Reading a condition survey and a long-term plan
The condition survey and the long-term maintenance plan are the investor's most important technical source. They tell you what is coming to the building and when. Here's how to read them — and turn the repair backlog into euros in your offer.
What a condition survey and a long-term plan are
A condition survey is an impartial overall picture of a building's condition made by a specialist (the general guideline is RT 103003, which replaced the older KH 90-00535 and KH 90-00490). It is not as precise as a condition investigation, but it gives a good overview and a long-term plan table based on technical service lives: what will be repaired, in which year and at roughly what cost.
Condition classes
Building components are typically graded on a scale where higher is better:
| Class | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 5 | New / excellent |
| 4 | Good |
| 3 | Satisfactory |
| 2 | Passable — repairs are approaching |
| 1 | Poor — major renovation needed |
In the overall picture a single 2 is not alarming, but several 1s and 2s at once mean a large wave of renovations.
How to read the long-term plan table
The plan lists the works year by year. Look at three things:
- Timing — which repairs fall within your own holding period (e.g. 10 years)?
- Cost — often given as "x €1,000". Add up the total for the next few years.
- Urgency — "immediately" and "1–3 years" will almost certainly be yours to pay.
The repair backlog as euros in your offer
Discount the future repairs to present value (they are paid only later) and deduct them from the justified price. If the discounted backlog exceeds the whole asking price, the property is effectively due for major renovation — then the purchase price must be clearly below market, or the property is passed over.
Moisture or mould damage, damp in the basement or base floor, drains that don't work, a facade or balcony renovation ahead, a pipe renovation due within a few years and not yet done, an exceptionally large ten-year repair burden per flat. Even one of these changes the whole calculation.
Upload the condition survey or investigation as a PDF — the tool produces the plan's ten-year cost, the urgent works, the risk indicators and a buy / negotiate / pass assessment. It turns the repair backlog straight into a justified offer.
Open the toolkit →Sources and further reading
The condition survey guideline RT 103003 (2019, general reference); technical service lives of building components (public renovation sources, e.g. Asuntoanalyysi, Sijoitusovi); the Finnish Real Estate Federation (repair costs). We do not reproduce the content of paid standards. General information, not investment or tax advice.