Is Your Structure Ready For Its Assessment? A Complete Parking Garage Inspection Checklist

Whether it’s for compliance, prioritizing repairs, or your peace of mind, parking garage condition assessments play a key role in the life of a parking structure. We understand that parking structures may seem simple on the outside, but they’re made up of many important components that need standard maintenance to maintain structural integrity. 

From concrete columns to joint sealants, our parking garage inspection checklist will help you cover all the bases before your next assessment. 

Parking Garage Condition Assessment

Parking garage condition assessments are one of the best ways to maintain the health of your structure and learn how to extend its lifecycle. Different types of inspections and assessments will vary depending on factors like the structure’s age, material, location, and more. 

Besides a visual inspection, parking garage condition assessments may involve non-invasive tests, material sampling, and lab testing. The additional tests help determine the integrity and durability of concrete materials to ensure the structure is safe for use.

When It’s Needed

The timing of compliance inspections depends on the requirements outlined by the local jurisdiction having authority and often focuses on the presence of safety and structural risks. 

While important, StructureCare’s predictive approach involves periodic, annual inspections that allow our engineers to observe small, developing conditions before they become more serious and costly issues. 

It’s also important for property owners and facility managers to learn to identify issues on their own,  which is part of our education process. This collaborative approach is fundamental to achieving a long and cost-effective service life.  

Keeping up with proper parking garage maintenance and following our parking garage inspection checklist, detailed below, can provide you with the tools you need to keep your structure healthy and avoid unnecessary repairs. 

How It Works

At StructureCare, our detailed parking garage condition assessments include a comprehensive evaluation of your structure and a three-year predictive maintenance and repair analysis, where we offer recommendations based on the current condition rating of the structure. If required, these recommendations may be restorative to bring the structure to a maintainable state. 

Additionally, they will include a maintenance strategy designed to reduce the rate of deterioration. As part of this evaluation, a structural engineer will perform a detailed visual inspection of your parking structure. This inspection often includes non-destructive testing, and other diagnostic procedures to help us understand underlying conditions, much like your annual physical. 

After the assessment, you will receive detailed reports that serve as a baseline document, outlining the condition of your structure at present. These reports include: 

• Documentation of current conditions
• Root cause analysis of the deterioration
• Prioritized repair recommendations
• Multi-year financial plan to aid in budgeting

We use advanced testing and years of experience to help you prioritize any deficiencies found based on safety, structural integrity, and cost. Then, we’ll work with you to establish a scope of repairs and provide a proposal that fits your budget requirements. 

Why It’s Important

Parking garage condition assessments become an integral part of the overall condition history of your structure. They can be used to guide future inspections as well as determine which maintenance and repair activities should be prioritized. 

At StructureCare, we also use these reports as a foundation for developing a predictive parking garage maintenance program. In doing this, we can help you maximize your parking structure’s useful life and minimize costs over the long term. 

Continue reading to see how our parking garage inspection checklist can help you prepare for an upcoming assessment or guide you through identifying issues on your own. 

Parking Garage Inspection Checklist

There are many reasons to have parking structures assessed and inspected. Besides extending a structure's service life, you can also plan repairs, avoid unexpected costs, and remain compliant with jurisdictional inspection requirements.  

As a result, parking garage condition assessments must be performed by an expert to ensure nothing is missed. Whether you’re preparing for an upcoming assessment or want to keep an eye out for potential repairs, using our parking garage inspection checklist can help identify damages and deficiencies before they become a larger issue. 

Concrete (Slabs, Beams, Columns, and Walls)

Most parking structures are made of concrete because of its long-lasting durability. However, concrete will degrade over time due to exposure to harsh weather conditions, chloride ingress, carbonation, and general wear. 

These factors can lead to cracking, spalling, and reduced load-bearing capacity. During a parking garage condition  assessment, specialists will look for a variety of elements to determine deterioration, including but not limited to the following: 

• Are there any major cracks?
• Are there areas where concrete has broken off (spalls) completely?
• Is there any evidence of concrete delamination?
• Is there exposed rebar?
• Are there orange rust stains?
• Are there white stains (efflorescence)?
• Are there any water stains?
• Are bearings in good condition?
• Are the bearing plates rusted?
• If bearing pads have been used under beams, are they present and in good condition?
• Are bearing pads bulging, out of place, or missing?

Reinforcing Steel (Rebar and Post Tensioning Strand)

Concrete parking structures use reinforcing steel, also called rebar, and, sometimes, post-tensioning strands to increase the concrete’s tensile strength, allowing it to withstand bending, torsion, and shearing loads. 

If the reinforcing steel within the concrete isn't adequately protected, it can be exposed to moisture and chloride ions, leading to corrosion. Corroded steel expands, causing cracking and spalling of the concrete and compromising the structural integrity of the parking structure. 

To inspect the reinforcing steel and other structural and non-structural steel components during parking garage condition assessments, specialists may look for the following issues:

• Is there any exposed steel (structural beams, handrails, door frames, barriers, cable, exposed structural connections)?
• Is rust visible? Is located at cracks in the concrete or on the surface? 
• If reinforcing steel is exposed, has corrosion reduced the section of the steel?
• Is repainting required?
• What is the condition of the attachment point and surrounding concrete?

Expansion Joints

Expansion joints accommodate the thermal expansion and contraction of concrete by allowing movement in structures. If the expansion joints are insufficient in number, size, or functionality, it can lead to stress concentration, cracking, and structural failure. Parking structure assessments will determine the condition of expansion joints by answering the following questions:

• Are there any signs of joint failure?
• Are there leaks through the joints?
• Are there leaks related to the failure of the seals or the adjacent concrete?
• Is there any damage from traffic or snow plows?

Joint Sealants, Waterproofing, and Drainage

Parking garages are exposed to rain, snow, and moisture, without proper waterproofing, water can penetrate the structure, leading to deterioration, corrosion, and weakening of the concrete and steel reinforcement. 

Throughout parking structure assessments, specialists will look at a variety of factors that focus on water and moisture damages, these include but are not limited to: 

• Are there any signs of leakage, loss of elastic properties of joint sealants, separation from adjacent substrates, or cohesive failure of the sealant?
• Are there any failures of the concrete behind the sealant (edge spalls)?
• If there is a traffic-bearing membrane, does it have any tears, cracks, excessive wear, or loss of adhesion?
• Are there low spots where ponding occurs?
• Are there water stains on the underside (soffit) of the deck?
• Are drains functioning properly? When were they last cleaned?
• Are drains properly located so that they receive the runoff intended?
• Are seals around the drain bases in good condition?

Generally, we recommend that a condition review be completed in the follow-up years after a full condition assessment. 

These reviews use the condition assessment as a baseline and focus on representative conditions and changes to the structure.  They’re most effective when used to monitor and reprioritize issues found during a parking garage condition assessment. 

At StructureCare, our experts use the data found in assessments and reviews to help create a comprehensive maintenance plan, ensuring your structure remains healthy for years to come. 

Looking for an expert to inspect your parking structure’s health? Talk to our team to see how we can help today.