What equipment should I check when buying a foot clinic?

Equipment can be a large physical asset in a foot clinic or orthotics business, and it is easy to misjudge in a quick walk-through. Machines look fine when they are switched off. What you need to know is how old they are, how they have been looked after and whether they will still be yours on closing day. Build an inventory before you talk about anything else.

Make a list of what the clinic uses

Walk the clinic with the seller and list everything: treatment chairs, scanners and casting tools, lab grinders and ovens, sterilisation equipment, gait or pressure-mapping systems, computers and software. Photograph model and serial plates. Ask which items are used daily and which sit idle. An idle machine may be a spare, or it may be broken.

Age, service records and ownership

Ask for service and repair records, calibration notes where they apply and any warranty papers. Find out whether each item is owned outright, financed or leased, and whether anyone else holds a claim over it. Your lawyer can check for registered claims. Check the lease for whether the lessor must approve a transfer.

What is included in the sale

Put the equipment list into the purchase terms so there is no argument later. Software licences, patient scan files and supplier accounts can matter as much as the machines, and some may not transfer automatically. Ask the vendors what they require. BDC’s guide to equipment valuation, listed below, explains how equipment is appraised in general, and an independent appraiser can give you a professional view. For a comparable checklist in another clinic type, see what to check before buying a medspa or aesthetics clinic.