Asbestos inspection for a safe environment

Posted by juliabennet on April 26th, 2014

If your property, domestic or commercial was built before 1930 chances are there for it to have asbestos in many places. You should not panic however. If the asbestos is contained or bound and the fibres are not moving freely into the air it is safe to stay in that building. But, to be sure and safe you should opt for asbestos inspection to be carried out by certified professionals. Asbestos inspections entail highly technical and specific process and as it involves something which is hazardous to human health the process should be carried out carefully. As per the law a person who is not certified to do the job can test an area that is less than 10 square metres and it involves only bonded asbestos.

Moreover, these individuals should be associated with some occupations that have been listed by the Government like airconditioning and mechanical services, plumbing, fibrous plasterer, airconditioning and refrigeration, floor finisher, architect etc. There are some approved courses available and a person may take up the work of asbestos inspection. For asbestos inspections one must take up either a course in identification and safe handling of asbestos that has a national accreditation number or one in asbestos removal and supervision that has been nationally accredited or any other course that entitles a person to oversee or remove bonded asbestos under a registration or licence in an Australian jurisdiction.

Asbestos removal control plan can only be drawn after asbestos inspection has been done by accredited professionals. These asbestos inspections experts look for non-friable or firmly contained and friable or loosely bound asbestos at different places in your house. There can be over 22 places in your home that may have asbestos in different forms. If you choose someone who fails to identify non-friable asbestos and labels that as friable complicacy and the cost associated with the process of removal will go up considerably.

Non-friable asbestos can be found in products made of asbestos cement like flat or corrugated sheets used for roofing, villaboard that is found in kitchen, bathroom or laundry, water pipes, imitation claddings used for AC etc. Asbestos inspections experts look for friable asbestos in older types of insulation that was used in domestic stoves or heaters and in ceiling insulation products. Asbestos inspection involves closely checking the condition of the products that have these types of insulation and in case of buildings for damages or cracks that can release asbestos fibres.

Asbestos inspections processes are quite difficult as it is not very easy to identify its presence by visual inspection. Though buildings older than late 80s may contain asbestos in without through site inspection it s difficult to locate its presence. Asbestos inspection professionals look for maintenance, renovation or demolition activities that could have taken place after the building was ready. If they doubt presence of asbestos they collect the samples with due care and take them for testing in the laboratory. The laboratory should be accredited by NATA or National Association of Testing Authorities. If found to be positive specific measures are to be adopted for removal of asbestos from the site.

Not everyone is qualified for asbestos inspection. Since asbestos inspections involve health risks it is wise to handle it professionally.