expectations. The report was used to agree the works to be undertaken by the Client’s insurer as well as allowing them to monitor potential issues and undertake further investigation of assets which posed a potential future risk of operational issues and thereby manage any risks to their service continuity.