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Building inspection is one of the key components of building maintenance. The primary purpose of performing a building inspection is to evaluate the building's condition. Without inspection, it is difficult to determine a built asset's current condition, so failure to inspect can contribute to the asset's future failure. Traditionally, a longhand survey description has been widely used for property condition reports. Surveys that employ ratings instead of descriptions are gaining wide acceptance in the industry because they cater to the need for a quantitative approach. These kinds of surveys are also in keeping with the new RICS HomeBuyer Report 2009. This paper aims to describe an assessment method.

The paper proposes a new assessment method, derived from the current rating systems, for assessing the building's condition and rating the seriousness of each defect identified. These two assessment criteria are then multiplied to find the building's score, which is called the condition survey protocol (CSP) 1 matrix. The matrix is assessed by means of a case study.

Instead of a longhand description of a building's defects, the matrix requires concise explanations about the defects identified, thus saving on‐site time during a building inspection. The full score is used to give the building an overall rating: good, fair or dilapidated. The overall findings reflect the reliability of the CSP1 matrix.

The matrix needs to be tested on more and larger buildings to further assess its reliability.

The paper focuses on the CSPI Matrix, a reliable and practical assessment method for building inspections performed under reasonable property conditions.