Services

 

Engineering Inspections

 

At CMG Engineering Services Corporation, each inspection engineer will investigate and inspect your prospective property and look for any flaws and imperfections. Our extensive inspection engineering report or property / building condition assessment (BCA) will tell you what needs to be replaced, and if there are any serious structural flaws in the new or old residential or commercial building you are looking at. A typical cost for a stamped engineering inspection report starts at about $2000 + GST, a BCA at $3000 + GST and a report providing a facilities cost index or FCI will start at $3800 + GST.

 

We sometimes recommend a more detailed look at a specific problem if we deem it necessary, and this usually requires a new quotation for the additional services and possibly the use of subtrades. For example, the roof may require thermal inspection, or a wall may need to be revealed  to assess high moisture levels. These types of studies are normally outside the scope of a standard BCA.

 

Building Condition Assessment (BCA)

 

Our commercial building condition assessment or BCA, also sometimes referred to as a property condition assessment (PCA), or Property / Building Condition Report in Calgary, Toronto, Ontario, Alberta, and BC will give you an edge on calculating the value of your prospective commercial property with an engineer on site letting you know of any structural deficiencies, or defects before you buy. We also have add-ons including accessibility assessments, asbestos surveys, energy studies, air quality samping, and mould testing and analysis at extra cost if necessary.

 

Commercial property inspections are our main business, and we are serious about getting the information you need. We use the ASTM E-2018-15 protocol to ensure that nothing is left out of your commercial inspection. We also carry insurance required by your lending institution.

 

Lenders typically require these reports with commercial land purchases.

 

FCI

 

We also can provide a Facilities Condition Index or FCI that is a ratio of the current capital repairs necessary over the replacement cost of the building. An FCI will give you a more accurate value of what a building is worth and whether it is either time to replace it, or provide a better economic value to the building as it stands. The cost to provide an FCI increases the cost of the BCA as detailed costing and analysis is required to provide this information.

 

UNIFORMAT II

 

The UNIFORMAT II classification serves as a consistent reference for analysis, evaluation, and monitoring during the feasibility, planning, and design stages of buildings. Using UNIFORMAT II ensures consistency in the economic evaluation of buildings projects over time and from project to project. Some clients require this classification to be used instead of a standard BCA to input into their own building evaluation software and we can provide this.

 

Contact us to get an estimate, and a description of our scope of work.

 

Environmental Inspection

 

Environmental site assessment, or ESA, is completed at three levels, phase 1, phase 2 and phase 3. We carry the required insurance for your lending institution for this type of work. Contact us for an ESA estimate. We will need any previous ESA reports for the site, your billing address, and the location of the site including the legal description.

 

Phase I Environmental Site Assessment

 

Phase 1 ESA environmental reports are used for land purchases, building purchases, leases, business purchases, new residential developments and bank loans. Most lending institutions require a phase I ESA report, and it is a very good practice to do an environmental site inspection on a prospective purchase to make sure you are not buying a liability such as buildings with mold or asbestos, or land with BTEX (eg from gasoline) or other soil contaminations. These and other important matters can become extremely expensive to deal with when it is time to get building permits, or just to sell the property again. Civil liability can also result in law suites when  the contamination has migrated offsite or exposed to the tenants' areas. Expensive regulatory mandated clean-up may also be required by the authorized government agency. A typical cost for a phase I ESA is $3000 - $4000.

 

We are registered with AESAC (the Association for Environmental Site Assessors of Canada), and strictly follow the CSA Z768.01 guidelines.

 

Hazardous Material Building Inspection

 

If you are renovating or demolishing a building you will likely now require a hazardous material building inspection or HMBI. The objective is to determine what hazardous materials are in a building including asbestos containing materials (ACM), mould or fungal growth, polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs such as those found in older fluorescent lights and transformers, ozone depleting substances (ODS), mercury containing Equipment (MCE) such as that found in thermostats, radon, radioactive sensors such as those found in smoke detectors, urea formaldehyde foam insulation (UFFI) , and other chemicals such as lead-based paint. An invasive, or non-invasive inspection can be conducted depending on the permissions granted by the building owner.

 

Asbestos Survey

 

 

Many municipal, provincial, and federal regulatory bodies require certain building owners to have a current asbestos survey. An asbestos survey or ACM survey is a slightly less in-depth HMBI that provides a general level idea as to the locations of asbestos containing materials (ACM) within the building. CMG provides these ACM surveys to clients.

