Topography or Lay of the Land - Commercial Property Inspection and Property Condition Assessment Considerations

Topography Map Review

Flood Plain Review

Drainage Map Review

Topography Review

Inspecting and reviewing the Topography of a site is important not only for general usage and accessibility issues but to identify possible safety issues as well.  A property with too much slope can be difficult to traverse for some individuals, especially those with infirmities or whom are wheelchair bound.  While a property with too little slope can be subject to ponding and icing depending on climate.  Ponding tends to saturate all sorts of ground and speed the deterioration of some paving, while icing can obviously lead to parking lot accidents as well as slips and falls.

Property inspectors and reviewers conducting condition assessments should be keenly aware of the types surfaces is well as they’re grading and how they interact with each other.  It is not enough to simply understand that soils pitched towards a building a may cause foundation issues.  The inspector must also understand the various effects of ground water penetration, freeze thaw cycles, and hydrostatic pressures upon that foundation or underneath that pavement. 

​The inspector and reviewer providing the property condition assessment or commercial property inspection should also pay attention to any possible erosion of materials in relation to the area or those materials may be deposited in case there is possibility of storm water blockage.  The topography of the property can also help assess whether runoff from adjacent properties may contaminate the subject property being reviewed a and reported upon.

Examples: grading, elevations, grade changes, terrain, contour lines, surveys.

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