Airffic Inspect
Pre-renovation survey for condominiums and apartment buildings
The conversation about a major repair usually starts with “it is about that time”. What the board actually needs is a picture of the building as it is today, in photographs and ratings that everyone in the room can share.
Know the building before you read the bids
The hard part of a major repair program is not getting bids. It is that the board has almost nothing to judge them by. The price is written down. The scope of work is written down. What is missing is any way to check whether that work is what the building needs right now.
The only way to close that gap is for the association to hold its own picture of the building’s condition. Which elevation, which floors, how bad. With that list in hand, the proposed scope can be compared line by line.
Airffic Inspect builds that list from photographs.
A note on words: in Japan a condominium block is called a “mansion”, which is why the Japanese version of this page has that word in its address. This page is about the same buildings — condominiums, co-ops, apartment blocks and leasehold flats.
How to do it
- 01Photograph each elevationNorth, south, east, west, plus the corridor and balcony sides. A drone for the upper floors, a handheld camera or phone for what you can reach.
- 02Upload under the building name"Riverside Court, south elevation" — something the board will recognize a year from now. Up to 20 images per review.
- 03Read the resultsEach finding lists location, defect type, urgency (High, Medium, Low) and a recommended action.
- 04Keep it as a recordReviews accumulate as history. Photograph the same elevation in six months or a year and compare how it has moved.
Reading the urgency ratings
| Meaning | Typical findings | |
|---|---|---|
| High | Needs action now | Structural risk, water ingress, large-scale delamination |
| Medium | Action recommended within three to six months | Progressing cracks, rust penetrating from reinforcement |
| Low | Check again at the annual inspection | Minor discoloration, small cracks |
Ratings are based on what the photograph shows. Decide the actual timing together with a qualified engineer or surveyor.
When to use it
Before the repair discussion starts
Before the board acts on “it is about that time”, look at the actual state of the wall. Sometimes it is further along than anyone thought; sometimes there is more time than the reserve study assumed.
When comparing bids
With several proposals side by side, a condition list tells you where the differences in scope come from. If one bid covers far more than the others, you can ask why, with the evidence in front of you.
After the work, for next time
Photograph the building once right after the work is finished, and that becomes the baseline. Photograph the same elevations periodically from then on, and the next repair date comes from the record instead of from rule of thumb.
What it cannot do
To be clear: this review is not a substitute for a formal condition report.
Statutory inspections (in Japan, the periodic report under Article 12 of the Building Standards Act; in US cities with facade ordinances, the program the city runs) and the survey a construction contract rests on need a qualified professional. And whatever does not show in a photograph — how far a tile has lifted, a void behind the render, the state of the substrate — cannot be rated from one. Tap testing and infrared exist for those.
Think of it as a first-pass screen: it tells you where the professional survey should concentrate, so that survey is shorter and better aimed.
Questions people ask
Is it worth the board doing its own condition check before a major repair?
Yes. Reading a contractor bid is a different exercise when you already know the state of the building. A list of where the damage is and how serious it is gives you something to hold the proposed scope of work against — is it too much, too little, or about right.
Do we need technical knowledge?
No. All it needs is photographs of the facade. Upload them and AI locates the defects, rates each High, Medium or Low, and states a recommended action in plain language. You do not need to know the vocabulary.
Can we use it as board or committee material?
As a working document, yes. It gives the board a list of defects and their urgency to discuss where to start. It is not the formal condition report that a contract or a lender relies on; that needs a qualified engineer or surveyor.
How many photographs should we take?
A review handles up to 20 images. Start with representative shots of each elevation, then add close-ups of anything that worries you. Reviews can be repeated as often as you like.
How do we photograph the upper floors without scaffolding?
A drone. If you do not have one, photographing what you can reach from the ground, balconies and shared walkways still gives a useful partial picture. The review works on photographs; how you took them does not matter.
What does it cost?
Three reviews a month are free. If the association manages several buildings or wants a regular record, consider a paid plan; prices are published on the legal notice page.
Related
- Drone facade inspection →Where the cost goes, and how the two workflows compare.
- Field guide to facade defects →What each defect looks like and how urgent it is.
- Try Airffic Inspect →Upload photographs and run a review.
- About Airffic World →The three pillars and how we build.
- 日本語版 — マンション大規模修繕の事前調査 →The Japanese guide.
Try it on one building
Three reviews a month, free. No credit card. Upload the photographs as they are.
Run a review →