A Checklist On What To Expect From Abatement Or Remediation

Hazardous materials in a home, commercial building, or in the soil can pose a serious risk. These toxic substances like asbestos, mold, and lead must be dealt with caution and correctly. At Advanced Remediation Solutions, we understand that abatement or remediation can be quite risky. If your property or building is exposed to these contaminants, we must first conduct a thorough inspection and testing to determine the extent of the problem. Once the issue is addressed and if you need abatement of remediation is required, we will prepare so that you can handle the situation quickly and easily.

As experts in asbestos and mold removal, we’ve created a handy checklist to help you with abatement or remediation. Follow our checklist of abatement and remediation services to be performed so that we can eliminate the threat of hazardous materials safely.

1. Notification of project start-up must be submitted to Work Place Health and Safety at least seventy-two hours before an asbestos abatement begins. It is the responsibility of the abatement contractor you have hired. However, this is not required for mold remediation.

2. Any contents must be removed from the access point of the building, and the work area must be empty. This may include emptying cabinets if they are being removed as part of the scope of work. It is usually the responsibility of the home or building owner.

3. Will you provide keys? Will you meet the contractor daily to let them in? Where can they park the company vehicle to unload crew, materials, and equipment? Make sure to provide or arrange for access to the work area.

4. You will need to provide access to power and water (hot and cold). The abatement or remediation process has decontamination requirements, so water is a must. Also, during the abatement or remediation process, HEPA (High-efficiency Particulate Air) filtered air movers will be running twenty-four by seven; therefore, power is required.

5. HEPA filtered air equipment and vacuums are DOP (Dispersed Oil Particulate) tested to verify the equipment is in good operating condition. Expect to see a person on-site to perform this testing.

6. If the work taking place is a high-risk asbestos abatement, a shower will be set up, and access to taps where hoses can be connected and a drain will be necessary.

7. A lot of orange poly will be put up to contain the area to be abated (high and moderate risk) or remediated. This will prevent access to the work area by anyone other than qualified personnel. It will also prevent any release of contaminants into the rest of the building or home. The exception to this type of containment is using a glove bag, a kind of mini containment with gloves built into it, generally used around a pipe.

8. High and moderate-risk abatements must be pre-inspected by a competent person or a third-party consultant before removal begins. But this is optional for mold remediation, and it is for the owner to decide if they want monitoring and a clearance test performed by a third party.

9. HEPA filtered air equipment MUST ONLY be shut off by trained abatement personnel. This equipment and its filters need to be sealed up or disposed of following strict protocols to prevent any release of asbestos fibers or mold spores. Equipment will be running the entire length of the project and will be noisy.

10. Once the abatement or remediation has begun, entry to the contained area is prohibited. Persons entering the contained site must wear specialized personal protective equipment and have the necessary training required by legislation.

Failure to do so can result in:

a) Cross-contamination of asbestos fibers or mold spores to areas outside the contained work area.

b) Exposure to asbestos which is known to cause several types of cancers and asbestosis, a long-term and fatal respiratory condition.

11. High and moderate-risk abatements must be monitored daily, so expect to see a third-party environmental consultant with pumps and cartridges arriving daily.

12. Type of containment and equipment for mold remediation:

a) Level one contamination (extent of visible and hidden mold growth is less than one square meter “Ten square feet”) usually requires source or no containment.

b) Level two contamination (the total affected area between one square meter and ten square meters “Ten to one-hundred square feet”) requires a full-scale limited containment typically with impermeable poly barriers and negative air.

c) Level three contamination (the total affected area is greater than ten square meters “One-hundred square feet” or the potential for occupant or remediator exposure during remediation is estimated to be significant) requires the use of critical barriers, full-scale containment with impermeable poly barriers, negative air, and two-stage decontamination or cleanroom.

13. Waste from the abatement must be appropriately bagged and disposed of at a designated disposal site. Expect to see yellow bags with an asbestos label heading out the door. It is the responsibility of the abatement contractor to dispose of this hazardous waste at designated disposal sites. For mold remediation, the yellow bags will NOT be used. However, you will see heavy-duty double poly bags taped shut heading out the door. It is your call if you want the remediation contractor to take care of the waste from the worksite.

14. Once the removal of hazardous materials has been completed, the contained work area must be cleaned and ready for inspection. A competent person or third-party consultant must visually inspect high and moderate risk abatements. If they are happy with what they see, they will give the abatement contractor approval to glue out. Glue out is not performed for mold remediation, and only if a clearance is requested will the third party inspection take place. It is not legislated for mold remediations.

15. For mold remediation, it is recommended that a third party (environmental consultant) perform clearance testing on the contained area to confirm that the mold and settled spores are at a level that is less than or equal to a typical background or outside levels. This is your assurance that the remediation has been completed successfully, and the report should be retained as confirmation that you, the client, have done your due diligence to ensure the building or area is safe.

16. The third-party consultant will come and do a clearance test. This is an air sample in both mold remediation and asbestos abatement. Now we wait for the test results, and this usually takes twenty-four hours. The exception will be if they perform viable sampling (for mold), which involves growing the captured spores.

17. Once the contractor receives a pass on the clearance test, they can take down the containment and remove all of their equipment.

18. Ask for a copy of the clearance report and retain it for your records.

19. Now you need to find someone to put it all back together. Ask the abatement or remediation contractor if they could recommend anyone.

If you have any concerns about the abatement or remediation process or have a problem with mold in your home or business, reach out to the asbestos and mold removal experts at Advanced Remediation Solutions serving in Edmonton, AB. We have the expertise, experience, and equipment to remove hazardous material. We assess and remediate not only the major contaminants of mold and asbestos, but also PCBs, animal feces, mercury, and other hazardous materials. Our services include mold remediation, mold testing, mold removal, asbestos abatement, asbestos testing, asbestos removal, and hazardous material removal.

To learn more about our services, please click here. Have a question? We’d love to hear from you. Contact us here.