Thermal imaging that finds the electrical, moisture, energy and plumbing problems a visual inspection can't see, interpreted by a Level III Thermographer.
Most building problems announce themselves as heat before they show up as damage. A loose electrical connection runs hot long before it fails. Wet roof insulation holds heat differently than dry insulation. A gap in a wall lets conditioned air escape, and a leaking hot water line warms the slab around it.
An infrared camera makes those temperature differences visible across a whole panel, roof, wall or floor in a single pass, without opening anything up. It is one of the fastest ways to survey a commercial building and decide where closer investigation is worth the cost.
Every scan is performed and interpreted by our Infraspection Institute Certified Level III Thermographer, who is also a CCPIA Certified Commercial Property Inspector. We work exclusively on commercial property. Primo is based in Santa Rosa and serves all nine Bay Area counties.
Thermal imaging is one tool with many uses. These are the ones we perform, grouped by the building system they examine.
Scans of switchgear, panels and motor control centers under load reveal overheating connections, overloaded circuits and failing components before they cause a fire or an outage. The 2023 edition of NFPA 70B now requires these scans at least once a year for most equipment.
Electric Infrared Inspections →Wet insulation under a flat roof membrane holds and releases heat differently than dry insulation, so it shows up clearly in an evening survey. We map the wet areas by drone or on foot and verify them with electrical impedance testing.
Infrared Low-Slope Roof Inspections →Grouted and ungrouted cells in a CMU wall have different thermal mass. A scan shows where grout was left out, which matters for both structural capacity and seismic performance.
Infrared CMU Block Wall Inspections →The envelope is everything that separates inside from outside: walls, windows, storefronts, doors and the joints between them. When it fails, air and water get in. Infrared traces drafts around window frames, wall penetrations and roof-to-wall transitions, and finds damp areas in walls and ceilings that haven't stained or blistered yet. Suspect damp areas are confirmed with a moisture meter before they go in the report.
Insulation that is missing, compressed, settled or wet leaves a cold spot in winter and a hot spot in summer. Infrared shows where it falls short, along with thermal bridging through framing, slab edges and structural steel. Owners use these scans to set priorities for energy upgrades, to confirm a retrofit was installed as specified, and to explain high utility bills.
Hydronic tubing inside a slab is invisible once the concrete is poured. With the system running, infrared shows the tubing layout, zones that aren't heating evenly, and loops that are blocked, air-bound or leaking. It's also a reliable way to locate tubing before anyone drills or saw-cuts the floor.
An infrared camera measures surface temperature. It does not see through walls, so a scan only works when the problem creates a temperature difference at the surface. That depends on conditions we plan around:
| Scan | What it needs |
|---|---|
| Electrical | Equipment energized and under normal load. |
| Low-slope roof | A clear evening after a sunny day, when wet insulation releases its stored heat. |
| Envelope and insulation | A meaningful temperature difference between inside and outside. Air leakage shows best with the HVAC creating a pressure difference. |
| Radiant floors and hot water lines | The system running long enough to warm up. |
Sunlight, reflective surfaces and rooftop equipment can all create false readings. Knowing which patterns are real problems, and which are just physics, is the difference between a useful report and a folder of colorful pictures. That's why we often confirm infrared findings with a second method, such as moisture meters or impedance testing, before calling them deficiencies.
Infrared can be ordered on its own or added to a Commercial Inspection or Property Condition Assessment and coordinated into a single report package.
A written report pairing each thermal image with a matching visible-light photo, so every finding can be located on site. Each finding includes its location, temperature data, what we believe is causing it, how we confirmed it, and a recommended next step. The report becomes part of the building's maintenance record and supports insurance documentation.
From our base in Santa Rosa, we perform infrared inspections throughout Sonoma County, Marin, Napa, Solano, San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Larger projects outside the Bay Area are considered case by case.
Cost depends on what is being scanned and how much of it: the number of electrical panels, the square footage of roof or wall, and whether the work can be done during business hours or needs an evening or weekend visit. Combining several scans in one visit, or adding infrared to a commercial inspection, usually costs less than ordering them separately. Tell us about the building and we'll send a fixed-price proposal.
For electrical equipment, NFPA 70B (2023) requires scans at least every 12 months, and every 6 months for equipment in poor condition. Many insurers require the same. Roof, envelope and plumbing scans have no required interval. They are usually done before a purchase, before a re-roof or retrofit, or when a problem is suspected.
It usually pays for itself when it prevents a single emergency or a misdirected repair. One scan can replace hours of exploratory work and point the repair to the right spot. In due diligence, a single finding such as wet roof insulation can be worth far more than the inspection fee in negotiation.
No. It reads surface temperature only. It finds hidden problems because they change the temperature of the surface in front of them, which is why conditions and interpretation matter so much.
Tell us about the property and what you're trying to learn. We'll recommend the scans that answer your question and skip the ones that won't.