Due Diligence Associates

About Due Diligence Associates

Due Diligence Associates is a Tallahassee, Florida professional engineering firm providing commercial real estate due diligence to purchasers, asset managers and lenders. Sid and Dan Burns founded the firm in 2006 as a Florida registered Professional Engineering Firm, working across commercial, retail, industrial and multifamily property. Chet Thompson joined as a Partner in 2023.

The firm’s centre of gravity is building and construction diligence rather than environmental consulting alone. It performs Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessments to ASTM E1527-21, property condition assessments, plan and cost reviews, and periodic progress reports for construction lenders. In practice the ESA work most often accompanies a property condition assessment on the same transaction, which is a useful fit for a buyer who would rather brief one engineering firm on both the environmental and the building-condition scope than coordinate two vendors against one closing date.

All three principals are practitioners rather than a sales layer. Sidney T. Burns, P.E. is a Florida registered Professional Engineer with a Civil Engineering degree from Georgia Tech, an Executive Member of the National Academy of Building Inspection Engineers and a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers. Chet D. Thompson, P.E. is a Florida registered Professional Engineer and an FDEP Qualified Stormwater Management Inspector, with a Civil Engineering degree from Virginia Military Institute and a background spanning environmental permitting, construction inspection and as-built certification. Daniel R. Burns, President, has performed and supervised hundreds of condition assessments and thousands of construction site visits, with specific depth in Low Income Housing Tax Credit and Historic Tax Credit projects.

Services Offered

Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment

DDA conducts Phase 1 ESAs in accordance with ASTM E1527-21, the standard lenders and the EPA’s All Appropriate Inquiries rule recognise for CERCLA liability protection. The firm describes the scope as a site visit, owner interviews and extensive historical land use research, with findings summarised in a written report identifying any Recognized Environmental Conditions.

The firm positions the Phase 1 ESA as something typically paired with a property condition assessment rather than sold standalone. If a REC is identified, the escalation path is a Phase 2 ESA, which is a separate scope with separate cost.

Property Condition Assessment

DDA’s PCA is its longest-running service line. The firm states its standard report goes beyond the baseline ASTM and Standard & Poor’s criteria, and that it will adapt the work scope where a client imposes its own. The standard visual examination covers site, exterior, interior, roof, foundation, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, fire protection systems, other building systems including elevators, life safety, parking and ADA.

Property condition assessments are not currently a browsable category on this directory, so this listing surfaces DDA under Phase 1 ESA. The PCA capability is recorded here because it is a material part of what the firm does and often determines whether it is the right single vendor for a transaction.

Plan and Cost Reviews

DDA reviews drawings, specifications, schedule of values and supporting documentation against a lender’s specifications, breaking down hard costs and comparing them to similar projects in the area using recognised references including Engineering News Record and R.S. Means.

Periodic Progress Reports and Draw Inspections

As construction proceeds, DDA performs periodic site visits assessing work in place against the funding a contractor has requested, dispatching staff or an associate on receipt of a draw request and following the site visit with a written report including captioned photographs.

Service Area

DDA’s home service area is most of the Southeastern United States across all service offerings, run from Tallahassee. The firm names Florida, Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas as the states where it locally supports lenders’ construction projects, and those are the states recorded on this listing.

Two distinctions matter when reading the firm’s own coverage claims:

• Nationwide applies to construction loan monitoring and plan and cost reviews, not to Phase 1 ESA. DDA describes monitoring projects from California to Washington D.C.
• The “more than 40 states” figure refers to condition assessments, which the firm has performed as far afield as Alaska, Hawaii and the Florida Keys.

Outside the home service area, DDA maintains a nationwide network of associate engineering firms who perform field work and feed the final report, with DDA overseeing those relationships. That model keeps costs down by using engineers local to the subject property, and it means the reviewing engineer and the field inspector may be different people on out-of-region work.

What to Expect

DDA is a quote-only firm. Its website publishes no price range for any service and directs enquiries to a request-a-quote form, so scope, property type and location drive the number. For context on what the market charges, see our Phase 1 ESA cost guide and the Florida Phase 1 ESA cost page.

Because DDA frequently pairs the ESA with a PCA, it is worth asking for both scopes priced together and separately. A firm running one site visit for two deliverables has a genuine cost advantage over two vendors scheduling two visits, and that advantage only shows up if you ask for the combined number.

What to Provide for a Quote

• Property address, type and approximate square footage or acreage
• Your lender and any specific report criteria it imposes
• Whether you need a Phase 1 ESA alone or paired with a property condition assessment
• Your closing date and the date the report is actually needed
• Any prior environmental reports, and whether the site has known historical uses of concern

Best For

• Buyers who want one engineering firm for both environmental and building condition, rather than coordinating separate ESA and PCA vendors against a single closing date
• Construction lenders in the Southeast needing plan and cost review and draw inspection from the same firm that handled pre-closing diligence
• LIHTC and Historic Tax Credit projects, where DDA has specific experience monitoring performance to completion so tax credit commitments are preserved
• Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Carolinas transactions, where the firm works directly rather than through its associate network

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Due Diligence Associates perform Phase 1 ESAs?

Yes. DDA conducts Environmental Site Assessments in accordance with ASTM E1527-21 to satisfy CERCLA requirements, including a site visit, owner interviews and historical land use research, with Recognized Environmental Conditions identified in a written report. Note that the service is listed under “Environmental Reports” on the firm’s services page rather than on its homepage.

What else does Due Diligence Associates do?

Property condition assessments, plan and cost reviews, and periodic progress reports or draw inspections for construction lenders. The firm was built around construction and building diligence, with the environmental scope most often ordered alongside a PCA.

Where does Due Diligence Associates work?

The home service area is most of the Southeastern United States for all services, with Florida, Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas named specifically. The firm works nationwide for construction loan monitoring and plan and cost reviews, and covers out-of-region field work through a network of associate engineering firms.

How much does a Phase 1 ESA from Due Diligence Associates cost?

DDA does not publish a price range; it quotes per engagement. See our Phase 1 ESA cost guide for typical market ranges, and request a quote directly for a figure on your property.

Request a Quote

Due Diligence Associates can be reached at ddanet.com or on 850-893-0031. The office is at 2707 Killarney Way, Suite 100, Tallahassee, FL 32309.

To compare against other firms covering the same states, use our free quote request or browse Phase 1 ESA providers in Florida.

Related Pages

• Phase 1 ESA Cost Guide
• Phase 1 ESA Cost in Florida
• What is a Phase 1 ESA?
• What is a Recognized Environmental Condition?
• All Appropriate Inquiries
• Phase 1 ESA Providers Compared
• Commercial Due Diligence Timeline
• Who Pays for Due Diligence?