Did you know the word Asbestos is derived from the Greek adjective meaning inextinguishable?

It was referred to as the "Miracle Mineral" by the Greeks. Today it is referred to as "Cancer".

With all the new laws and codes in place today Asbestos is still allowed in building materials and can be found in many products available at your local home improvement store. Sad thing is you most likely will not know it when you buy it and once it is installed you need to follow all State Law on removal and disposal of the materials. In some cases even pay for a licensed Asbestos contractor for removal.

Plan on doing any remodeling? All remodeling projects are required to have an AHERA certified inspector perform an Asbestos inspection with sampling prior to any work being done. Here in the Seattle, WA area there will also be a 10 day wait before work can begin and Puget Sound Clean Air must be contacted along with an application for work must be filled out and filed. Application cost is $30.00.

Homeowners are allowed to work on their own home but will need a licensed contractor for any rental property or if they do not occupy the home themselves.

Asbestos looks like it will still be used for some time now. The city "Asbestos" located in Canada is opening up a new mine and should have production in 2012. Should we expect more Asbestos in building materials? maybe...better read the label!

Contact our office for an Asbestos survey from one of our AHERA certified inspectors 425.608.9553

AHERA stands for Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act.

In 1986, the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA; Asbestos Containing Materials in Schools, 40 CFR Part 763, Subpart E) was signed into law as Title II of TSCA. Amendments to the act in 1994 mandated specific training and "accreditation" for all individuals doing inspection, project design, project supervision, and project work involving asbestos in schools, public and commercial buildings. An AHERA inspector is one who's obtained the AHERA Building Inspector accreditation. With only minor exceptions, you must be an AHERA accredited inspector to take even one sample of an asbestos-containing product. Even renovations need to conduct an asbestos survey. With the exception of limited residential projects performed by the resident-owner, all surveys must be conducted by an AHERA-certified building inspector. AHERA stands for Asbestos Hazardous Emergency Response Act. If there are no suspect materials in the work area, this must be posted or communicated in writing to contractors working in the area.

Demolition Surveys must be conducted by an AHERA-certified building inspector. You will find these inspectors listed in the phone book yellow pages under Asbestos Consulting and Testing.?You must share the survey results with your demolition contractor and anyone else who may come in contact with the material, and keep a copy of the survey on site.

SCOPE OF AN AHERA INSPECTION

In addition to basic information about the property, the owner(s), the technical aspects of an AHERA inspection will include the following. Material classification There are three main kinds of material according to EPA sampling guidelines. They are Surfacing Material, Thermal system Insulation, and Miscellaneous material. The classification bears implications for number of samples to be taken.

For Surfacing material, there's the 3-5-7 rule, meaning 3 samples from less than 1,000 square feet area, 5 samples from 1,000 to 5,000 square feet area, and 7 samples from greater than 5,000 square feet area. For Thermal system material, with some exceptions, 3 samples should be taken for each homogeneous area.

For Miscellaneous material, at least one sample should be taken from each homogeneous material. Recognition of Homogeneous Areas Homogeneous material means an area of surfacing material, thermal system insulation material or miscellaneous material that is uniform in color and texture. It should be pointed out that materials appear to be homogeneous and adjacent to each other may in fact have different contents in terms of asbestos, and only laboratory testing will decide whether they are really the same homogeneous area. Differentiation of Friable vs. Non friable A material that contains asbestos is friable if the material, when dry, may be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder by hand pressure, and includes previously non-friable material after such previous nonfriable material becomes damaged to the extent that it meets the criteria as a friable material. THE BENEFITS OF HIRING AN INSPECTOR FROM PACIFIC NORTHWEST INSPECTIONS GROUP,LLC Our inspectors follows strict rules as required BY current regulations, so that there's no short-cut to the Standard AHERA Inspection Procedures. We will take enough samples depending on the type and size of the material as required by law, so that there's be no shortage of samples we take.

We have the quickest response among our inspectors, and they provide the homeowner / contractors hiring them the prompt testing results and reports. It's possible for us to provide our clients with the fast results, because our samples are analyzed in in a local laboratory, unlike in many cases the samples have to be sent out by the inspector to a outside lab such as ours for the sample testing. Many regulatory bodies required the samples to be analyzed by an accredited laboratory, so that the results are trust-worthy. Our lab carries the highest form of accreditation, the EPA approved NVLAP Accreditation's and is local for fast response time. Call us 425.608.9553 - Testing for Asbestos for Residential and Commercial buildings. Testing Asbestos requires State Certification in the State of Washington.