Food-Processing and Cold-Storage Facility Due Diligence in Alberta

1. Create one diligence perimeter and issue register

Identify the buyer, seller, property owner, operator, facility addresses, legal parcels, included assets, transaction structure, products, activities and intended markets. Give every issue an owner, source, status, deadline and decision consequence.

Keep verified facts, seller statements, professional opinions, regulator records, estimates and buyer assumptions visibly separate.

• Entity and structure
• Exact activities
• Facility and parcels
• Evidence source
• Exception owner
• Decision deadline

2. Reconstruct regulatory continuity

Index CFIA licences and scope, FSSI information, preventive control and traceability records where applicable, AHS permits and inspections, municipal approvals, commodity permissions, export eligibility and private certifications. Record holder, address, activity, product, effective date, status and transfer or new-application path.

CFIA states an SFC licence is not transferable to another person. Do not describe the building as CFIA approved, AHS approved, licensed, turnkey or export ready unless the exact current authority supports that exact, limited statement.

3. Map product and people flow

Trace raw receiving, allergen and chemical storage, personnel entry, hygiene, production, cooking or treatment, cooling, packaging, finished goods, waste, rework and shipping. Compare actual flow with plans and the buyer's proposed process.

A prior preventive control plan or inspection does not certify a changed layout, product, volume, shift pattern or cross-contamination control. Food-safety professionals should assess the operation-specific design.

4. Build a refrigerated-systems register

Inventory each system's refrigerant and charge, design, compressors, vessels, piping, relief, machinery room, detection, ventilation, alarms, controls, condensers, evaporators, defrost, temperature monitoring, redundancy and emergency shutdown. Obtain registration, inspection, maintenance, repair, alteration, incident and decommissioning records.

Have qualified professionals interpret ABSA, CSA B52, building, fire, OHS and environmental requirements. Neither cold temperatures during a tour nor an ABSA inspection proves remaining life, capacity, energy performance or whole-system compliance.

5. Verify water and wastewater evidence

Document source, treatment, potable and process demand, hot water, backflow, floor drainage, interceptors, solids, fats and oils, pH, temperature, biochemical or chemical load where relevant, pretreatment, sampling, hauling and discharge points. Match operations to the current municipal bylaw, sewer agreement and any provincial authorization.

Calgary and Edmonton publish specific interceptor controls for food operations, but their requirements are not interchangeable with another municipality's rules or proof that a particular industrial discharge is accepted.

6. Test utility capacity and resilience

Reconcile bills, interval data, service equipment, peak loads and planned expansion for power, gas, water, steam, compressed air, refrigeration, communications and backup. Identify single points of failure, shutdown history and required utility studies.

A nameplate, transformer size, utility line or seller estimate is not a capacity reservation, and historical consumption does not establish fit for the buyer's process.

7. Coordinate property, environment and capital

Review title, access, approved use, permits, occupancy, fire, plans, area, structure, envelope, roof, floors, drains, sanitary finishes, docks, yard, waste areas, chemicals, tanks, spills and neighbouring uses. Define environmental and building scopes with reliance appropriate to the transaction.

Translate each exception into immediate work, shutdown exposure, replacement timing, contingency, price or condition treatment. Do not bury refrigeration, wastewater and building risks in one undifferentiated capital allowance.

8. Produce a condition-waiver record

Before waiver, reconcile missing documents, regulator inquiries, professional findings, cost ranges, financing, insurance, licence path, commissioning and operating contingency. Preserve the evidence relied upon and unresolved assumptions.

This framework is educational and is not food-safety, CFIA, AHS, ABSA, OHS, building, fire, environmental, engineering, legal, tax, accounting, appraisal or regulatory advice. Commercially does not inspect or certify a facility.