Manage the Risks of Exterior Elevated Elements
Including Balconies, Decks, Guardrails, Stairs/Landings & Elevated Walkways
Are your Decks & Railings Safe?
Beyond meeting legal or insurance compliance requirements, proactive risk management for your property's exterior elevated elements (EEEs) is essential to protect occupants, preserve asset value, and avoid potentially catastrophic failures.
Balcony Assurance Group offers comprehensive risk management services to identify, assess, and mitigate the hidden dangers associated with balconies, decks, stairs, walkways, and railings.
The Hidden Risks of EEEs
Don't Wait for the Warning Signs!
With balconies and elevated walkways, there are often no warning signs before a disaster. The critical structural supports are hidden, where water intrusion causes silent, catastrophic rot. A failure doesn't just mean costly repairs—it means injuries, fatalities, and immense legal and financial fallout.
The Balcony Assurance Process
A Proactive Approach to Risk Management
The Balcony Assurance Group's risk management services are designed to uncover potential issues before they become critical problems. Our iterative process, informed by decades of forensic experience, allows for the early identification of deterioration and the development of a strategic plan to address findings.
Our risk management process includes:
- Initial Risk Assessment: We conduct a site survey to identify potential risks associated with your property's EEEs, outline options for evaluation, and define the scope of inspection.
- Inspection: Our experienced professionals perform thorough inspections, often starting with a visual assessment and incorporating minimally invasive techniques like borescopes to examine concealed components.
- Analysis & Reporting: We correlate findings from the inspections to produce a comprehensive evaluation. Our detailed reports outline any observed conditions, assess the level of risk, and provide actionable options for the path forward, which may include enhanced maintenance or necessary repairs. This process can be repeated over time to continually monitor the condition of your EEEs.
This proactive approach can prevent catastrophic failures and reduce overall maintenance and repair costs in the long run.
Why Choose Balcony Assurance Group?
Serving a Wide Range of Properties, Nationally and Beyond
The risks associated with EEEs are not limited to specific building types or locations. The Balcony Assurance Group is equipped to provide risk management services for a diverse portfolio of properties, including:
- Multifamily residential buildings
- Hospitality facilities, including hotels and motels
- Senior care facilities
- Higher education and military residential housing
- Commercial and public buildings
While certain jurisdictions have specific inspection mandates, the underlying risks of deteriorated EEEs exist in properties across the country. The Balcony Assurance Group is available to serve clients in all 50 states, and internationally
Expertise You Can Trust
Our team's extensive experience in construction forensics, building performance evaluation, and navigating complex structural issues makes us a trusted partner in EEE risk management. We understand the science behind building deterioration and the most effective methods for assessment and mitigation. By choosing The Balcony Assurance Group, you gain a partner dedicated to helping you understand and manage the often-hidden risks of your property's elevated exterior elements, ensuring safety and longevity.
Contact us today to discuss your EEE risk management needs and learn how we can help you protect your investment and occupants.
Frequently Asked Questions
About the Risk Management Process and Various Options to be Considered
General Risk Management Questions
EEEs include balconies, decks, porches, stairways, walkways, and entry structures that extend beyond the exterior walls, are designed for human use, have a walking surface more than 6 feet above ground level, and rely in whole or in substantial part on wood or wood-based products for structural support. Learn More About EEE Definitions...
Although a few jurisdictions have mandated inspection for EEEs like decks and railings, those laws do not apply to all building types. The risks of EEEs exist regardless of a building's use.
Proactive EEE risk management can identify potential issues before collapse or failure is imminent, saving on future maintenance, repairs, and capital improvements, while most importantly, preventing injuries or fatalities.
The true condition of an EEE is often unknown if the structural framing is concealed by other materials. Deterioration, often caused by water intrusion, can occur unseen and lead to sudden, catastrophic failure.
EEE risk management means identifying, understanding and mitigating the risks associated with exterior elevated elements like balconies, decks, stairs, and walkways. Every property has unique conditions, so contact us to learn what your property requires.
The Inspection Process & Scope
For buildings subject to mandated inspection laws, only qualified inspectors may perform the evaluation. Balcony Assurance Group raises the bar by relying on established experts with decades of relevant experience.
A purely visual inspection is not sufficient to understand the true condition of many EEE types, when the framing is concealed by other components. Learn more about why visual inspection is not enough.
The Balcony Assurance process consists of 3 phases: 1. Visual Inspection & Site Survey; 2. Screening Inspections; 3. Analysis & Reporting
During this initial visit, the inspector will first identify, quantify and then categorize any and all potential EEEs, before inspecting the visible surfaces of each one.
This is the critical inspection using borescopes, or other minimally invasive means to visually inspect the otherwise concealed framing components at a representative sampling of each EEE type.
During the Phase 1 and 2 site visits, large quantities of data are captured, which are then analyzed in Phase 3. We assemble the findings and provide clients with clear, actionable information to make decisions about the safety of their property.
In California, there are laws mandating period inspections of EEEs, with cycles of either 6 or 9 years. For other properties, we recommend inspection cycles every 5-10, depending on the risks at that specific property.
Costs & Long-Term Planning
The cost of an EEE inspection can vary significantly based on several factors, including the size and complexity of the property, the number and types of EEEs, the building's construction, and the ease of access. Contact Us To Learn More...
Regularly evaluating EEEs through an iterative process, including both visual inspection and more invasive sampling, mitigates the risks for catastrophic failure while potentially reducing overall maintenance and repair costs. It provides peace of mind and a solid plan for addressing the risks associated with your property's EEEs.
The frequency can depend on factors such as the age and type of the EEEs, environmental exposure, and usage.
If an inspection identifies problems, it is crucial to take prompt action. This may involve further investigation (such as destructive testing), implementing necessary repairs, and documenting the process. Having a plan for addressing repairs is a key part of risk management.
Ready to Begin the EEE Risk Management process for Your Property?
For almost a decade, the founders of Balcony Assurance Group have been helping clients address the often concealed risks at balconies, decks, railings and other EEEs. Following direct involvement in the investigation of a fatal collapse of a balcony, the team has been working closely with property owners, managers, and their internal and external legal counsel, to ensure a smooth and manageable process for proactively managing the often concealed risks of Exterior Elevated Elements of all types.