Property Condition Report Reviewer Checklist (E2018-24 Section 11)

A property condition report review checks ten things against ASTM E2018-24: the purpose and user are stated, the areas not surveyed are explained, observed, reported and documented facts are distinguished, every material deficiency has a remedy and its significance, every cost line has a quantity, unit and basis, the threshold rules are applied and disclosed, remaining-life opinions reflect condition, deviations are listed, the photographs meet the minimums, and the field observer and reviewer are named. Then check the numbers mechanically, because most errors a lender's reviewer finds are arithmetic or sourcing, not judgment.

The list below is the one built into Baseline PCR's reviewer workspace, with the clause each item comes from. Section 11 of the guide sets out what the report contains; several items reach back to sections 3, 9 and 10 for the definitions and cost rules the report must apply. The guide is paraphrased here, not quoted; check the wording in your own copy.

1. Purpose and the user's position are stated (11.5.1)

The report says who the user is (buyer, lender, owner), the transaction, and what the assessment is for. A report written for a purchaser and later relied on by a lender needs a reliance letter, not a silent change of user. See reliance letters.

2. Areas surveyed, areas not accessed and why (11.6, 11.10)

Every space or system the field observer could not see is named with the reason: locked suite, roof not safely accessible, tenant refused entry. Check that partial access is stated as partial and not rounded up to "not accessed", or down to "surveyed".

3. Observed, reported and documented are distinguished (11.2.3)

Read each age, date and condition statement and ask where it came from. A warranty date is documented; a property manager's recollection is reported; a nameplate or a crack is observed. The wording should say which. A reported fact written as an observation is the single most common sourcing error. See source attribution.

4. Every material deficiency has a remedy and its significance (11.2.1, 11.2.2)

Each physical deficiency names a suggested remedy, and where its importance is not obvious to a lay reader, explains why it matters. "Open seams at the RTU curb" needs "allow water into the roof assembly and the space below".

5. Cost lines have quantities, units and a stated basis (10.3.5)

Every line in Table 1 and the reserve is a quantity, a unit and a unit cost with its source. A quantity nobody measured should be marked for the engineer to provide, not estimated in round numbers. Placeholder unit costs from a starter table must be confirmed or replaced, and the report should not present them as your firm's opinion until they are. See unit-cost sources.

6. Threshold and the four-items rule applied and disclosed; life safety retained (10.3.1)

Items under the reporting threshold are dropped from the tables but the rule is stated, the aggregation rule for several similar items is applied, and life-safety items stay in regardless of cost. See immediate, short-term and long-term costs.

7. Remaining-life opinions reflect observed condition (3.2.50, X1.2.5)

The reserve places each replacement by remaining useful life, which is the field observer's opinion, not the table life minus the age. A component that looks older or younger than its install date should carry an opinion that says so, with the reason. See the replacement reserve table explained and the HUD EUL table.

8. Deviations from the guide are listed in the executive summary (11.4.3)

Anything the engagement added to or left out of the baseline scope (a reserve table, an accessibility screen, a system not surveyed) is listed as a deviation where the reader will see it first.

9. Photographs are numbered, captioned and meet the minimums (9.3, 11.3)

The exhibit covers the subjects the guide lists as minimum photographs, each numbered, captioned and referenced from the section that discusses it. Nobody identifiable should be pictured.

10. Field observer and reviewer are named (11.9)

The qualifications section names both, and the executive summary states the field observer's relationship to the firm (employee or subcontractor). If someone other than the reviewer named in the draft signs, make sure the report does not end up naming two reviewers.

What should you check mechanically?

These are the checks Baseline PCR runs on every draft and lists for the reviewer; they are worth doing by hand on any report.

• Numbers in the prose that do not appear in the data or the field notes.
• Quantities not in the evidence: a quantity in a cost line that appears nowhere in the notes, questionnaire or documents.
• Ages without a source: an age or install year stated with no basis.
• Possibly costed twice: a Table 1 repair and a reserve line in the same system describing the same work in the first years.
• Systems not addressed: a building system with no observation, which the report should state as not observed rather than skip.
• Remedy or significance missing on a deficiency.
• Broken photo references and photo identifiers left in the prose.
• Placeholder unit costs still on priced lines.

Where Baseline PCR fits

Baseline PCR drafts the E2018-24 report from your evidence and opens it in a workspace with this checklist beside the editable text, each item showing its clause, alongside the engine's findings. The reviewing engineer edits, ticks the checklist, approves and signs; nothing is issued without that approval. Read the 65-page sample report to see what a reviewed draft looks like, or run one job free.