TORRANCE, CA-EDR Scorecard has ranked Partner Engineering and Science Inc. as the top service provider of Phase I Environmental Assessments for the third quarter of 2013. EDR Scorecard oversees the environmental due diligence industry. Compared with Q3 2012, Phase I ESAs are up 43% nationally and up 25% in California.

“In most cases, environmental due diligence services, such as Phase I ESAs, are required three to four weeks prior to closing of commercial real estate transactions,” says Joseph Derhake, PE, president of Partner. “As such, Phase I ESAs serve as a barometer of commercial real estate and construction trends in the environmental due diligence industry.”

EDR Scorecard additionally ranked the top service providers for Phase I ESAs statewide. In that study, Partner ranked number one in California, Arizona, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio and Texas. With 826 assessments, the firm performed 10% of the total market Phase I ESAs in California during the third quarter.

“This data confirms that California is a constantly growing market for commercial real estate and new construction,” says Derhake. “This demonstrated growth is a key indicator for us, enabling us to devote more resources to the leading regions where we see market increases such as this.”

In addition to performing the largest number of Phase I ESAs, Partner was recently one of seven firms to launch National Engineering and Environmental Due Diligence Association, a non-profit dedicated to promoting and fostering real estate technical due diligence.