MY EXPLORATION OF A CLASS C OFFICE BUILDING

This spring, I visited a commercial building that reminded me just how good my usual clients are at building management and maintenance. I’m lucky enough to primarily inspect Class A and Class B commercial office buildings. That means I am used to a level of quality: marble entrances, great maintenance, responsive management, and on-site security. But every once in a while, I find myself roped into a different kind of inspection … the sort that makes me want to go home and take a long shower!

This was just such a building. It was a two-story, 25,000 square-foot property built in the mid 1990s with enough cubicles for 80-100 knowledge workers. Given that COVID protocols were still in use, there were only five people in the office while the remainder of the staff was working from home. In an unusual twist, I was hired by the tenant who currently occupies the building. A large East Coast corporation had just purchased this business and were concerned about the health of their new staff – and rightly so.

The original owner of the business (and of the building) came to Texas from Asia in the 1990s and didn’t value his staff or believe in providing a good work environment. One of his staff told us that he hired and fired rapidly, and if someone didn’t like the working conditions, he would tell them to “take it or leave it.” About seven years ago, the business owner sold the building to his brother-in-law … who also decided to do bare minimum maintenance and avoid making improvements. At this point, the condition of the building went from bad to worse!

Recently, the business owner sold his company to the East Coast corporation (my clients). They walked through their newly-acquired space and thought, “My gosh! This is NOT a good place for our staff!” The trouble is they still have seven years left on their lease. Therefore, they called me to see just how bad the indoor air quality was and whether there was anything they could do to make it safe for their staff.

We spent an entire day surveying this building. Here are some of the most critical issues that we noted.

• There were dozens of water-stained and moldy acoustic tiles scattered across the two floors.
• We found almost 20,000 square feet of heavily stained, ripped, and torn commercial carpeting just waiting to trip anybody walking through the spaces.
• “New” laminate flooring was so poorly installed that it was lifting and peeling, causing another tripping hazard.
• Gaps, cracks, and voids in the exterior caulking around all windows let the rain pour into the building’s perimeter walls. This water led to numerous stained acoustic tiles around the perimeter of the first floor.
• There were dozens of cubicles with such an unusual odor that they must have come from a chemical plant.
• We found pesticide odors and residue from moth crystals and other insect sprays used on plants in an interior atrium.
• The air handling units had locked and screwed shut covers, indicating that they probably aren’t receiving regular maintenance. (We let the building owner know that we wanted to inspect these several days before our survey. On the day of our visit, his maintenance man surprisingly “took a day off.”

As you might imagine, there were elevated levels of airborne particles, mold, and volatile organic compounds. I also suspect that if the building had been occupied, those levels would have been higher from a lack of outdoor air! Every square foot was either a tripping or breathing hazard. Our report identified many things to fix to ensure their staff wouldn’t be breathing in mold, elevated particles (from the carpeting), or organic compounds from the pesticides. Ultimately, I felt the building was not conducive to comfort, safety, health, or productivity.

It was certainly satisfying to deliver my report knowing it could save many of their staff from office-related dis-ease. But it also made me incredibly thankful for the property and facility managers of the Class A and B buildings who actually care about their building’s occupants and take action to protect them. Many of you have called me about water damage, respiratory complaints, or even mold – but never all at once, and never this bad!

Sometimes it takes a visit to a truly awful building to remind me just how good buildings can be! Thank you for all that you do!