Based upon our experience, there may well come a time when a baseline commercial property condition assessment provided according to ASTM (American Society of Testing Materials) E2018 Standard for Property Condition Assessments will not be adequate to serve your needs for the property you are looking to purchase or lease in which event anything less than a higher level due diligent assessment of the property would essentially be a waste of time and money. For example, you may experience a situation where the documentation necessary to provide a typical baseline PCA is either not forthcoming or deemed unreliable by the party conducting the PCA not to mention times when a property owner or agent, for whatever reason, may be unwilling to cooperate in providing documentation as well as granting permission to conduct interviews with building occupants or, worse yet, impose severe limitations or unrealistic time constraints upon the party conducting the PCA creating an unnecessary inconvenience and disservice in the process. However, as the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures whereby higher level due diligent property condition assessments can often compensate for baseline PCAs deemed insufficient to fill in the gaps under extenuating circumstances over which we have no control.
Extenuating circumstances aside, experience has shown baseline PCAs conducted according to ASTM E2018 Standard for Property Condition Assessments often prove to be more than sufficient to mitigate risk when looking to purchase or lease a commercial property. Nonetheless, a prospective buyer's or lessee's comfort level or risk tolerance will always take precedence in deciding whether to pay for a higher level due diligent assessment of the property under consideration.
Last but not least, you're probably already wondering how a higher level due diligent property condition assessment differs from a baseline PCA performed according to ASTM E2018 Standard for Property Condition Assessments. Contrary to what you may think, based upon our experience, building systems that normally benefit from a higher level due diligent assessment are normally relegated to HVAC and Electrical as these systems normally provide for many components that remain concealed and hidden from view in conducting typical baseline PCAs not to mention that an in depth assessment thereof as provided by qualified, licensed mechanical and electrical contractors lays well beyond the scope of a typical baseline PCA. To view images of a higher level due diligent assessment of package rooftop units and other heating/cooling equipment 'Click Here'.