Updated: 24th July, 2024
Created: 9th June, 2020
Robert joined Barker in 2002 and is a Partner based in our Braintree office. A Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, he has over 20 years’ experience of all core building surveying services and provides strategic estates advice to key accounts in the education, commercial, ecclesiastical and public sectors.
An education specialist, he provides the following services: estates and energy strategy, asset management planning, project management and capital funding applications.
Robert works closely with clients to plan and implement energy efficiency and sustainability strategies to save money, reduce carbon emissions and meet ESG objectives.
As a RICS Certified Historic Buildings Professional he provides conservation consultancy for clients with listed and historic buildings.
Robert is an experienced APC Assessor and Chairman and is also an external examiner for Anglia Ruskin University
As a Partner Robert leads the Business Development and Marketing function at Barker, builds relationships with key sector bodies and helps steer the strategic growth of the company.
Email: rgould@barker-associates.co.uk
Tel: 01279 648057
Having a detailed understanding of the condition of your estate is the backbone of effective asset management. Building condition surveys can give you the insight you need to ensure your estate remains well-maintained and suitable for use. Rob Gould explains what condition surveys are, the benefits of undertaking them and how to commission them.
Condition surveys are designed to assess the physical condition of the buildings in an estate. These surveys involve visual inspections and are usually non-intrusive, and they can provide you with a better understanding of your buildings. Barker undertakes a variety of surveys and inspections for building owners in both public and private sectors, and all of our condition survey reports clearly present our findings, providing you with easy-to-understand condition ratings. Our professional services include various types of surveys, including; condition surveys, pre-acquisition surveys and measured surveys.
Comprehensive condition surveys are commonly required in the Education sector. Academy trusts and local authorities alike carry out surveys of their estates, including schools, trusts, colleges and universities, and they can benefit from the insight provided. Every building in an estate can be assessed during a condition survey to help you manage your whole estate effectively. By identifying things like health and safety issues, as well as deficiencies and maintenance work, building condition surveys can help with future decision-making.
These surveys can also benefit several other sectors and commercial properties, such as the Housing sector. Many will arrange home surveys when buying a new property and RICS condition reports can provide the information required about a property’s condition. A homebuyer report can help you ensure you’re making a wise investment.
Surveys and inspections can be utilised throughout the property life cycle. From conducting due diligence to assisting with pre-development planning, they are a versatile tool that can help you to make informed decisions about your estate. Working with a building surveying team will enable you to create the best environment for those using the buildings.
Condition surveys should be undertaken by building surveyors who are suitably qualified, experienced and carry the necessary professional indemnity insurance. The surveys should indicate the physical condition, deficiencies and maintenance requirements for:
A – Good, performing as intended and operating efficiently
B – Satisfactory, performing as intended but exhibiting minor deterioration
C – Poor, exhibiting major defects and/or not operating as intended
D – Bad, life expired and/or serious risk of failure
1 – Urgent, immediate or 1 year remedial action required
2 – Essential, 1 to 2 year remedial action required
3 – Desirable, 3 to 5 year remedial action required
4 – Long term, outside of a 5-year planning period
The condition survey report should also highlight areas that require further investigation or more specialist advice. Detailed surveys can help when planning future maintenance work and renovation projects, ensuring building owners are investing time and money into the right areas.
Normally, a building condition survey will include both a condition grade and a priority rating for each element being surveyed;
There are several reasons to undertake condition surveys on your estate. Getting some assistance from a building surveying team offers a wide range of benefits to different sectors, including the following;
Whenever you have building condition surveys carried out, the information you receive should be stored, analysed and used in the best way possible. Ultimately, quality data should inform effective decision-making when it comes to your estate – this data needs to meet the ‘Four Cs’; Current, Correct, Complete and Consistent. To achieve this, someone needs to take responsibility for controlling the data (this could be someone in your estates team or a partner like Barker), and the data needs to be stored in a central database which is easy to interrogate.
For small estates, your central database might be a spreadsheet, but for large buildings or multi-building estates, a more intelligent system will be essential. There are many tools, including Computer Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) packages and simpler, more cost-effective solutions such as Barker’s EO Portal.
When choosing which tool is right for your personal data storage, you need to consider the following questions:
Barker can help you to get the most from your data. When using the EO Portal to manage your estate, you can efficiently analyse all of the information provided by condition surveys and inspections to make informed decisions. Our experts can also provide you with advice and guidance, helping to find solutions to any issues identified. Once a plan has been created, it can be put into action and we can project manage the work required.
Barker provides professional building consultancy services to a number of sectors, helping clients to really understand their estates. Our building surveying team has decades of knowledge and technical expertise, and can undertake a variety of surveys and inspections. We can provide the insights you need into the physical condition of your buildings and our easy-to-understand condition survey reports will become invaluable tools for success.
For an informal chat about our surveying services and how condition surveys can help you get the best from your estate, please contact us today. Call Rob Gould at Barker on 01279 647111 and we can design a bespoke condition survey plan for your business, university, college, academy, school or trust. Take a look at some of our case studies to find out more about how we can help you maintain and improve your estate.
