Can you meet a 10-day contingency deadline?

What we can do in ten days

• Days 1-2 - engagement, access coordination, document request issued.
• Days 2-4 - site inspection, with a verbal summary of material findings the same day.
• Day 4 - written punch list of significant findings, enough to start contractor pricing.
• Days 5-7 - full condition report, rush turnaround.
• Days 7-10 - repair pricing and your retrade or waiver decision.

That is a real ten-day path and we run it regularly. Roof-only and single-system scopes can be even faster, with reports in 24 to 48 hours.

What does not fit in ten days

A compliant Phase I ESA. Historical research, database review, agency file requests and the environmental professional's analysis take fifteen to twenty business days, and an expedited scope still needs ten to twelve. Any consultant promising a full Phase I in four days is skipping something that matters, and a deficient Phase I gives you no All Appropriate Inquiry defense - which is the only reason you bought it.

Three ways to handle the environmental clock

1. Split the contingencies. Waive the physical contingency on schedule and keep a separate environmental contingency open for another two to three weeks. Sellers accept this more often than a blanket extension.
2. Start before you are hard. If you have site access rights, we can begin during the offer or PSA negotiation period.
3. Order a transaction screen first, then convert to a full Phase I. It is faster and, on genuinely low-risk sites, sometimes all the lender requires. Confirm acceptance before relying on it.

How to make a rush go smoothly

Have the address, square footage, tenant roster and lender requirements ready at first contact. Ask the seller for tenant notice the day you engage us. Send documents as they arrive rather than in one batch. The rush jobs that fail are almost never failures of inspection speed; they are failures of access and paperwork.

An honest caution

A ten-day contingency on a 1970s multi-tenant building with unknown roof history is a thin diligence window. If you have leverage, buy time instead of speed. If you do not, get the condition work done fast, keep the environmental contingency alive, and price the unknowns into your offer.