What is it made of, and when was it built?
Record the approximate year, number of stories, structural material, foundation or support system, roof type, and major additions.
Understand Your Building
Ask a better question about the place you live.
You don't need to be an engineer. You need enough information to ask an owner, manager, building department, insurer, or qualified professional a better question.
The useful starting point
Get the facts the next person will ask for.
A regional map can't tell you how one building will perform. These facts narrow the conversation without pretending to inspect anything.
What is beneath and beside it?
Look for mapped flood areas, soft ground, slopes, shorelines, wildfire exposure, drainage paths, retaining walls, and access roads.
What work has already been done?
Find permits, retrofit records, reroofing, foundation work, utility changes, floodproofing, anchoring, and repairs after earlier damage.
What stops if the building stops?
Elevators, pumps, alarms, access controls, ventilation, heat, water, sewer, garages, and common doors may depend on power or one responsible person.
Control is uneven
The right next step depends on who can change what.
A renter, condominium owner, manufactured-home resident, and detached-home owner may share the same weather and have completely different levers.
Renters
- Put repair and safety questions in writing.
- Ask how utilities, alarms, exits, and emergency communication are managed.
- Keep your own insurance, records, and contents inventory current.
Multifamily and strata buildings
- Find the building plan, manager, board, and after-hours contact.
- Ask which systems have backup power and how accessible egress works.
- Separate unit insurance from the building's policy.
Manufactured homes
- Find the manufacturer, installation records, foundation or support details, and anchoring information.
- Ask who is licensed to inspect the installation where you live.
- Check insurance terms written specifically for the home and site.
Owners
- Start with the local building department before planning structural work.
- Use licensed or registered professionals for work that needs their judgment.
- Keep permits, drawings, invoices, photos, and maintenance records together.
Cause matters here
Ask what this process could do to this building.
These are conversation starters, not pass-fail tests. If an answer changes safety, insurance, permitting, or structural work, take it to the responsible professional.
Earthquake
Ask about the foundation connection, cripple walls, unreinforced masonry, chimneys, soft stories, nonstructural hazards, and the ground beneath the site.
Wildfire
Ask how embers could reach the roof, vents, decks, fences, windows, siding, attached structures, and the first few feet around the building.
Flood and slope movement
Ask about flood depth, drainage, utilities below expected water, sewer or septic backup, foundation exposure, erosion, and safe access.
Winter and temperature
Ask about roof loading, pipes, combustion appliances, ventilation, backup power, safe indoor temperature, trees, and prolonged outages.
Volcanic ash
Ask about roof loading, air intake, filters, machinery, gutters, water protection, cleanup access, and whether the site sits in a mapped lahar zone.
Ordinary systems
Ask what happens to water, sanitation, temperature, air, light, access, food, medication, communication, and care when building systems stop.
Who answers what
Send each question to the person who can actually answer it.
The internet is very confident about buildings it has never entered. Your local authority and qualified professionals have a better arrangement.
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01
Building department or local authority
Codes, permits, inspection history, occupancy, local retrofit programs, repair requirements, and who is authorized to do the work.
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02
Engineer, architect, geologist, or other qualified specialist
Site- and structure-specific assessment within their licensed or registered scope. Ask what information they need before you hire them.
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03
Owner, manager, board, or park operator
Shared systems, maintenance, access, records, contractors, emergency communication, common insurance, and the work a resident may not control.
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04
Insurance representative
Covered causes, exclusions, deductibles, additional living expenses, code-upgrade coverage, contents, temporary housing, and documentation requirements.
Make the aftermath less mysterious
Keep the building's story where you can find it.
Photograph the exterior, interior, utilities, major systems, accessibility features, and valuable improvements. Keep policy pages, ownership or occupancy records, permits, professional reports, warranties, and contractor information somewhere reachable away from the building.
A permit sticker isn't thrilling. It is, however, easier to find before the wall is open.
Sources and limits
Start with the FEMA Building Science Resource Library, the USGS explanation of property-specific assessment, HUD manufactured-housing standards and contacts, and the building, housing, geological, emergency-management, and insurance authorities for your own jurisdiction.
Reviewed July 25, 2026. Codes, programs, licensing, insurance, and professional scopes vary by jurisdiction and change over time.