Inspections, Maintenance, Surveys & Reporting

Comprehensive reporting is essential for maintaining structural safety, and we are committed to providing our clients with clear, detailed assessments of their steel structures, steelwork, and coated finishes. Our expertise also extends to offering professional guidance on necessary maintenance or repairs.

Our survey process includes a thorough visual inspection to evaluate the overall condition of the structure, identifying any signs of damage, corrosion, or deformation. Based on our findings, we assess whether the steelwork remains fit for purpose or requires repairs or modifications.

Following the survey, we compile a comprehensive report detailing all assessed areas, a record of inspections and completed work – including any repairs or planned fixes – and, when possible, an aerial image for enhanced visual context.

The report also presents our findings in detail, supported by photographic documentation. Whenever feasible, we address minor issues immediately. For more significant concerns, we provide expert recommendations on the most effective solutions. We ensure that all proposed options are both practical and cost-efficient, tailored to the specific needs of each project.

We recommend to our clients that existing steel structures are inspected on an annual basis. All our inspections carry out a maintenance check on the whole steel structure where we will highlight any defects that are visually possible to see.

We don’t carry out intrusive surveys i.e. removal of existing paintwork or digging out footings to check the structure underneath. We will highlight any areas where we can see that the structure or finishes are deteriorating and highlight possible solutions to extend the life span. If required, we do have an external structural engineer who can verify our findings and calculate the required strengthening works should it be deemed required or requested by the client.

Please note this requirement for verification by a structural engineer would always be at an additional cost to the initial inspection and report cost as we do not include this in our standard inspection fee. The cost of this would vary on each individual item inspected.

NDT (Non-Destructive Testing) can be carried out, which can be done by visual inspection, MPI inspection or ultrasonic inspections of the steel and the welds. Again this is not something we include within our standard inspections costs but can be carried out at an additional cost should it be deemed necessary or requested by the client.

In addition to the maintenance inspections, when on site we will carry out minor repairs such as fixing handrails being out of alignment or level (where possible). Tightening lose fixings and replacing missing fixings where possible, minor finish repairs such as paint touch-ups where paint is cracked or chipped and spray galvanised items where rusting is occurring. We only carry this out locally and if the steelwork underneath is in a fair condition. We will not cover up areas of significant damage or deterioration. These areas will be highlighted to the client in our report with possible solutions given to rectify issues.

Any additional requirement for significant repairs will again come at an additional cost to the initial inspection and report.

If we find any item on an escape route (staircase, cat ladder, platform, gantries etc) is in a state where we don’t believe it’s safe to use, we will immediately inform the client and suggest that the structure be taken out of use until repair or replacement works are carried out, to ensure the continued safety of users of the structure.