A condition report is the cheapest document in a roof budget and the one that moves the most money. It turns a roof from an opinion into a record: what the roof is, what shape it is in, what is wrong and what each fix costs. In Coeur d'Alene the report has to be read against a heavy snow load and a severe weathering rating, because those two lines age every roof and every roof report has to account for them.
We write the report so a GC can price from it, a lender can read it and a board can vote on it. Every finding has a photo, a location and a price, and every rating has a sentence saying what evidence put it there.
The Call: What Goes in the Report
The report has six parts. A roof plan with the drains, penetrations, equipment and drift pockets marked. A description of the system: membrane, insulation, deck, age and past repairs. A findings list, each with a location, a photo and a severity. Test results: cores, moisture readings and, where used, an infrared scan or drone survey. A rating for each roof area with a remaining-life range. And an action list with a price and a recommended year for each item.
The action list is split into three groups: do now, plan for and watch. Do-now items stop leaks or prevent damage. Plan-for items go into the capital budget. Watch items are noted for the next visit. Nothing goes in the report without evidence behind it, and nothing is rated without a reason written down.
Snow history gets its own paragraph. The snow-and-cold regime on the Rathdrum Prairie, about 59 inches a year in Post Falls, drives how commercial roofs there are designed and how they age. Farther east, a report on a Silver Valley building notes the heavier snow of Wallace, about 76 inches, and Mullan, over 100, and rates drainage and edge details against that load. The same roof in two places gets two different ratings, and the report says why.
What It Costs: By Roof Size and Depth of Testing
A report is priced by roof area and by how deep the testing goes. The base is a hands-on walk, photographs and a written rating. Add-ons are cores, a moisture scan, a drone survey and a structural review. A small roof with a clear history needs the base. A large roof with a leak history and unknown insulation condition needs the add-ons, since wet board is where the replacement cost can swing.
The price is small against what it informs. A report that finds wet insulation in one bay lets the owner repair that bay and avoid a full replacement. A report that finds dry insulation and sound seams lets the owner restore the roof and defer the replacement. A report that finds failure across the roof lets the owner stop spending on patches. Our commercial roof inspection is the field work, and the infrared moisture survey and drone roof inspection are the optional layers.
Timing matters as much as depth. A report written in the fall, before the snow, lets the owner repair and budget while the weather is still on the owner's side. A report written in March, after the melt, shows what winter did and which items cannot wait for summer. Either is useful; the fall report is cheaper to act on.
What the Code Sheet Says: The Benchmark in the Report
The benchmark is the city's sheet, with its 60 psf snow design, 115 mph wind design and required ice barrier underlayment, under the statewide 2018 codes. The report notes where the existing roof falls short of what a new roof would need, so the owner sees the gap before a permit is filed.
Snow weight swings with moisture, from roughly 1 percent to 33 percent water content, and we use that range when we assess drift pockets and loads. A report that notes a drift pocket, its size, its drain and its history is more useful than one that says only that snow collects behind the unit. The numbers let the owner and the engineer talk to each other.
Where It Fails First: Thin Reports and Stale Reports
Reports fail in two ways. They are too thin, with a few photos and a general rating that cannot support a bid. Or they are too old, written five years ago and never updated. A thin report gets ignored. A stale report gets trusted when it should not be.
We write reports to be read by someone who has never seen the roof, and we date them. A report older than a few years, or older than a major storm, gets a short update walk, not a rewrite. For a tilt-up at Riverbend Commerce Park, a base report and a moisture scan cover the large flat field. For a campus with several buildings, each building gets its own report with a shared summary page. For buildings in downtown Coeur d'Alene, the report notes parapets, wall material and drain access where they apply.
Alternates: Executive Summary, Annual Update and Data Export
The report can carry options. A one-page executive summary for a board or lender. An annual update visit that revises the ratings and the action list. A spreadsheet export of the roof data for the owner's asset system. A structural engineer's review where deflection is suspected. A repair-in-place option, where we fix the do-now items during the report visit at their unit prices.
The last one saves money. Most roofs have a few quick fixes that cost less to do than to write up: a cracked boot, a loose cap, a clogged drain. We do them during the walk and note them in the report as done, with before and after photos. The rest of the list goes to the owner for a decision. Reports feed the roof capital plan and the roof asset management table.
Closeout: A Document That Gets Used
The report is delivered as a document with an appendix of photographs and test results. The owner gets a walkthrough, in person or by phone, so the findings are clear. The GC gets the action list in a form that drops into a bid. The lender or board gets the summary.
The test of a report is whether somebody uses it, and whether the next person to open it can find the roof it describes. Reports that sit in a drawer protect nobody. Reports that are used lead to repairs done on time, budgets that match the roof, and a record that holds up when a buyer, insurer or manufacturer asks questions. A report also protects the person who orders it. A facilities manager who can hand a board a dated, photographed, priced document has done the job whatever the board decides. The report also supports roof warranty management, since a maintained record is what a manufacturer expects to see.
Commercial Roofing Questions
How long does a report take?
A walk and testing take a day or two for most roofs. The written report follows within days after the results are in.
Do I need cores?
On roofs with unknown insulation condition or a leak history, yes. They settle wet versus dry.
Will the report give prices?
Yes. Each item has a price or a unit price, and the action list has a recommended year.
Can a GC use it to bid?
Yes. It is written so quantities and conditions are clear.
How often should it be updated?
Every year for the rating, and after any major storm.