Technical diagnostics
Where inspection raises questions, diagnostics provide the answer.
- Thermal imaging survey
- Moisture and humidity assessment
- Engineering systems review
- Air-quality indicators where relevant
A visual inspection cannot see through walls. Diagnostics do.
The right measurement removes speculation from the plan.
- 01
Scope
The office agrees which diagnostics are useful - not more than necessary.
- 02
Measurement
Undertaken by qualified specialists with the appropriate instruments.
- 03
Findings
Findings are explained in plain language and translated into a practical recommendation.
Diagnostics are performed by qualified specialists. Formal opinions are issued by the appropriate licensed professional where required.
Where inspection ends, diagnostics begin
A technical inspection is a structured visual and documentary review - what can be seen, measured on site and read from the paperwork. Diagnostics go further, using specific tools and specialist testing to answer a question the inspection could raise but not settle on its own: is that damp mark active or historic, is that crack moving, does the electrical installation meet what current use asks of it.
Diagnostics are commissioned when the answer genuinely changes a decision - whether to proceed with a purchase, how to price a renovation, or whether a condition needs remedial work at all. They are not run as a routine add-on to every inspection; they follow from a specific, stated question.
What diagnostics can answer
Moisture and its source - whether water is entering from the roof, a terrace, rising through the ground floor, or condensing internally, which each call for a different remedy. Thermal performance - where a building loses heat or gains it, visible through thermal imaging of walls, glazing and roofs. Structural movement - whether a crack is stable, historic and cosmetic, or active and worth monitoring or investigating further by a structural engineer.
Installations
Electrical distribution, plumbing and drainage assessed for condition, capacity and safety relative to how the property is actually used.
Drainage and exterior water
Falls, outlets and junctions on terraces, roofs and gardens, which are a recurring source of internal damp on this coast.
Pools and irrigation
Structure, movement joints, filtration and plant equipment, and the irrigation systems that keep gardens alive through long dry months.
Agreeing scope before anything is commissioned
Diagnostic testing has a cost and, in some cases, is mildly invasive, so scope is agreed with the owner before anything is booked. The office reviews what the inspection found, identifies exactly which questions remain open, and proposes only the tests that would change what happens next - not a standard package run regardless of the property.
Where a question can be answered by observation, judgement or existing documentation, it is answered that way rather than through unnecessary testing. Where it genuinely cannot, the appropriate specialist test is proposed and its purpose explained in plain terms before the owner agrees to it.
Independent specialists, interpreted findings
Thermal imaging, moisture surveys, structural monitoring and installation testing are carried out by independent qualified technicians and engineers working under their own professional responsibility. Cavalma's role is to appoint the right specialist for the specific question, brief them on what is being asked and why, and then translate their findings - often technical and written for other professionals - into language an owner can actually use.
That interpretation is where the value sits for most owners: not the raw reading from an instrument, but what the reading means for this property, this budget and this timeline.
What the owner receives, and what it is for
The owner receives the specialist findings alongside a plain explanation of what they mean and what follows from them - repair, further investigation, renegotiation of a purchase price, or a decision to leave a condition alone and monitor it. Diagnostics feed directly into whatever comes next: a revised offer, a renovation scope, or simply an informed decision that no further work is needed.
Diagnostics most often follow an inspection during a purchase, precede a renovation brief, or are commissioned mid-ownership when a specific concern appears - a stain, a crack, a rising utility bill - and an owner wants a clear answer rather than a guess.
- How is diagnostics different from an inspection?
- An inspection is a structured visual and documentary review of a property. Diagnostics use specific tools and specialist testing to answer a question the inspection raised but could not settle by observation alone.
- Will I be asked to pay for tests I don't need?
- No. Scope is agreed with you before anything is commissioned, based on which specific questions the inspection left open and whether the answer would actually change a decision.
- Who actually carries out the technical testing?
- Independent qualified technicians and engineers, each appointed for the specific test required. Cavalma coordinates their appointment, briefs the specific question, and interprets the findings for you.
- Can diagnostics be arranged before I complete a purchase?
- Yes. This is one of the most common reasons diagnostics are commissioned - to settle a specific concern raised during the inspection before the purchase decision is finalised.