Inspection Report

Read the following case study (drawn from the accompanying material for Ron Blicq and Lisa Morettos Technically-Write!, Canadian 6th edition) and respond with a short report. Researching a New Site Vern Rogers telephones you from the local H L Winman and Associatess branch, where he is branch manager, and asks you to drop in. (You own a small business called Pro-Active Consultants Limited, which you operate from an office in your home.) You visit his office the next day, on the third floor of the Connor building at 444 Main Street. The building was built around 1880 and has stood up well over the years; however, it is aging and clearly needs some renovations. We need better and new accommodation, Vern says, something more in line with the tenor of our engineering consulting business, and something a little bigger. He says no one on his staff has the time to research new accommodation, so hes asking you to do it. I need your report by the end of next month, thats two months before our lease runs out: time for me to choose one of the sites you recommend, and for me to give a months notice to the owners of this building. Vern explains that over the years the centre of commerce has drifted away from the Connor building, toward the tree-lined Broadway area of the city. Broadway doesnt have to be the chosen location, but it will give you some idea of the kind of area I think would be most suitable. You ask some questions, and Vern offers detailed answers (see Table 1). Table 1. HLWs Local Office Requirements. Your questions: Vern Rogerss answers: 1. How many people do you have on staff? And how much increase do you see over the next five years? Currently, 42. Over the next five years I expect the number to increase about 10% per year, to a total of, say, 60 in five years. 2. How much space will you need? We have 410 square metres right now, and frankly its a bit tight. Id say we need 480 sq m immediately, and 580 in five years. 3. What rent do you anticipate paying? Good point. Were lucky here: its only $14.50 per month per square metre; I guess I could go up to about $17.00. 4. How many parking stalls? And what will the staff be willing to pay for them? Between 25 and 30. Currently they pay $30 per month in summer, and $50 in winter. 5. Should there be a cafeteria in the building? 6. Do any of your staff travel by bus? Ideally, yes. Or a restaurant or two within easy walking distance. About 20%. A bus route is important. 7. Anything else you can think of? False ceilings! Were getting so dependent on computers, we need false ceilings so we can bring the cables in unseen. And make changes as the technology changes. 220 Broadway. You first look at Verns preferred location, where there seems to be only one vacancy. You contact Camilla Loew, a sales representative with Modern Management Inc. The occupancy rate is very high on Broadway, Camilla says. If you want this one, youll have to move fast to close the deal. As she drives you along the tree-lined avenue, she briefs you about the vacancy. The propertys in the Chancellor Building, fourth floor, 220 Broadway. Actually, its occupied right now and will be for another two-and-a-half months. That would suit your client just about right, wouldnt it? You agree that it would. The present owners are ManSask Insurance Corporation. Theyre moving to larger premises in the old Ashton Warehouse. The Chancellor building lives up to its name. There is a refined, almost old-world atmosphere about it: dark walnut panelling with gold trim, high ceilings, rich gold carpet, and spacious but rather slow, sturdy, panelled elevators. The offices themselves have a panelled foyer, but inside are businesslike with off-white painted walls bearing framed prints of well-known traditional Canadian artists. There is no false ceiling. (But that could be installed without any problem, Camilla suggests. The high ceilings will permit it.) The 12 rooms that make up the 500 square metre space are arranged along two walls that face north and east, and so overlook the old warehouse district and the railway yards. Five hundred square metres is barely enough, you murmur, more to yourself than to Camilla. Ah, but in five years one of the adjoining offices is bound to be freed up, she says optimistically. One is 120 sq metres; the other 185 sq metres. She says the rent is $18.75 per square metre per month, and the rate is firm for the first two years. After that it has to be renegotiated every year. Inevitably, theres always an increase in the rental rate, you say, more as a statement of fact than a question. Camilla agrees that past history shows there is a modest increase every year or so. And she say there are 22 parking spaces in an underground car park you can inherit from the present occupant. The rent is $55 per month, and if you need more spaces, we have a waiting list. Cafeteria? you ask. At the back of the building, on the second floor. You dont have to ask about bus connections, because Broadway is a major thoroughfare served by several bus routes. 