Asbestos survey

Definition

The separate inspection a Phase I does not do and a renovation requires.

Why It Matters

A Phase I looks for contamination in the ground and the groundwater, and a buyer holding a clean report often believes the building was cleared with it. Asbestos in the building materials is a separate question, with a separate survey and a separate bill. The federal rule is the part that surprises people: before a demolition or renovation begins, the owner or operator must thoroughly inspect the affected part of the facility for asbestos, including the nonfriable categories, whatever any earlier report said. That makes it a cost attached to your plans and not to the purchase. Ask what the seller has ever surveyed, and price the inspection into any first-year plan that opens a wall or a ceiling. Lead paint, radon and mold sit outside a standard Phase I for the same reason, and each has an inspection of its own.

In numbers: A $4M deal on a building from 1968 with a first-year plan to move two walls owes the asbestos inspection before that work starts, whatever the Phase I found.