Walkway inspection checklist

What this checklist is for

This is a checklist for the walk itself: what to look for on each stretch of walkway, and what to write down when you find it. It has twelve items, in the table on this page. Print the page and the table prints with it.

It draws on the Federal Highway Administration's guide to maintaining sidewalks and paths, which is written for public agencies. That guide says a maintenance plan should include an inventory and assessment of conditions, to establish a basis for repair. The same order works on a private property: look and record first, then decide.

The checklist records what you see. It does not decide whether a walkway meets any accessibility or safety standard. This site's position is that a photograph or a tape measure in a manager's hand cannot settle that, and that it takes measurement by someone qualified to apply the standard in question.

Labeling locations, taking photographs, noting access windows and choosing what to send a contractor belong to the next stage. The inquiry preparation guide covers them, with its own inventory table, so this page does not repeat them.

Before you walk

Bring a tape measure or a ruler, a straight board or a level about as long as a panel, and this page on a clipboard. Walk once when the paths are dry, so you can see the surface. If you can, walk again after rain or an irrigation cycle to see where water sits.

Stay out of drive aisles, and do not stand on a loose panel to measure it. If a spot is unsafe to check, write that down and move on.

Walk every path, not only the ones people have complained about. The guide says an inspection should consider, at a minimum, displacements, changes in grade, cross slopes, clearances, the clear width of the path and objects that protrude into it. The twelve items below follow that list in plain terms.

Steps and movement (items 1 to 5)

A step. One surface sits higher than the next. The guide says this most often happens at joints, and that it goes by several names: heaving, faulting, vertical displacement, change in level. Stand the ruler upright against the vertical face where the step is highest and read it to the nearest quarter inch. If the step sits at one of the planned lines in the walk, the guide to control and expansion joints explains the kinds of joint and what a failed joint looks like.

Even or uneven. Check whether the step is the same height from one edge of the path to the other. The guide explains why it matters. Where a panel has lifted evenly, a straight cut removes the step. Where it has moved unevenly, removing the step is likely to leave a warped surface. A contractor will want to know which you have.

Which panel moved. A step looks the same whether one panel rose or its neighbor dropped, and the repair is different. Sight along the run of panels, or lay the board across the joint, and note which panel is out of line with the rest.

Tilt and dips. Lay the board across the path to find a panel that leans to one side, and along the path to find a run that sags or peaks. You do not need a slope figure. Write which way it leans and how many panels are involved. The glossary explains cross slope and running slope if a report uses those words.

Write each height as a number and nothing else. Do not mark a pass or a fail. Whether a height matters under a particular standard depends on which standard applies to that walkway, and this checklist does not answer that.

Cracks and surface (items 6 to 8)

The guide separates cracks by direction. A longitudinal crack runs along the length of the walkway. A transverse crack runs across it. Note the direction, and note whether the panel is still in one piece, in two, or in many. A cracked panel and a whole panel usually lead to different repairs. The guide to sidewalk cracks explains which kinds of crack need a closer look and what each one points to.

Do not step on the pieces of a cracked panel to test them. Look for a piece that sits out of line with its neighbors, a gap under an edge, or soil washed out beneath it, and write "may be loose" if you see any of those; a qualified assessor checks whether it moves. Note any hole or gap where concrete is missing, and any joint whose edges have broken away. For the surface, note flaking or pitting and roughly how much of the panel it covers.

Water, width and causes (items 9 to 11)

Note where water stands, and where a downspout, a drain or a sprinkler puts water onto or beside the path.

Note anything that narrows the path or reaches into it, such as a pole, a sign, a planter or a low branch. The guide lists clear width and protruding objects among the things an inspection should consider.

Then look for a cause. The guide's list of what moves a sidewalk slab includes expansive soil, a subgrade that was not compacted evenly, and tree roots. It also says a replaced sidewalk has a shortened life when the underlying problem is left alone. A tree, a downspout or a wet patch beside a moved panel is worth a line, because the same cause can undo a repair. Where a tree is the likely cause, the guide to tree roots lifting a sidewalk covers the repair options and who to ask before a root is cut. Where a panel has sunk instead, the guide to why sidewalk panels sink sorts the signs of uneven compaction, water under the slab, and shrinking clay.

Earlier repairs (item 12)

Signs of earlier work can mean the spot has moved before. Look for a wedge of asphalt or concrete built up against a raised edge. The guide describes wedging as a temporary repair. Look also for a joint that has been ground or cut, small patched drill holes from a lift, and a panel that is newer than its neighbors. A panel poured only days ago is a different case: the guide to how new concrete cures explains why the time it can reopen is a question for the contractor's specification. Note what you find and, if anyone knows, when it was done.

After the walk

Sort what you found. Raised edges, settled panels and broken panels usually lead to different repairs, and the three-method comparison explains which is which. For raised edges, see grinding vs. saw cutting. For settled panels, see the lifting methods guide.

Then prepare the inquiry. The inquiry preparation guide covers labels, photographs, access windows and what to leave out. If the walk turned up many locations, read assessment planning. When you are ready, ask about your project. Sending the form is not a booking.