Asbestos material was used for building insulation dating back to the early 90s. it was used frequently because of its durability and ability to withstand fire.
However, asbestos has been banned in most countries, because of its toxicity and danger to human health. it has caused a lot of deaths since it was first discovered, and because of that several laws have been created to control and check the production and usage of asbestos in most construction companies.
Individuals can develop the asbestos disease just by merely inhaling asbestos fibers from damaged asbestos containing materials or the raw product. Every year, over 40% of people die as a result of this life-threatening substance.
Types of asbestos surveys
- Asbestos screening
An asbestos survey screening is considered to be the best type of survey. It comes in handy if there is a damaged material being repaired where there are occupants it may pose a risk to their lives. They obtain samples of the materials for asbestos testing .they concentrate more on damaged areas which is suspected to contain asbestos. It can also be called transaction surveys.
- Path of construction asbestos survey
This is asbestos survey is concerned with only the building materials. For instance, the test would be carried out make sure that buildings undergoing renovation does not affect the environment.
- Pre Demolition asbestos survey
A pre demolition Asbestos survey is the strictest asbestos contained material assessment. It inspects everything concerning an entire building, the materials etc without leaving any stone unturned. The survey test is carried out by destroying small sections in the building to check for asbestos contained materials in the walls. In some cases, a whole demolition is taken place to make sure there are no traces on asbestos contained materials in the walls.
- Limited asbestos survey
this survey test analyses building material used for constructions that include the roof, walls and any other asbestos contained materials.
Why you need an asbestos survey
The popular asbestos containing materials, is a threat to human life and sadly, the materials used in constructing building like roof coatings, vinyl floor tile, millboard, roofing felt, etc may still contain asbestos. To mention just a few.
It is imperative that you realize how dangerous this is both financially and health wise. Making sure that a strict asbestos survey is carried out on your buildings new or old.
The process is very swift and wouldn’t cost you much compared to how much it would save your life. It would help pinpoint any asbestos containing material that could be present, and further eliminate all traces of asbestos containing materials on the site. It is better to be wise and do what’s best for you, as the saying goes “a stitch in time save nine”. better to be safe than sorry.
Irrespective of the fact that asbestos was banned dating back to the early 90s, there are still ACMs out there. The only way you can convince yourself that your building does not contain ACM is to carry out an Asbestos survey.