Warehouse Tour Checklist

Tours work better with preparation. Agree on your must-haves and bring the person who runs your floor, since operations staff tend to notice things that a finance lead may not. Bring a tape measure and a camera if the landlord allows photos.

1. Write down your space requirements, largest truck, pallet positions, rack height, power load and any outdoor storage.
2. Ask for the site plan, floor plan, and any specification sheet before the tour.
3. Look up the zoning for each address. In Chicago, for example, the city's Interactive Zoning Map lets you search by address.
4. Decide who will take notes, and score every building on the same sheet.
5. If you can, visit at a busy time, to see the surrounding truck and car traffic.

Follow the route your carriers will use, not the one your GPS suggests to a car.

• ✓Are there low clearances, weight limits or truck restrictions on the approach?
• ✓Can your longest truck enter, turn, reach every needed door and leave without blocking the road?
• ✓Is the truck court exclusive or shared, and who else uses it?
• ✓Where would trucks wait, and is there space for your trailers, including overnight?
• ✓Is outdoor storage physically possible, and has anyone confirmed that it is legally allowed?
• ✓Are employee parking and walkways separated from truck traffic?
• ✓What is the condition of the paving, curbs, drainage, fencing, gates and lighting?
• ✓Do you see any sign of past spills, stains, tanks, drums or fill ports outside?
• ✓How is the commute for your workforce, including transit if your staff relies on it?

Measure rather than rely on the flyer. Listing specifications may be accurate, but they do not always account for the lowest obstruction or the door that no longer works.

• ✓How many dock-high and grade-level doors are there, and how big is each one?
• ✓Do levelers, seals, bumpers, lights and door operators all work? Ask to see them run.
• ✓What is the clear height at the lowest obstruction, including joists, lights, ducts and sprinkler lines?
• ✓How far apart are the columns, and do they fit your rack layout and aisles?
• ✓Are there wide spots, pits, trenches, slopes or steps that interrupt the floor?
• ✓What condition is the slab in? Look for cracks, spalled joints, heaving, patches and old anchor holes.
• ✓Is there any documentation of slab thickness or load capacity? If you have heavy racking or machinery, an engineer should review it.
• ✓Is the lighting adequate for your work, and is it placed where your racks will go?
• ✓Is the warehouse heated, ventilated or air-conditioned the way your goods and staff need?
• ✓Are there signs of roof leaks, such as stains, buckets or corroded decking?
• ✓Is there any existing racking or equipment left behind, and who owns it?

OSHA's materials handling rule requires sufficient safe clearances for mechanical handling equipment at aisles, loading docks, doorways and turns, so think through how your forklifts will actually move in this floor plan. Lay out your aisles on the drawing afterward. Your racking supplier or engineer can tell you how well the building really fits.

You will not resolve these items on a walk-through, but you can collect the data that lets the right people resolve them.

• ✓What is on the electrical panel label, including amps, volts and phase? Photograph it for your electrician.
• ✓Is there capacity for your machinery, chargers and any added cooling, and who pays for an upgrade?
• ✓Is the building fully sprinklered, and what type of system is it? Ask for the design data and recent inspection reports.
• ✓Would your planned storage height and goods make this high-piled storage under the local fire code?
• ✓Would new racks, lights or ducts get in the way of the sprinklers?
• ✓Are there enough exits, and is the path to each one clear?
• ✓Is compressed air, water, gas, drainage, telecom or fiber available where you need it?

OSHA's exit route standard says exit routes must be free and unobstructed, and that no materials or equipment may be placed in them, even temporarily. OSHA's design rule also says an exit access must be at least 28 inches wide at all points. Local code may ask for more, so have your architect or engineer check the layout you plan. Fire officials and your insurer decide the fire protection questions, and a prior tenant's approval may not carry over. Seattle, for example, says its high-piled storage permits are not transferable.

• ✓Is the office the right size and in the right place, and does its HVAC work?
• ✓Would you need to remove or build any office, and who would pay?
• ✓Are there enough restrooms for your full shift, and are break areas adequate?
• ✓How would customers, drivers and visitors enter, and where would they go?
• ✓If you plan any alterations, has your architect looked at accessibility and code requirements?
• ✓How old are the roof and HVAC units, and is there a warranty or service history?
• ✓What security systems exist, and how would you control access if the building is shared?
• ✓Do you notice any odors, stains, old equipment, floor drains or sumps that suggest an earlier use worth asking about?

Ask the landlord's agent why the last tenant left and how long the building has been available. Then verify the answer through documents, since the agent works for the owner.

A good tour ends with a list of issues to verify. Turn it into a due diligence plan for your finalists before you sign, and before you finish negotiating, so that the results can shape the deal.

• Zoning: ask the municipality to confirm your use. Chicago specifically tells businesses not to sign a lease until a zoning consultation and review confirms the proposed activity.
• Building systems: have qualified contractors inspect the roof, HVAC, dock equipment and electrical service.
• Slab: have a structural engineer review racking and machinery loads.
• Fire protection: have a fire protection engineer compare your storage plan with the system, and ask your insurer and fire official.
• Environmental: review past uses and existing reports. Consider a Phase I assessment with your attorney's and consultant's advice.
• Lease: compare your findings against the proposed repair, alteration, compliance and surrender terms.

Score each building afterward on what it would cost and take to make it work, not only on rent. A cheaper building needing power, sprinkler or dock upgrades may be the more expensive option once the work is priced.

TAG represents tenants and buyers only. When we tour with a client, our job is to help compare buildings against the operation, and then carry the issues found on the tour into the negotiation so they are resolved in the lease.