Baseline Property Condition Assessment

E2018 calls the assessment it describes a baseline: the minimum level of observation, due diligence, inquiry, document review and opinions of cost that constitutes a PCA under the guide. The word is in the guide's full title, Baseline Property Condition Assessment Process, and it explains the guide's structure. Everything in the body of the guide is baseline; everything in the appendices (long-term costs, the accessibility and Fair Housing screenings, other enhanced due diligence) is an enhancement the user may add. Adding an enhancement, or omitting a baseline item, is a deviation to be listed in the executive summary.

For a reader of the report, "baseline" is the promise that the guide's minimums were met; the deviations list is where to check what was added or left out. Baseline PCR takes its name from the term.

Related: deviation from the guide, property condition assessment.