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Asbestos Inspections

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Home Inspector with Safe@Home Inspections, LLC in SE Washington 215

There are a number of inspectors out there that do asbestos. In my region, I have at least two that do asbestos sampling for their clients. I just want to add a word of warning.

If you have a commercial building, you want to use a EPA Certified AHERA Inspector. These individuals are the only ones allowed by statue to provide asbestos inspection on commercial property in both Washington and Idaho (Idaho is administered by the EPA).

Here's the WAC for Washington: WAC 296-62-0772

(c) Duties of employers and building and facility owners. (i) Building and facility owners must determine the presence, location, and quantity of ACM and/or PACM at the worksite. Employers and building and facility owners must exercise due diligence in complying with these requirements to inform employers and employees about the presence and location of ACM and PACM.

(ii) Before authorizing or allowing any construction, renovation, remodeling, maintenance, repair, or demolition project, an owner or owner's agent must perform, or cause to be performed, a good faith inspection to determine whether materials to be worked on or removed contain asbestos. The inspection must be documented by a written report maintained on file and made available upon request to the director.

(A) The good faith inspection must be conducted by an accredited inspector.

You do have the right to assume that all the subject materials are asbestos containing rather than test but that can become very expensive. Testing will often save you considerable money by identifying the primary materials that need to be handled as hazardous.

Also, as part of your due diligence, you may want to conduct an asbestos survey prior to acquisition of a building so you have an accurate idea of the projected costs of future renovations.

If you need a accredited inspector in Eastern Washington or Northern Idaho, call me.

If you are a Real Estate agent with questions regarding asbestos in residential sales, feel free to contact me and we'll see how I can be of assistance.

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David Jirasek
Jirasek Realty, LLC - Temple, TX
ALC, CCIM

Paul, thanks for the information. 

Jan 23, 2011 01:50 AM