Property Condition Assessment (PCA)

A property condition assessment is the process; the property condition report is the document it produces. Under E2018-24 the assessment has three components: a walk-through survey of the readily accessible areas of the property, a review of documents and interviews with the owner's point of contact, and opinions of cost for the material physical deficiencies found. The guide sets a baseline scope that the user may expand through its appendices (long-term costs, accessibility and Fair Housing screenings) or reduce, with every departure disclosed.

A PCA is commissioned for a transaction: a purchase, a loan, a refinance or a portfolio review. It is a point-in-time assessment; the guide's principles say so, and the report is dated accordingly. It is distinct from a facility condition assessment (a recurring asset-management dataset), a Phase I environmental site assessment (contamination risk under ASTM E1527) and a reserve study (a community association's funding plan). See PCA vs FCA, PCA vs Phase I ESA and PCA vs reserve study.

Related: property condition report, baseline, walk-through survey.