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Originally Posted On: https://barrazacarlos.com/when-your-building-survey-comes-back-positive-a-contractors-action-plan/
It’s not the best news ever to find out that your building survey came back with asbestos; however, it’s not the worst news ever, either. If you’ve contracted for any work before 2000 (especially in the UK), chances are, you’ll come across it at some point. That’s because when it gets identified in surveys, the majority of the time, that means it was found before any disturbances or projects could be started in which people might come into contact with the material.
When a positive survey result comes in, of course, things change. Work on-site stops; schedules are readjusted, and yes, clients will have many questions. However, as long as you stay on top of it from the beginning, what could be a huge headache becomes manageable, it’s about knowing what to do next and keeping everyone apprised along the way.
What “Positive” Actually Means (And Why Location Matters)
When a survey comes back positive for asbestos, no one should stop work entirely for up to a month. It all depends on the type of asbestos found and the location of where it’s situated. Is it in pipe lagging and needs to be taken out during demolition? Then immediate next steps need to happen. Is it in floor tiles that no one plans on touching anyway because they’re in the far back of the building? That’s another story.
Every survey notes the location and condition of all materials, if it’s friable, or crumbly, that means it’s more likely to shed fibers that can be inhaled when people will inevitably come into contact with it. If it’s non-friable and not falling apart, then it’s much easier to encapsulate or work around. However, in any building process, removal often makes more sense to avoid headaches down the line when safer thoughts can be had.
That also depends on where the materials are located in the building relative to your schedule. For example, if you’re supposed to start next week working in part of the building and there’s an asbestos presence there, action needs to be taken sooner rather than later. If it’s in a portion you’re not yet touching for three months, then you have time to put an appropriate plan in place, but both still require action to be taken prior to construction.
Immediate Actions: The First 24 Hours
In the first 24 hours of getting survey results back, you must notify everyone of what’s going on. Clients should be notified immediately, even if it’s not received well, as they deserve to know what has been uncovered and how it impacts them. Workers on-site need direction about which rooms are now restricted. There’s no work or continued demo allowed in affected areas until proper strategies can be put into place.
From here, documentation is your friend. The report needs to be shared with project managers, site supervisors, health and safety coordinators. Snap pictures of the area before anything is altered so there’s a visual understanding down the line of what was noted and when it was known.
In larger or commercial properties, commercial asbestos removal is often required via specialist contractors licensed in such endeavors; mandated by law based on material type and square footage available, these contractors come appropriately trained with tools and provisions to operate (and have insurance) for correct removal via HSE regulations.
Notification Requirements and Legal Obligations
This section may get a little nitty-gritty, but trust that it matters. Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 Report, if the work is notifiable, the HSE requires at least 14 days’ notice before anything can begin. This is true for most commercial removals; however, where lower-risk materials are concerned (those that may not require licensing), the regulations change but still require no less than proper paperwork.
Filing a notification is your legal use of documentation that ensures everything is above board. If nothing is filed or it’s filed late, don’t be surprised if enforcement action is taken against your operations and fines become an added obstacle that takes longer than following protocol in the first place.
Some clients fear notifications; they believe they create a paper trail that causes problems with property value down the line. The truth? The avoidance of filing creates bigger issues down the line as getting caught conducting unreported work makes everything legal fall flat regardless of property value.
Revising Timelines and Managing Client Expectations
This isn’t the most enjoyable conversation to have with a client, but honesty from the start prevents headaches down the line. Clients deserve their contractors to keep them apprised of realistic timelines factoring in notifications that 1) require compliance over a duration; 2) mandate removal; 3) air testing; and 4) clearance certificates, they all add time. The more contractors downplay it, the worse it becomes later on when deadlines slip.
As a general rule of thumb, expect asbestos removal to add anywhere between two weeks, four weeks (or more) depending on how extensive the job is, the access needed by contractors, certification requirements and tests must maintain protocols through containment set up (zones), removal without contaminants remaining, disposal at licensed facilities through documented air monitoring levels (to confirm safety for others to re-enter).
Money matters need to be discussed simultaneously. Yes; asbestos removal will cost money; however, avoiding hiring licensed professionals will cost even more down the road. Nobody will save a dime when enforcement notices fine breaking regulation thousands of dollars or contractor overtime for breach of exposure reaches six figures because timely removal isn’t properly taken care of.
Coordinating with Other Trades
Once asbestos removal schedules have been set up and established for compliance, other trades must adjust their timelines accordingly. Electricians need clearance certificates; plumbers need clearance certificates; HVAC techs, anyone else who was going to operate in those spaces, as unfortunate as it is, must wait until it’s all clear. Some trades can work around containment if it’s sealed correctly; however, other work requires extensive ventilation unless professionals deem otherwise.
Clear communication with subcontractors must remain intact with documentation, trades have every right to know what’s been found that poses issues for their future work, and their personnel’s safety. Keeping everyone informed prevents poor working relationships, no one likes showing up on-site only to realize they can’t do anything because they weren’t clued into hazmat concerns.
After Removal: Documentation and Moving Forward
Once removal concludes from its own perspective and people are poised to get back into a regular rhythm, there’s still important information that needs to happen before transitioning back into normalcy.
Air testing confirms fiber levels are at appropriate levels; an independent clearance certificate notes it’s safe for work. This will go into a documented history for the building moving forward; this certificate also needs to be compiled with all other related documents for future reference.
Anyone coming back into the space now needs to know what’s happened, good and bad, and what testing confirmed. Being honest builds trust; they can ask to see clearance certificates so they can understand they’re made aware today but they will not need follow-up tomorrow unless something questionable happens.
For spaces where asbestos materials remained intact, as was noted prior, a new asbestos management plan must be filed which notes what is remaining (if anything), where it’s located (direction), what condition it remains in (stability), and what future monitoring, or precaution, needs to happen moving forward. This is important in case people come back years down the line or if new contractors fill new roles.
Why Doing It Right Makes Everything Easier
Professional asbestos removal looks like an awful expense upon seeing the invoice, but it helps save time down the road while keeping people safer than sorry. It pushes schedules back; it adds costs that no one thought would be incurred but let’s think about retrospectively how much issues would truly cost when considering problems down the line.
HSE enforcement notices could shut entire sites down. Regulatory fines cost thousands of dollars fast while attorney fees spin out of control for legal issues, from human exposure, from third parties without insurance coverage getting caught not following protocol numbers even higher in hundreds of thousands, with little recourse unless construction industry professionals follow regulations without fail.
Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, the reputation concern runs deeper than you’d think with construction industries being exceedingly smaller than presumed outside worlds; clientele talk, contractor talk, other contractors talk, with your name being easier blacklisted than white-listed, and secured future jobs become harder when crossing safety violations with regulatory problems.
At the end of the day, it’s merely a decision made from an otherwise positive survey result. Either you handle it with processes regulated by licensed professionals who document everything legally, hoping for impact, or you try to take shortcuts and see what’s easiest on your end works out in either situation’s favor, and one is positively incorrect, even if it avoids obvious pitfalls, for an immediate response instead of avoiding uncomfortable reality in the beginning.
The good news? When you handle it professionally from day one like it’s just another issue that comes up along with everything else you can create great rapport worth having with that rest, and at the end, with nothing coming back legally helpful or detrimental moving forward.
