User (of a Property Condition Report)
The party that commissions the PCA and relies on the report, usually a purchaser, lender or owner; it sets the objectives and evaluation period and is named.
By Nicolas Reimer, Founder, Baseline PCR · E2018-24 s3.2 and s5 · Published September 18, 2026
The user is the guide's word for the client: the party that engages the consultant and relies on the report. The 2024 edition asks the user to define the objectives of the assessment and the evaluation period for long-term costs before the work begins, to provide a point of contact and to arrange access. The report names the user, states the user's position in the transaction (prospective purchaser, lender, owner) and the purpose, and limits reliance to the user unless reliance is extended in writing.
The user's position shapes the report. A purchaser wants a negotiating schedule of immediate and short-term repairs; a lender wants the reserve table sized to the loan term; an owner wants a capital plan. Same building, same standard, different emphasis.
Related: point of contact, limiting conditions.
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.