Structural survey of a members' club

The project

This St John's Wood project is a full structural survey of an occupied members' club. The brief is to record the condition of the building's structure and set out the repairs it needs, in an order the owner can plan around. Surveying an occupied commercial building means working around its daily use while still reaching the structure, from basement vaults to upper floors.

The survey recorded a basement vault with an acrow prop in place, stepped cracking and patch-repaired brickwork at a wall junction, and a vertical crack at an internal corner of a lime-washed basement wall. Elsewhere, an opened-up ceiling exposed decayed timber joists and boards. Older buildings of this kind often carry a history of earlier repairs, and part of the job is reading what those repairs say about the building.

Surveying an occupied commercial building

We inspect the structure throughout the building. Where structure is hidden, opened-up areas such as ceilings give a direct view of joists and boards, and existing temporary props show where support has already been added. Findings are recorded with photographs, so the owner has a clear picture of what was seen and where, and can share it with their builders.

The repair recommendations are prioritised, so work can be planned in a sensible order. Some defects need prompt attention, while others can be planned over a longer period alongside the building's normal maintenance. Where a question cannot be settled by inspection alone, the report says so. Our guide to which structural inspection report you need explains how our reports compare.

Planning something similar?

For owners of larger or older buildings, a full survey with prioritised repairs turns a list of defects into a plan. Our general structural inspection report is designed for this, and every inspection report we issue is signed off by a chartered engineer who is a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.