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Asbestos in Buildings
Approximately 80 percent of all buildings constructed in the United States before 1979 contain asbestos. In February 1988, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a report titled EPA Study of Asbestos-Containing Materials in Public Buildings: A Report to Congress, which stated that friable ACM is contained in approximately 730,000 public and commercial buildings, of which 500,000 are estimated to contain at least some damaged asbestos.
Friable ACM is present in many public and commercial buildings, schools, houses, apartment buildings, and asbestos cleanup - commercial factories built before the mid-1970s and in some buildings after the mid-1970s. If you are not sure ACM is present in your dwelling, ask people who frequently work around ACM such as plumbers, contractors and heating specialists. You can also hire an asbestos inspector. A licensed Wisconsin asbestos inspector may obtain samples for laboratory analysis.
The term asbestos is used for a group of fibrous, naturally occurring silicate minerals that exhibit properties rendering them useful in commerce. During the past century, asbestos has been mined, processed, and used in thousands of products. Because of the exceptionally effective insulating, fire-resistant, and reinforcing properties of asbestos-containing materials (ACM), they have been utilized widely as surface-applied finishes (for acoustical, decorative, and fire-retardant purposes), and as thermal insulation in the construction of buildings, as well as in equipment used in buildings.
Project Designers are required to develop project designs for school buildings. The project designers are required to draw up specifications and contracts that contractors must follow to complete an asbestos abatement project that meets state and federal regulations. If a project design is developed for asbestos abatement in commercial and public buildings, then it must be completed by a licensed Project Designer.
Management Planners are required to develop management plans based upon information from an Inspector. Schools in many areas must develop and maintain an asbestos management plan describing the management of the school's asbestos-containing building materials. Requirements for commercial and public buildings are as stringent.
Based on the complexity of the project and applicable state regulations, a project monitor is typically retained by the building owner to ensure that the asbestos abatement contractor is adhering to the scope-of-work. The project monitor may also be required to collect daily area samples to access airborne asbestos concentrations during the removal phase, or collect clearance samples following the project.
The Asbestos Control Program regulates asbestos abatement activities involving three (3) or more square or linear feet of regulated ACM. Asbestos abatement activities must be permitted through the Asbestos Control Program and must be conducted by accredited asbestos personnel following proper asbestos inspection, abatement, transportation, and disposal procedures.
Generally speaking, the Asbestos Control Program regulates asbestos projects, building demolition, and building renovation activities that occur in facilities such as any institutional, commercial, public, industrial, or residential structure, installation, or building (including any structure, installation, or building excluding residential buildings having four or fewer dwelling units.