Positive asbestos result: what to do?

If the asbestos sample is positive, leave the material undamaged, stop any removal, sanding or drilling work at that spot and have the removal carried out by a specialist asbestos removal contractor. An intact asbestos-containing material does not pose any particular danger, so there is usually no need to rush. The most important thing is that the material is only broken open once the work has been planned as asbestos work.

How to read the report is described in the article Understanding your asbestos result. This article is a practical guide: what to do straight after receiving the result, how to establish what the result applies to, what to tell the removal contractor, who needs to know and what happens after the removal.

Straight after the result

1. Stop work on the material. Do not sand, drill, saw, chisel or tear out the material in which asbestos was detected, nor the same material in other places.
2. If the material has already been broken open, keep other people and pets out of the room and close the door. Do not use an ordinary vacuum cleaner and do not sweep, as this stirs up the fine dust. Do not carry loose pieces into other rooms. Cleaning up damaged asbestos material and its dust is part of asbestos removal, so leave it to a specialist contractor.
3. Mark the spot. Cover the sampling spot with tape if you have not already done so, and tell the others in the building what they should not touch.

If the material is intact and stays in place, you can live in and use the room as usual. The risk arises mainly when the material is damaged or weathers and dust comes loose from it.

Does the material have to be removed?

A positive result does not automatically mean that the material has to be removed. Intact asbestos materials do not need to be removed as long as they are not affected by removal or other work that would break them open. In practice, the decision depends on the renovation plan:

• The renovation will break the material open: the asbestos-containing material is then usually removed from the work area. The removal is planned and carried out as asbestos work before the rest of the work begins.
• The renovation will not touch the material: the material can stay in place intact. Write down where it is, so that whoever renovates next time knows about it.
• The plan can be changed: sometimes the renovation can be limited so that the asbestos-containing material is not touched at all. Bear in mind that fixings and drill holes also break the material open, so an asbestos-containing board cannot simply be covered with a new structure that is screwed through it. Assess this together with the removal contractor or a designer.

Establish what the result applies to

The result applies to the sampling location and to the same material. If the same vinyl floor covering, filler or tile continues into other rooms and was laid at the same time, the material is to be treated as asbestos-containing there too. If the sample had several layers, the whole layer build-up is treated as asbestos-containing, even if the asbestos is in only one layer.

The other materials in the renovation area are still unexamined. Before you ask for quotes, it is worth having these analysed too, so that the removal contractor can plan everything at once and the work is not interrupted by a new find. The article How many asbestos samples? describes how to estimate the number of samples.

• Mark the asbestos-containing areas on a floor plan or on photos.
• Estimate the quantity to be removed, for example square metres of floor or metres of pipe insulation.
• Note which materials have been analysed and which have not.

Get a quote from a specialist contractor

Removing asbestos-containing material is asbestos work that must be carried out by a specialist asbestos removal contractor in line with occupational safety rules. The detailed national rules and the supervising authority differ from country to country, so check with your country's authority. You will find it easier to get an accurate quote if you give the contractor the following from the start:

• the laboratory's analysis report,
• the sampling locations and photos,
• an estimate of the quantities to be removed,
• information about which other work is part of the renovation, and the schedule,
• access routes, the occupants of the building and any neighbours who may be affected.

Ask whether the quote covers a removal plan, any notifications required by the authorities, enclosure of the work area and negative pressure, packing and removal of the waste, final cleaning and air measurements before the room is used again. The removal contractor is responsible for ensuring that the work complies with occupational safety rules, so expect some time to pass between the result and the removal.

Who should know?

• The contractor: if someone else is carrying out the renovation, they must know about the find before anything is removed.
• The property manager, owners' association or landlord: in an apartment building or terraced house, asbestos removal affects how the work is organised, the stairwells and the neighbours.
• Other occupants of the building: everyone should know which material they must not touch.
• Future buyers: if you sell the property later, it is advisable to disclose known asbestos finds and any removal work carried out.

What you should not do yourself

• Do not remove asbestos-containing material yourself, even if the area is small.
• Do not sand, drill or saw into the material, not even to try it out.
• Do not put the material in ordinary construction or household waste. Asbestos waste is hazardous waste. How it is disposed of is described in the article Disposing of asbestos waste.
• Do not leave a damaged spot exposed; cover it with tape or plastic sheeting until the removal.

After the removal

After the asbestos removal, the work area is cleaned and air measurements are used to check that the room is clean before it is used normally again. Ask the removal contractor for the following documents and keep them together with your other renovation documents:

• the laboratory's analysis reports,
• the removal plan and details of any notifications to the authorities,
• the results of the air measurements,
• proof of where the waste was taken.

The documents are useful for the next renovation, when selling the property and for the maintenance of the building.

If you are worried that you have been exposed

If the material was sanded or removed before you had the result and you are worried about your health, talk to a doctor.

Do you need more samples?

If one material has turned out to contain asbestos, it is worth having the other materials in the same renovation analysed before the removal plan is finalised. Semlab analyses the samples with a JEOL SEM-EDS electron microscope, and you receive the report in English by email on the same day the sample arrives at the laboratory. The analysis costs €49.99 incl. VAT per sample. Postage is not included. You can order the analysis online and pay by card when you order.