Office Building Exterior Inspection Checklist
A printable inspection route built for office property — approach, plaza, entrances, glazing, parking structure, stair cores, employee routes, elevations, and safety.
On This Page
- How to Use This Checklist
- Inspection Checklist
- Sorting Findings
- Frequency
- What This Checklist Does Not Cover
This checklist follows the visitor route, then the employee route, then the areas neither population sees. The employee route is included deliberately, because it is the most under-inspected sequence on most office properties and the one most occupants actually experience.
The general surface-specific guides in the Inspection Library go deeper on individual surfaces. This is the office route.
How to Use This Checklist
- Walk the visitor route first, arriving as a visitor would — visitor parking, plaza, main entrance.
- Then walk the employee route: structure or employee lot, stair core, connector walkway, employee entrance, smoking area.
- Inspect in daylight on dry surfaces, then separately after dark for lighting.
- Record the substrate on plaza and entry surfaces the first time — decorative, sealed, or standard. It governs every method decision afterwards.
- Photograph and date anything marked, with location precise enough for someone else to find.
Print this page directly from your browser. Navigation, sidebar, and calls to action are removed in print, leaving the checklist and a notes column.
Inspection Checklist
Approach and Visitor Arrival
- Building signage and address legible from the approach, clean and lit
- Entry drive surface condition and drainage
- Visitor parking condition, striping, and signage
- Accessible stalls, access aisles, and route continuity to the entrance
- Landscaping maintained and not obstructing sightlines or signage
- First impression of the plaza from the arrival point
Plaza and Hardscape
- Paving substrate and treatment recorded — decorative, sealed, natural stone, standard
- Field paving condition and cleanliness
- Joints, expansion lines, and unit paver joints
- Tree wells, grates, planter bases, and landscape edges
- Column, bollard, and light pole bases
- Steps, ramps, nosings, and handrail bases
- Seating, tables, and furniture condition
- Water feature surround — mineral deposition, growth, overspray band
- Shaded sections — organic growth and persistent damp
- Gum accumulation at seating and approach points
- Bird soiling under trees, ledges, and structures
Main Entrance
- Entry paving inspected from three feet
- Glazing condition — spotting, residue, etching, film edges
- Frames, seals, gaskets, and thresholds
- Door hardware, sensors, card readers, intercoms functional and clean
- Revolving or automatic door mechanisms and surrounds
- Canopy, soffit, and signage band overhead
- Entry lighting operational and fixtures clean
- Mats, mat wells, and the interior transition
- Furniture, planters, receptacles, and ashtrays
Employee Route
- Employee entrance paving, glazing, and hardware — assessed at entry standard
- Route from parking to employee entrance, including connector walkways
- Structure stair cores — treads, nosings, handrails, landings, surface condition
- Stair core lighting at every tread and landing
- Stair core odor, spillage, and biological soiling
- Elevator lobbies within the structure
- Smoking or break area — ash, tar staining, burn marks, receptacles, gum
- Whether the de facto smoking area matches the designated one
- Employee parking condition
Parking Structure
- Drainage destination recorded per structure; separator condition where present
- Level surfaces — fluid accumulation, staining, polished traffic paths
- Ramps — surface condition, sightlines, markings
- Striping, directional markings, and level identification legible
- Lighting at every level, verified after dark
- Ventilation operating where mechanical
- Structural elements — spalling, cracking, exposed reinforcement, corrosion staining
- Bollards, wheel stops, and protective elements
- Pedestrian routes and vehicle separation
- Graffiti on walls, stair cores, and concealed surfaces
- Accessible stalls, aisles, and route to the building
Surface Parking
- Pavement condition — cracking pattern and extent, potholes, rutting, edge deterioration
- Entrance-adjacent stalls — staining and general condition
- Striping and markings legible from a seated driver position
- Accessible stalls, access aisles, hatching, and signage
- Catch basins and inlets clear; ponding noted if after rain
- Landscape islands maintained; no sightline obstruction
- Lighting including remote rows, verified after dark
- Wheel stops, bollards, and curbs intact
Building Elevations
- Substrate type recorded per elevation; EIFS and coated surfaces marked
- Street-facing elevations — facade condition, staining, coating condition
- Shaded and rear elevations, including those facing nothing
- Biological growth, noting which elevations face which direction
- Wall base condition, splash-back, grade, and landscaping contact
- Roofline, gutters, downspouts, scuppers, and overflow staining
- Irrigation heads striking building, glazing, or hardscape
- Ground-floor glazing band condition
- Signage, illuminated elements, and awnings
Service and Loading
- Loading area surface condition and cleanliness
- Trash and recycling enclosure — structure, gates, slab, drainage, odor
- Grease receptacles where ground-floor food service is present
- Pest indicators — droppings, gnaw marks, burrows, nesting
- Storage and housekeeping; egress paths clear
- Drainage destination recorded
Safety
- Trip hazards on all pedestrian routes, particularly plaza and connector walkways
- Slip conditions — shaded growth, polished paths, standing water, tracked water at entries
- Accessible route continuity from accessible parking to every entrance
- Handrails, guardrails, ramps, and stair nosings throughout
- Lighting on the arrival and departure routes, verified after dark
- Vehicle and pedestrian conflict points at structure ramps and crossings
- Fire lanes and egress routes clear
- Entry matting adequate and in good condition during wet season
Sorting Findings
| Category | Examples | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Immediate | Trip hazards, active slip conditions, blocked egress, failed railings, unlit stair cores | Control on the day of discovery |
| Scheduled | Soiling, gum, growth, staining, debris, drain clearing | Fold into the next scheduled cycle |
| Tenant | Ground-floor tenant frontage, signage, outdoor furniture | Route to the tenant against the appearance standard |
| Capital or specializt | Pavement base failure, structural spalling, drainage regrading, accessibility questions | Assess, budget, route to the appropriate trade |
Frequency
- Entry plaza, main entrance, employee entrance — weekly visual, monthly documented.
- Stair cores — monthly visual, quarterly documented.
- Full route including structure and elevations — quarterly documented.
- Night lighting inspection — quarterly, and before the short days.
- After-rain drainage inspection — at least twice per wet season.
- Pre-tour appearance check — timed so findings can be actioned before leasing activity.
- Annual full inspection — timed to inform capital planning.
What This Checklist Does Not Cover
This is a visual condition inspection to support maintenance planning. It is not a professional safety audit, an accessibility compliance survey, a structural or pavement engineering assessment, or a parking structure condition survey. Structures in particular warrant periodic assessment by a qualified structural engineer, which this does not substitute for.
Part of the Office Building Authority Center
This resource is part of the Power Wash NorCal Office Building Exterior Maintenance center — the complete reference for office exterior condition.
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Read More →Frequently Asked Questions
How often should an office building exterior be inspected?
Entry plazas and entrances warrant a weekly visual check with documented inspection monthly; stair cores monthly by sight and quarterly documented; and the full route including structure and elevations quarterly. Add a night lighting inspection quarterly and before the short days, and an after-rain drainage inspection twice per wet season.
What do office building inspections most often miss?
The employee route — the employee entrance, structure stair cores, connector walkways, and the smoking area. Most occupants use that sequence twice daily and it appears on no leasing tour, which is why it is both the most experienced and the least inspected part of the property.
Does this replace a parking structure condition survey?
No. This is a visual maintenance inspection. Parking structures warrant periodic assessment by a qualified structural engineer covering the condition of the structure itself, and nothing in a maintenance walkthrough substitutes for that.
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