You may want to establish your own commercial property as you build your business. However, when you devote such significant capital to your building project, you cannot afford to take unnecessary risks. As a result, you should arrange for oversight and periodic inspections during construction by a qualified construction expert consultant to prevent future problems.
Similarly, performing your due diligence is crucial if you choose to purchase commercial real estate. If you choose to forego inspections and oversight by an expert real estate consultant during a real estate transaction, whether it is due to cost or time constraints, you may experience significant expenses down the road if you discover a major problem. In addition, your business could be liable for negligence if a defect causes harm to others, even if you weren’t aware of the defect.
Whether building or purchasing a commercial property, engaging the services of a construction expert consultant allows you to quickly identify and remedy any defects that might lead to legal disputes. An experienced Arizona real estate attorney can assist you in handling any defects that inspections may discover in your commercial real estate and representing your interests in any necessary litigation.
Design Defects
Design defects can lead to major problems in commercial buildings. In most cases, building inspectors do not look at construction designs from engineers or architects. However, you can take steps at the beginning of the construction process to protect yourself from design defects. Having a construction expert consultant as part of your project team can help ensure that building plans are structurally sound, meet all applicable building codes, and are free from potentially dangerous design defects.
Likewise, an expert consultant can identify design defects after construction. If necessary, the consultant can return to the blueprints or original designs and determine the source of the defect. Identifying these defects is necessary to ensure that you know what you are purchasing and protect yourself from liability if the building contains a design defect that could be harmful to others.
Subsurface Defects
Equally important to your building plans is the surface on which you intend to place your commercial building. Building sites often require grading and other subsurface preparations to ensure that they have adequate drainage and can adequately support the foundation of your building. These preparations are necessary to avoid unwanted flooding and foundation problems in the future.
Similarly, an construction expert consultant looking at an existing commercial building will be able to tell from the existing foundation and grading whether issues exist with the surface on which the building stands. Cracks or deterioration to the foundation, pooling water, and water damage can indicate defects in the subsurface. Again, oversight by an expert consultant can help you avoid a potential dispute in the future with the seller of the building concerning a subsurface defect that you were not aware of when you purchased the property.
Material Deficiencies
If needed, you should discuss the choice of building materials with your contractors and include your construction expert consultant in those discussions. Substandard building materials can lead to various issues with your building. For instance, poor roofing materials can lead to leaks that damage the interior of your building. Likewise, poor insulation materials can result in higher heating and cooling costs for your business than expected.
If you want to purchase a commercial building, your construction expert consultant can point out areas where the builder has used substandard materials. Those materials may have broken down over time, may not be up to code, or necessitate costly repairs soon. By identifying these deficiencies before purchase, you can negotiate replacement costs as part of your purchase price.
Workmanship Defects
An expert construction consultant can inspect your build at different points during the construction process. This process helps ensure that your contractors understand that they are to comply with all building codes and never attempt to cut corners. Likewise, your consultant can make certain that periodic inspections happen as scheduled before you move on to the next phase of your construction project.
The oversight that only an expert consultant can provide is equally important when purchasing commercial real estate to locate any defects in workmanship, such as building code violations. Failure to conduct inspections and perform your due diligence before purchasing a commercial building for your business can lead to unexpected expenditures outside your budget. These steps also can help determine whether the asking price for the real estate is too high or whether this purchase is truly the right one for your business.
Call Us Today for Assistance with Your Real Estate Matter
The real estate lawyers of Provident Law have over 250 years of combined legal experience. We aim to build a relationship with you and our clients as we work with you through your most complex legal problems. Call us today at (480) 388-3343, or reach out to us online and see what we can do for you.