1650 Manor Road. Dana Wintersen calls from Provo Realty to say she has an excellent property for you, recently developed in the suburbs. In the suburbs? you reply. I dont think my client would appreciate that. Its worth a look, she says. Dont nay say it until youve seen it. Dana is right: the accommodation would suit HLW perfectlyif it were only downtown. There are 750 square metres of space, available immediately; the rent is only $16.00 per sq m per month, and the lease is for one year, but with a clause guaranteeing it can be renewed for one more year at the same rate. You dont need all that space? Dana asks. You can sublet what you dont need Ill even help you find a tenantand then you can call it back in when you eventually need it. That way, you maintain control. The development is part of a new mall built where there once had been a supermarket. It forms a U, with ample parking space both within the U and behind the centre block. The three sides are numbered 1640, 1650 (the one with a vacancy), and 1660. The lower level of each side of the U is occupied by small, mostly retail, businesses: stationers, a pet store, a medical clinic, a small restaurant and bake shop, and so on. The upper level is occupied by small-to-medium-size businesses: a specialty importer, a software developer, a social services consultant, an accounting firm, a legal firm, and Provo Realty. The ceilings are false, hung from cables. (Your client will be able to design the place to suit his specific needs, Dana says. Theyll be the first tenant.) She says there will be no charge for parking. Were setting aside special rows for the buildings occupants, with other rows for visitors. Were also putting in a limited number of power plugs for the winter: $20 a month. The interior has been painted only with an undercoat (You can choose your decor, Dana explains), has large triple-pane windows (Excellent natural light), and central air heat and air conditioning. The walk-up to the second floor, via a central flight of stairs, is spacious and pleasingly decorated in a light green. There are wheelchair ramps, both from the street to the sidewalk and from the sidewalk into the building, and a small elevator beside the stair well. The building does not have a basement. Manor Road skirts the southern edge of a residential area known as Silver Heights, which 80 years ago was the premium residential area of the city and still retains some of its early-century charm. The trees are fully grown and the boulevards are well developed with shrubs and flower beds. Manor Road has become a fast route from the city centre to a new, prestigious residential district known as Shaunessy Heights, at the edge of the city. It is reasonably well-served by a fast bus route from downtown that operates every 15 minutes. 100 Sheridan Street. The third location you visit is the old Ashton building, which by coincidence is the same building that ManSask Insurance Company is coming into, from 220 Broadway. (They are moving into suite 702 on the seventh floor. You are shown suites 404 and 405 on the fourth floor.) You are accompanied by Laurence DeWitt of Corisand Development Corporation. Our development of the Ashton building is part of a long-range plan to rejuvenate the old city centre, to reverse the drift out to the suburbs. Youll be blessed by a strong, warm buildingwarm both physically and aestheticallythat has large rooms and high ceilings. When you enter the buildings front door, you realize the late 1800s decor has been carefully retained: there are marble floors and steps, gilt-edged picture frame walls, a sweeping staircase leading up to a mezzanine with a lounge and coffee shop overlooking the entrance hall. Elegant, you say. Right! Laurence replies. And the office decor is equally interesting. You take an old-fashioned but completely refurbished open-cage elevator with sliding concertina-style black metal doors. You step out into a six-sided foyer in the middle of the building, with a double door set into each side. Laurence opens a solid oak door with a brass nameplate with 405 engraved on it, and you step into a warehouse past. The ceilings are a good 4 metres high, the walls are scrubbed real red brick, the pillars and beams are 30 cm square natural oak, and the floors are polished hardboard planks. Arent those beams a fire hazard? you ask. No way! Theyll only smoulder and char slowly rather than burn. Far safer than metal beams that tend to buckle in extreme heat. Laurence reminds you that the whole building has been designated a no smoking area. (You wonder how Vern Rogers would like that: you have noticed he smokes.) Rent? you ask. $17.50 per square meter per month. Youll have a three-year lease, so the rent is guaranteed for three years. How large is it? This rooms 410 square metres. Room 404, next door, is another 220 square metres. Wed cut a door to suit you. And if you need more space, room 505 directly above is available. Wed put in a circular staircase. Can we put in false ceilings? No, but you can run suspended cable channels. No problem there. Parking? A problem. Theres nothing at the moment. Were converting the Carter building, diagonally across the back lane, into a car park. $50 per month summer and winter. Itll be ready in six months; until then, its find what you can. (Later, you investigate: there are two car parks three blocks away: $65 per month.) Its at this moment you realize the Ashton building is only two blocks from HLWs present location! Bus routes, you know, are frequent on Main Street, a three minute walk. The building has adequate wheelchair access. Now you have a quandary: the two most promising sites are not in the area preferred by Vern Rogers. You are to prepare him a short report (three to four pages) describing your findings (you are aware he will send a copy to HLWs head office in Calgary, for senior management approval).

with these details:

Summary

Background as usual plus:

Why inspection was done

What was to be inspected (note the criteria here)

Who was involved

When and where the inspection took place

Findings

Conditions Found

Deficiencies

A table works well here; can include descriptions of the findings as evidence of how a criteria was met or not

Outcome

Results (or recommendation if the inspection is authorized as such)