Friday 22 February 2019

What Difference Can a Good ESA can make?

The state of Texas has integrated various safeguards in form of building codes, in the catastrophe prone zones, to handle windstorm as well as hail damage. This is in contrast to the other coastal states that have an integrated uniformity in building regulations throughout.

The regulations in Texas are being upgraded at the counties level, depending upon the market-lead system. This could be confusing for residents as well as commercial property owners while constructing or renovating their properties.

If you have recently shifted to one of the 14 coastal counties of Texas, the first thing that you need to is  to understand the process of windstorm inspection, since the coastal weather defines the daily lives than any other factor. Which is why windstorm inspection, certification and insurance is an essential part of life in Texas coastal counties.


If you are owner of residential or commercial property, then there is a need to apply for TWIA insurance, which shall provide it cover for rebuilding costs in an event of a windstorm.

Read on further to know some of the topmost reasons as to why you should always get a phase 1 Environmental Assessment done, before buying or constructing a property for an industrial building inspection.

Liability Protection

The original intent of environmental site assessment in Texas, was to provide complete protection against government liabilities, especially in case of inspection during construction. This can be achieved by a thorough evaluation of environmental concerns associated with the property. If in case the property was found to be contaminated, either in the form of localized soil contamination or contamination in the groundwater etc. Which, in the later years post acquisition of the property, one may have to spend an enormous amount of money.


Business Risks

As specified preventing Federal liabilities is the ultimate reason for environmental site assessment or ESA in Greater Houston. However, you may even put your commercial property at a risk, if a proper ESA is not executed. As a matter of fact, a phase 1 Environmental Assessments can typically evaluate whether a property is situated on historical gas stations, dry cleaners or maybe industrial process tanks for harmful contaminants. Thus, you can now know easily whether the property that you wish to purchase was a gas station in the past, through property condition assessments?


Lender Requirement

As a general criterion, the assessments for a phase 1 environmental hazards are not required for any commercial property; however, when a lending institution is involved in the transaction, it becomes a mandate. Most of the financial service providers demand it while issuing a loan for a commercial property. This may be because, in case of default on a property loan, the bank may foreclose the same by selling the property. And obviously, a contaminated property may not be very easy to sell.


Be Proactive

In any circumstance, if you find your property to be contaminated through phase 1 Environmental Assessment; then you can possibly re mediate your property under regulatory oversight and close the transaction. If the problem can be sorted out through phase II Environmental assessment, then the purchase price can be adjusted with the cost of remediation.


As a matter of fact, an environmental assessment is very similar to the background check many of us do before purchasing a commercial property; conducting the same with due diligence can save you from additional liabilities.