Tenant Turnover and the Roof
Flex-industrial and speculative buildings are often leased in bays. Each bay may have its own rooftop unit, vent or exhaust, and each addition is a cut in the membrane. When a tenant leaves, the unit often stays or goes, and the curb gets patched or capped. Mismatched curbs leak at the corners.
We keep a penetration map for every building, with a date and a contractor for each cut. At turnover, we recommend a short walk of the roof above the vacated bay, a photograph of the curb and flashing and a review of the next tenant's plans before their contractor starts. These steps cost little and protect the roof from the quiet damage that tenant work causes.
Our flex-industrial roofing work uses this routine for every bay in the building.
Dust collectors and process exhaust are the heavier additions. They load the deck at a point, push heat and fines onto the membrane near the outlet and need a larger curb. We check the deck beneath the new unit for deflection and rust, and we flash the curb with sheet material that matches the roof.
Inspection of new tenant work should happen while the crew is still on site. A same-day look at a new curb, a boot or a sleeve catches a missing sealant bead or a mis-lapped sheet when the fix takes minutes, and the photograph goes straight into the penetration map with the date and the contractor's name. We also keep a short list of approved details for the owner to hand to tenant contractors, so the first conversation about the roof happens before the first cut is made, not after the first leak. Over a year, the habit cuts the number of unexplained penetrations and makes lease-end restoration simpler to scope.
