Role of Inspections in Construction/Real Estate industry
Need for Inspection in Real Estate & Construction
We live in an era where the real estate industry is rapidly growing, and it may reach a staggering value in the coming future. Needless to say, this has definitely resulted in a growing demand in the global market to construct buildings for – residential, commercial and industrial purposes. Now, it becomes crucial to ensure the adherence to – building norms, regulations and safety requirements both before and after the construction of these buildings. Imagine that these construction protocols are not followed, it will prove very catastrophic as it may lead to dangerous safety hazards and structural collapses. In addition to this, there would be unnecessary delays, escalated costs and legal complications. Hence, inspection procedures play a very pertinent role in ensuring the smooth progress of a project and its compliance with regulations and industry guidelines.
Inspections in Different Construction Phases
Pre-Construction Phase
In any construction project, regular inspections are carried out at each and every stage of the project. At the onset, pre-construction site inspections are conducted, and they help in mitigating any potential problems before the actual construction begins. These inspections involve a comprehensive evaluation of the site on a number of factors like soil stability, drainage, flooding, erosion and site-accessibility. A thorough pre-construction site inspection can help save time, monetary losses, and potentially even lives.
Construction Phase
Inspections follow through as soon as the construction work begins. There is a substantial amount of time taken for any construction project, so various inspections need to be carried out during the course of the construction. In doing so, a lot of issues can be uncovered so that immediate actions can be taken on them, for example –identifying any weak structural foundations in roof, walls etc., faulty electrical wirings, hazardous material leakages, and wear and tear of the construction materials. To reinforce all these factors, inspectors can conduct periodic and daily inspections for various inspection types like fire safety, plumbing, electrical, monitoring the quality of building material, general health & safety, building regulation inspections, contamination etc.
Post – Construction Phase
Once the construction is completed, there is a final post – construction inspection that comes into play before handing over the building to the project owner. Post – construction inspections include assessment of buildings compliance with approved plans, building codes and industry standards. Engineers, who conduct inspection, look for any defects or deviations that can compromise the safety or the structural integrity. They also prepare a final report containing visual assessments, measurements and documentation of their findings. If certain anomalies are found during inspection, then some corrective actions can be recommended as well.
Inspections for Buildings
The cycle of inspection does not end when the construction is completed. In fact, it is an ongoing process till the building is standing. Regular maintenance can significantly prolong the longevity of a building. Different kinds of inspections can be performed periodically depending upon the type of building. For example, some buildings might have lifts and would require inspections for its maintenance and safety. Generic inspections that are performed from time to time include electrical, fire safety, facility, plumbing, gas leakage etc. and they all fall under the maintenance category.
Introducing aHawkAI
Aaseya has developed aHawkAI which is a SaaS-based enterprise-level inspection solution. It contains multiple features that would prove beneficial in making the inspection process, in the construction and real estate industry, easy and more efficient. This is new way of conducting inspections which is more robust, accurate and less time-consuming. Let’s discuss some of its key features that can add value to the inspection processes done in this industry.
Checklist Configuration & Management – One of the key requirements within any inspection process is to prepare a customizable checklist for the inspection process. aHawkAI allows users to create specific checklist templates based on the type of inspection. Inspectors can then use this template to complete their inspection by filling in the relevant data. This template allows inspectors to capture any notes, attachments or corrective actions on the go.
Periodic Inspections – Construction projects require regular inspections to be conducted in order to maintain the highest standards of safety. This can be easily met as the system creates and assigns inspection cases in a periodic manner. This ensures timely execution and reduces manual effort.
Smart Routing – This feature can be used to optimize and automate the allocation of tasks to qualifying inspectors based on their skills, proximity and availability. Constructions require daily inspections and by using this feature It becomes easy to allocate tasks to various inspector who have expertise in different areas of inspection.
Mobile Application – The mobile application is intuitive and utilizes the configurations to guide the inspectors through the inspection process. It gives an ease to note down the inspection results while doing the inspections.
Corrective Action Recommendations – Reports created in the final stage give a list of corrective actions in case some defects or deviations are observed in post construction inspection. AHawkAI recommends corrective actions for each checklist with non-compliance so that the required steps can be taken to rectify the failures.
Inspection Report –The report auto- generation feature comes in very handy in the final stage of the construction as inspections with a detailed assessment need to be handed over to the project owner.
Conclusion
Constructing and building any project is a mammoth task and if not done right, it can wreak havoc. Hence, it goes without saying that inspections are an integral and critical part of the construction and real estate industry. The aHawkAI solution bundles together some key components like auto-case creation for periodic scenarios that makes the process of inspection more streamlined and easier to handle. The intuitive report feature allows the business users to have an insightful view of different aspects of inspections and take timely actions to course correct any deviations.
AhawkAI has the capability to be the one stop solution for all the inspection needs and in turn make sure that constructing buildings is not just about compliance but also about ensuring that these structures stand the test of time and maintain a safe environment for everyone.
