If a building doesn’t have good supporting data—maybe architectural drawings have been lost to the sands of time or nobody knows what meters are at a property—this isn’t the end of the world. It simply means the verifier will need more time and will initiate the Optional Task 2 to help in that effort. Some examples for when Optional Task 2 is initiated include:
Unclear or contradictory documentation. Maybe the Portfolio Manager entry for a building says it’s 28,000 square feet but tax data says the building is 84,000 square feet. In this case, the verifier may need to do additional work to determine the actual building square footage. This might mean the verifier needs to perform takeoffs of drawings to identify the area(s) of a building that are currently included but should be excluded, like balconies. This sort of work isn’t included in the base scope but would be covered under Optional Task 2.
Missing documentation. For example, if a property doesn’t have records of what portions of the buildings are used for what use type or if an aggregate meter list isn’t available, the verifier may need to be more directly involved in pulling this documentation together. The base scope assumes that all necessary documentation will be provided, and Optional Task 2 would be triggered if the verifier needs to collect this documentation.
Simple corrections to things like occupied hours, number of bedrooms, or other basic space use information that can be identified and implemented with the provided documentation won’t necessitate Optional Tasks. Optional Tasks get triggered when the verifier needs to figure out something larger that isn’t clearly evident in documentation.