A commercial roof inspection is not a walk-around with a flashlight. On a low-slope building, the roof hides its problems until they are expensive, so the inspection has to be systematic — the same areas, in the same order, documented the same way every time.
Owners who know what a good inspection covers can tell a real report from a sales pitch. That is the point of this checklist.
Cannon Roofing has inspected light-commercial roofs across Wise County since 1994. Here is what should happen when someone gets on your building.
Before the Roof: The Ground and the Inside
A proper inspection starts at ground level. The inspector walks the perimeter looking at downspout discharge, staining on walls, damaged coping, and any sign of water coming off the roof in the wrong place.
Inside, ceiling tiles, wall stains, and the underside of the deck get checked where access allows. Rust on the top flanges of a steel deck, efflorescence on masonry, and old rings around a sprinkler head all say something about how long water has been getting in.
On the Roof: The Core Checklist
Once on the roof, the sequence covers:
- Surface condition. Blisters, punctures, hail bruising, splits, worn traffic paths, exposed reinforcement, and any area where the membrane has been repaired before.
- Seams and laps. Probed by hand along their length, not eyeballed from standing height.
- Perimeter and edge metal. Loose or lifted edge metal, open joints, and terminations pulling away.
- Parapets and coping. Open coping joints, failed counterflashing, and cracked masonry that lets water in behind the membrane.
- Penetrations. Every pipe, conduit, vent, and pitch pocket, with attention to shrunken or split sealant.
- Equipment curbs. Flashing at each HVAC unit, unit skirts, condensate discharge, and any abandoned curb left behind after a change-out.
- Drainage. Drains, strainers, sumps, scuppers, overflows, and gutters, plus a note of every low spot that holds water — the reasoning behind our commercial roof drainage guide.
- Walkways and traffic. Whether service routes are protected and whether traffic damage is showing.
- Moisture indications. Soft, spongy areas underfoot and anywhere the insulation feels compressed, with meter readings or a survey where warranted.
How Often, and When
Spring and fall are the anchors. The spring visit follows North Texas hail and wind season, when fresh damage is easiest to attribute. The fall visit clears debris and closes up details before winter freeze-thaw swings pry at them.
Add an inspection after any real storm. Buildings with heavy rooftop equipment, food service exhaust, or frequent tenant changes benefit from more frequent looks, because the roof is being touched by other trades between visits.
Post-Storm Inspections Are Different
A routine inspection tracks wear. A post-storm inspection is an evidence exercise.
The inspector documents impact marks and their density across each roof area, checks soft metals around the property for corroborating dents, looks for uplift at edges and corners, and records the direction the damage faces. Photographs are dated and tied to locations, because that record may need to make sense to somebody who was never on the roof.
If damage shows up, that documentation is what supports the conversation with your insurer.
Documentation: What the Report Should Contain
A report worth keeping includes a roof plan with photo locations marked, dated images of every condition found, a plain description of each issue, a priority split between fix-now and watch-list items, and an assessment of remaining service life.
That package does three jobs. It tells you what to budget for. It establishes the roof's condition before an event, which is the single most useful thing to have when a claim or a warranty question comes up later. And it gives the next contractor a baseline instead of a blank slate.
Keep every report. A file of dated inspections is the cheapest asset a building owner can build.
Turning the Checklist Into a Habit
The value comes from repetition, not from one heroic inspection. If your building has not been looked at in over a year, start with a documented commercial roof inspection, then put it on a schedule — that is exactly what our protection plan is built to do. If you are already seeing symptoms, our guide to commercial roof repair signs covers what they usually mean.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should a commercial roof be inspected? Twice a year is the working standard, in spring and fall, with an additional inspection after any significant hail or high-wind event. Roofs carrying a lot of mechanical equipment or heavy service traffic usually justify more frequent looks.
What is the difference between a routine and a post-storm inspection? A routine inspection tracks wear and catches maintenance items. A post-storm inspection looks for impact and uplift damage, records collateral evidence around the property, and is documented with the possibility of a claim in mind.
Can I inspect my own commercial roof? You can safely check the obvious things from a secure roof hatch: debris, standing water, and blocked drains. Probing seams, evaluating flashings, and identifying wet insulation take training, and walking a low-slope roof carries real fall risk.
What should an inspection report include? Dated photographs tied to locations on a roof plan, a description of each condition found, a clear split between fix-now and watch-list items, and an overall assessment of the roof's remaining service life.
Want a real report on your building's roof? Call Cannon Roofing at (940) 627-1045 or request a free quote. Our factory-trained crews inspect and document commercial roofs across Decatur, Wise County & Greater North Texas.