Phase I environmental assessment

A review of a property's history and current condition for signs of contamination (past uses, storage tanks, spills, neighboring sites) using records and a site visit, with no soil or groundwater sampling; a Phase II, which does test, follows only where the Phase I flags a concern.

For any deal whose real estate ever held fuel, chemicals, or a dry cleaner (gas stations, auto shops, restoration), it is the step that finds the liability buried in the ground before it becomes yours, and a lender often requires it.

In numbers: A Phase I on a gas station runs roughly $2,000 to $5,000 and reads the paper trail; if it flags an old tank, the Phase II that follows costs several thousand more, and remediation of an actual leak can reach into six figures, which is why it goes first.