Building Inspections
Whether you are a business owner or a homeowner, building surveys can be a massive insight into the true condition of the home or property you are occupying or even looking to purchase.
With the help of thermal imaging, you can spot numerous defects that the naked eye wouldn’t be able to identify itself.
What is a Building Survey?
Thermal building surveys are a way of assessing the condition of a property in a non-invasive manner through the use of infrared cameras.
Typically conducted at night time, the thermal cameras are used to capture the surface temperature of a building and then translate this into a colourful image that then highlights temperature differences. Once you are produced with the image from the infrared camera you can then begin to look at what the different colours may mean for example, if the photo is showing evidence of cold spots around windows; that’s a good demonstration of air leakage.
If you are wanting to survey your building more thoroughly you can conduct this alongside an air-tightness test to establish how much air is leaking out of a building through cracks and holes.
What will A Thermal Camera for Home Inspections Detect?
Cold Bridging
Trapped Moisture
Rising Damp
Heat Loss
How does Building Survey work?
Thermographic building surveys work by following certain conditions for you to get the best results and spot defects accurately.
If wind speeds are exceeding 10 mph the building survey cannot be started as the wind can distort the readings the thermal camera identifies.
If you have had a spot of rain before your planned building survey, it's important to ensure the building is completely dry before proceeding with the survey, as surface damp can give the camera inaccurate temperature readings.
The best time for a building survey to be performed is in the winter months at a minimum of 2 hours after sunset. This is due to solar radiation during the day as it can heat the exterior of the property giving false readings.
Another thing to remember before proceeding with a building survey is that there needs to be a 10˚c temperature difference between the interior and exterior of the property. This can be achieved by having the heating on full for up to 24 hours before the survey begins if the property is occupied or you can use space heaters for unoccupied properties.
What is a BREEAM Survey?
BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) is the worlds most popular and known assessment method for regulating building for performance and characteristics.
Building surveys as we already know, are a great tool for identifying any abnormalities on a building. By following the standards laid out by BREEAM you are demonstrating good quality work to the industries. If people were also to ask for the report of the building survey as soon as people see that it was conducted to BREEAM standards they can immediately implement trust for you as a business as the can see you complete everything to a high standard.
What are the REQUIREMENTS of BREEAM?
Much like standard building surveys you need to maintain the same conditions throughout so all those rules I laid out before are still important if you want a survey completed to BREEAM standards.
One of the main differences is that the engineer conducting the survey needs to be certified category 2 thermographer.
Building surveys can be a great tool for spotting issues in your property even if the building is newly built.
You may be surprised to see what a thermal survey could uncover for you.
If you wish to find out more about our building surveys or what we can offer you just get in touch and one of our friendly advisers will help you!