Immediate Costs
Opinions of cost for deficiencies that are imminent life-safety issues, would escalate if left uncorrected, or are recorded code violations.
By Nicolas Reimer, Founder, Baseline PCR · E2018-24 s3.2 and s10.3 · Published September 18, 2026
Immediate costs are the first of E2018's three cost categories. Under the 2024 edition an item is immediate if it meets any of three tests: it is an imminent life-safety issue; leaving it uncorrected would be expected to cause a building system to fail or would significantly escalate the cost of the remedy; or it is a recorded or reported building or fire code violation. The 2015 edition's "within one year" time window is gone; the current definition is keyed to consequence.
Immediate costs are presented in Table 1, segregated from short-term costs. Life-safety and code items are generally reported regardless of the reporting threshold. A report should say which test each immediate item meets. See what changed in E2018-24.
Related: short-term costs, long-term costs, reporting threshold.
Sources
- ASTM E2018-24, Standard Guide for Property Condition Assessments (ASTM International)
- AEI Consultants, Updates to ASTM Standard E2018-24
ASTM E2018-24 is copyrighted by ASTM International and is paraphrased here, never reproduced; buy the guide from ASTM to read the text. This page is general information for practitioners, not engineering, legal or lending advice.