Asbestos Check Before Tear-Out in an Older Hawaii Building

What does the Hawaii rule require?

The Hawaii Administrative Rules require an asbestos contractor license for activity that disturbs friable asbestos or asbestos-containing material. The rule turns on the activity and the material, not only on the age of the building, and it applies to work that breaks up or removes the material.

The rules are published by the state and set out the license requirement and the activity it covers. This guide describes the general position. The exact text of the rule should be read in the published administrative rules, and a contractor should confirm how it applies to a particular job.

A homeowner should not assume that a building is free of asbestos because it looks modern. The check decides the question, and the rule applies once the test is met.

When does water tear-out meet the test?

Water tear-out in an older building can meet the test, because the work breaks up or removes wet materials that may contain asbestos. Ceiling textures, floor tiles and mastic, pipe and boiler wraps, and plaster or joint compound are the materials most often involved.

Water makes some materials more fragile. A wet ceiling texture can crumble, a floor tile can loosen and a pipe wrap can tear. Removing a material in that state can release fibers, which is why the check should come before the tear-out starts.

The age of the building is the first question to ask, but it is not the only one. A building that was renovated may still hold older materials behind the new finish, and the check covers what is behind the surface too.

How is a material checked without disturbing it?

A licensed asbestos contractor takes a sample in a way that limits disturbance, usually by wetting the area and sealing the sample. The sample is sent for analysis, and the result decides what must be done. Until the result is known, the material is treated as one that may contain asbestos.

The method and the analysis are the contractor's responsibility, and the homeowner should ask which method will be used and who will analyze the sample. The result should be given in writing, with the date and the laboratory's details.

A homeowner or a crew without the license should not take the sample. A sample taken from a material that may contain asbestos can release fibers into the room, and the activity is the one the rule covers.

What should a homeowner do before tear-out?

Tell the contractor when the building was built, which materials are wet and whether any wall or ceiling has already been cut. Keep people out of the affected rooms and do not disturb the material. Ask for the check to be arranged before any wet material is removed.

Keep the room closed and the vents sealed if the contractor asks you to. Do not sweep or vacuum dust from wet materials, because that spreads the fibers. Let the contractor clean the area with the method it has chosen.

Write down any previous repairs you know about, including the year of the work and the materials used. A previous repair that opened the wall affects what the check must cover.

Ask the crew to tell you in advance whether it expects to open any older material, and to say what it will need from you. A short conversation before the visit lets the household prepare the rooms, keep pets and children away, and agree on where dust-generating work will be done.

Who holds the license and how do I check it?

The contractor must hold an asbestos contractor license for the removal. Check the license on the DCCA Licensing and Business Registration lookup at businesscheck.hawaii.gov. A general building license does not automatically cover asbestos work, so confirm the license type matches the work.

Ask the contractor which license it holds for asbestos work, and confirm the type on the lookup. Keep a copy of the result with the written scope and the estimate.

If the contractor cannot show the license, do not allow the tear-out to start. Ask the DCCA about the requirement before any further work is agreed.

Where a contractor offers to start on the same day it arrives, ask first whether it holds the asbestos license for any part of the job that could disturb the material. The answer decides whether the work can begin at once or must wait for the check.

A license is also a reason to ask for the contractor's record of similar work in older buildings. The record should show the kinds of material it has checked and removed under its license, and the homeowner can ask for references from those jobs before the work is agreed.

Keep a copy of the license lookup with the written scope, dated on the day it was checked. If the license status changes during the work, the dated copy shows what was known when the work was agreed, and the lookup should be run again before any further removal.

What happens to the material after the test?

Material that tests positive is removed and handled under the asbestos rules by the licensed contractor. Material that tests negative can be torn out under the ordinary drying and repair process. The homeowner should receive the test results and the disposal record and keep them with the building's papers.

Asbestos waste is handled by the licensed contractor under the applicable rules, not removed with ordinary construction waste. Ask for the disposal record and keep it, because a buyer or a later contractor may ask for it.

Once the material is removed, the crew dries the structure and records the readings, as it would for any other tear-out. The drying and the repair can then go ahead, with the asbestos question closed in the record.

What should I do if wet material was already torn out?

Stop before tearing out anything else, keep the room closed and tell the contractor what was removed and when. The contractor will check the room and the material already removed as far as it can, and it will say whether a licensed asbestos contractor needs to look at the area.

Do not try to clean up the fragments yourself, and keep children and pets out of the room. Photograph the area and the material removed, and write down the date and who did the work.

A prompt report to the contractor is the best step. The record of what happened first lets the licensed person decide what must be done next.

A homeowner who is unsure whether the material is asbestos should say so to the contractor in plain words. An honest account of what has been disturbed is the most useful information the contractor can receive at the start, and it is better than an account that leaves out the work already done.

What should a written check report contain?

A written check report should name the material sampled, the place it was taken from, the method used, the laboratory that analyzed it and the result. It should also state the license held by the person who took the sample. The report is the document a later contractor, an insurer or a buyer will ask to see.

Ask for the report to name each location tested, so that the result can be matched to the wall, ceiling or floor it describes. A result for one material does not automatically cover another material in the same building, and the report should say which areas it covers.

The report should also say what the result means for the work. If a material tests positive, the report should name the licensed contractor who will remove it and the disposal method. If the material tests negative, the report should say that the ordinary drying and repair process can go ahead.

Keep the report with the drying record and the photographs. The combined file shows the building was checked before it was opened and dried after, which is the sequence an insurer and a buyer will look for.