Life-Safety Item
A deficiency that presents an imminent risk to occupants or is a recorded code violation; reported in a PCR regardless of the reporting threshold and.
By Nicolas Reimer, Founder, Baseline PCR · E2018-24 s3.2 and s10.3.1 · Published September 18, 2026
Two of E2018's rules turn on the phrase. The immediate-cost definition's first test is an imminent life-safety issue, and the reporting-threshold provision notes that life-safety items and code violations are generally reported regardless of cost. A $120 extinguisher service and a $500 door-closer repair therefore sit in Table 1 as immediate items when they would otherwise fall below the threshold.
What qualifies: egress and rated-door failures, fire-protection deficiencies, dark exit signs, exposed energized parts, abrupt changes in level on pedestrian routes, anything the fire inspector cited. What is stretched too far: pavement defects in a parking lot, cosmetic deterioration, and anything tagged to keep it in the table rather than because occupants are at risk. Over-tagging inflates the immediate list and the buyer's credit request, and reviewers notice. See cost categories.
Related: immediate costs, reporting threshold.
Sources
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.