Before acquiring new properties, commercial property owners, buyers, and lenders must conduct a property condition assessment NJ. Since purchasing a property is risky, asset evaluation is essential to make practical, informed, and timely decisions. Environmental Site Assessment helps buyers determine if the property is worth the value. It follows the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) All Appropriate Inquiries (AAI) criteria.
ESA is done before property acquisition to protect individuals from possible liability and legal issues. A contaminated property affects human and environmental welfare. Conducting ESA can hold current or past owners accountable.
For instance, an entrepreneur bought a property without conducting due diligence. After months, he discovered that the property was contaminated and had to be cleaned up. So, he needs to pay remediation costs of more than $100,000 to immobilize the pollution conditions. If he had known that the property contained pollutants, he would have thought twice before purchasing it.
While this situation can happen to anyone, potential clients and property owners can prevent it by conducting Phase I Environmental Site Assessment. This is part of the due diligence to detect possible environmental contamination, its nature and degree, and the remediation steps to take. Phase I ESA investigates the property by examining current and historical sources.
An Environmental Professional (EP) will gather information from different sources, including government data, agency records, topographic maps, fire insurance maps, directories, aerial photographs, and more. Then, a commercial building inspector NJ will conduct a site inspection to assess the present condition and operations of the property. It will help in determining potential environmental concerns and contamination sources.
The interview is also an integral step in performing Phase I ESA. The information collected from past and present owners, personnel, local government officials, or individuals will benefit the assessment team in understanding the property’s present and historic operations. Interviews will also help professionals outline property observations for the report.
To know more about Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, read this infographic from Lockatong Engineering, a trusted NJ company that offers property assessment services.
