Ensuring that the building you will be buying or leasing in Mexico is in good environmental shape can be a difficult business. The following are some things to consider about Mexican law to help you make your decision.
Phase I - At a minimum, before signing a lease you will want to contract with an environmental consulting agency to do a phase I analysis. This involves going back through the state archives to determine if there is any reason to suspect that there may be contamination at the buildings location. In most cases, this is a sufficient environmental audit to accept a new building. A phase I audit should cost in the neighborhood of $3,000 to $5,000.
Phase II - A phase two environmental audit involves taking soil samples to determine in a laboratory whether there is any environmental contamination. For buildings where you suspect that there may be contamination you will want to have samples taken for actual testing. You can have testing done for any number of possible pollutants, with the cost increasing per each chemical test. You will also need to determine the number of soil samples taken and from which parts of the building (sometimes involving drilling through cement floors).
Mexican law requires that when a manufacturer vacates an industrial building, that the company complete a CRETIB analysis to determine if there are any residual pollutants. When you are shopping for industrial real estate, particularly previously occupied real estate, ask the building owner to produce the CRETIB analysis of the prior tenant.
© 2007 UnderstandMexico - Privacy Policy - Mexico Manufacturing / Manufacturing in Mexico