Commercial vs. residential abatement & disposal
Here in Maryland the local county authorities generally accept asbestos from home owners at their regular landfill, albeit with their full knowledge of what's in the bag. For contractors it's a whole 'nother ball game. Home owners can strip asbestos shingles all day long and throw them in trash bags to drop off for free. Contractors are required to utilize State licensed abatement contractors with all of the obvious and appropriate insurances. All of the waste must be double bagged and be followed with chain of custody certifications from the point of origination to their final disposition, typically a landfill specializing in regulated waste.
One of the easiest ways to screw the pooch on a commercial renovation project is to open a contaminated chase or demo an unidentified structure that is laced with asbestos without realizing that you have until it's been greatly disturbed and drug from one end of the building to the other. Study building history and the periods of predominant uses that are typical for your region and always assume the worst. If you are working on an old steam heated school building, chances are that it's everywhere from the pipe insulation and ceiling tiles to the floor tile and mastic, including the mastic that they use to affix the ceiling tiles and black boards. Window glazing, contamination from previous abatement efforts and abandoned pipe in crawl spaces and attics. All sorts of unlooked for fun. Many times the tile may prove to be more recent VCT, only to be found covering residue from the older VAT install that had asbestos laden mastic.
Another unforeseen shocker that we experienced was the lead content in the glazed tile walls throughout the hallways. The lead was not only in the tile but in the mortar as well. New openings that were originally thought to be minimal risk operations as long as the tile was toothed out turned into an unwelcome removal and disposal change order that sent everybody's schedules reeling. Just because a study or assessment has been done doesn't mean that they considered everything. If that were the case then the abatement contractors would never see a change order. The best way to manage the disposal costs, especially on a competitively bid project, is to make certain that the playing field is leveled by bringing as much to light as possible during the pre-bid phase.