 

 

Phase II Environmental Site Assessment

 

If a phase I ESA report indicates higher risk "recognized environmental condition" , then a phase II ESA will be ordered. Phase II ESA may involve collecting soil samples to screen for chemical or metal contamination, collecting air samples for contaminents like stack emissions, mold or asbestos and possible sampling of ground or surface water. Costs for these types of detailed assessments are typically start at $30,000 however these figures can rise rapidly depending on the amount of testing required in the phase II ESA, however we may have, for example, a small amount of mould found, and the cost to test and remediate this in a phase III may be under $3000 if the damage is not widespread.

 

We are also registered with AESAC and follow the CSA Z769.00 guidelines for our phase II environmental site assessments.

 

Phase III Environmental

 

If the results from the phase II ESA indicate a significant problem, need further detail, or if cleanup is requested by an agency or by the responsible party, a site characterization, risk assessment or remediation may be required. The remediation or cleanup usually has to occur until appropriate samples are less than federal, provincial or civic cleanup standards.

 

Some phase II ESA reports that have passed cleanup standards at one point in time, may require an additional phase II ESA or phase III ESA since federal, provincial or civic cleanup standards change over time and sometimes become more stringent.

 

The costs of phase III ESA is impossible to guess and depends largely upon the nature of the problems.

 

BC Strata Depreciation Report and AB, ON Condo Reserve Fund Study

 

A BC strata depreciation report is a Government of BC mandated reserve fund study or depreciation report that encompasses a property / building condition assessment and financial analysis on the replacement costs of various building elements.

 

The current regulations in section 94 of the Strata Property Act BC defines the depreciation report and how it relates to the strata reserve fund.

 

The depreciation report must be completed by a qualified person and this includes a professional engineer registered with Engineers and Geoscientists BC (EGBC).

 

In Alberta and Ontario the Alberta condo reserve fund study and Ontario condo reserve fund study also have the same requirements, but including the requirement of a licensed member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) or Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) to complete the study.

 

CMG staff completing these a depreciation report in BC a  condo reserve study in Alberta and condo reserve study in Ontario have the proper qualifications and the experience and knowledge to guide you.

 

CMG is an excellent choice for your depreciation report and/or condo reserve fund study. We use the comprehensive ASTM 2018-15 standard to do a property condition assessment, and then use that information to provide a lifespan and replacement cost for larger capital cost replacement items.

 

Once we have created the property / building condition assessment (BCA / PCA) report, we will use the client’s reserve fund information to derive a breakdown of monthly and/or yearly costs to cover replacement costs with an allotment to the reserve fund.

 

CMG is an independent provider of these services, and as such has no interest in the strata or condo board or any of its member’s interests.

 

With building condition assessment experience dating back to 1988, and similar finanical experience, CMG can provide your condo board with an excellent Alberta and Ontario condo reserve fund study or BC strata depreciation report.

 

Contact us for an estimate for a reserve fund study depreciation report in BC, or a condo reserve fund study report in Alberta.

 

Convered Property Summary (CPS)

 

CMG has conducted Converted Property Summaries in Calgary, and in Alberta. The CPS is an updated regulatory requirement for developers to convert an existing property into a condominium corporation. CMG provides the Converted Property Summary that provides buyers with information on the property similar to a reserve fund study with information on all Capital expenditures, and defects of the property over a 30 year term. CMG is familiar with the older Building Assessment Report format that used the ASTM 2018-15 standard. The newer CPS in Calgary and Alberta adds some extra assurances to the condominium buyer.

 

Structural Engineering Design Services

 

If you need a wooden beam design for your home project, or have a commercial concrete / steel building you need designed, our engineers can help. With more than 25 years of design experience, use CMG Engineering Services Corporation for your next job.

 

Residential Property Inspections

 

When you need more than just a plain old residential property inspector, we can inspect your prosepctive property with an Engineer on site for foundation inspection, beam inspection, and any other structural or mechanical / electrical issue that might be uncovered.

 

We also provide (mold) mould air quality testing, and mould sampling services as well as asbestos surveys, and HMBI or hazardous material building inspections. These provide regulatory assessments prior to renovation or demolition of buildings.

 

Our trained engineering eye will help you make the right decision when it comes to a residential or commercial property sale.

 

Contact us for an estimate.