What Phase 2 Actually Means

Boards receive a Phase 2 requirement and hear "the building is unsafe". Usually that is not what it means. It means the visual inspection found conditions that require further investigation to characterize properly — which may be significant or may be manageable, and the investigation is what tells you which.

The word that causes the alarm is 'substantial'. In ordinary use it suggests something close to failure. In this context it is a defined threshold that triggers further investigation, and a building can cross it while remaining entirely safe to occupy. Your engineer is the only person who can tell you which situation you are in.

Phase 2 is investigative rather than remedial. It can include opening up finishes to expose structure, testing concrete for chloride content, taking cores, and sounding areas that Phase 1 could only see. The point is to characterize what the visual inspection found well enough to specify a repair.

That opening-up is contractor work performed under the engineer's direction, and it is worth doing thoroughly. An under-scoped Phase 2 produces an under-scoped repair, and the quantities are then discovered during construction at worse prices with less contingency left.

1. 01We can assist the engineer with access and opening-up during Phase 2.
2. 02We do not interpret the findings — the engineer does.
3. 03Once the report exists, we turn it into a buildable, priced scope.
4. 04We attend board meetings to explain what the scope means in practice.

Opening up for Phase 2 is contractor work performed under the engineer's direction, and it is worth doing thoroughly. An under-scoped Phase 2 produces an under-scoped repair, and the quantities are discovered later at worse prices and with less contingency.

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