The situation:

MCG received a phone call on Friday afternoon to say suspected asbestos had been disturbed.  It turned out a flooring contractor had ripped up asbestos paper-backed vinyl in someone’s kitchen. Paper-backed vinyl is highly prone to releasing respirable asbestos fibres.

MCG’s air monitoring returned a reading of twice the allowable trace level, meaning the area was contaminated and accessible only if wearing a respirator.  It cost over $20,000 to clean the area, which the contractors’ insurance didn’t cover.

Problem to solve:

How could the homeowner have avoided the emotional and financial cost of contaminating their home with asbestos?

MCG’s solution:

In this instance, the flooring contractor is a PCBU. They owe the homeowner a duty of care to ensure they keep them safe.  The Asbestos regulations also require the PCBU to complete an intrusive refurbishment survey. This is to identify asbestos that may be disturbed so it can first be removed under controlled conditions.  At the very least, if the homeowner knew it was there, they could have made informed choices about the flooring.

MCG’s team of competent surveyors can complete a refurbishment survey of your property targeted to the work that is at risk of disturbing asbestos.  The resulting report contains practical recommendations that can be provided to workers and/or removalists.

MCG’s licensed assessors can monitor the removalists and confirm the work has been properly completed and issue the certificate of re-occupation (also known as the clearance certificate).