How to Hire an Asbestos Abatement Contractor

You already[Do you] have a lab result or an inspector’s report that names asbestos*.[?] Abatement is licensed work to remove, enclose, or seal asbestos so fibers do not get into the air. The hire[help] you need is an asbestos abatement contractor, not the tester who sampled the material, and not a remodeler who offers to take it out while they are already in the house.

A useful bid is a written work plan that names containment, disposal, and clearance testing, which is air or surface testing after the job to confirm fibers are down. Check the firm on your state’s asbestos contractor registry, then compare two or three of those plans.

Hire an asbestos abatement contractor, not the tester

The EPA’s advice for homeowners is to keep the inspector and the contractor as two companies, and to get a written contract that names the work plan, cleanup, and the federal, state, and local rules the contractor must follow. A conflict of interest here means the firm that tests should not be the firm that bids the removal. The person who scopes the job should not be the person who profits from taking the material out. If the lab that ran your samples also handed you a removal quote, get a second firm for[company to quote] the work.

Among the listings here, 205 name asbestos testing and 164 name asbestos removal. A listing that says testing is the inspector-side shop. It is not the hire for removal.

Two listings in different cities show how that split looks on a page. They are in Seattle and Baltimore, not in your town, and they are not a pair to call for bids.

Hawk Environmental Services in Seattle lists asbestos testing, plus mold and air testing. That is an inspector-side firm: sampling and lab work, not the removal crew.

Thomasville Restoration in Baltimore lists asbestos abatement along with other restoration work. That is the service line to look for when you are hiring removal. You want asbestos removal or asbestos abatement written on the listing.

When you open your own city page later, use that same filter. If a shop names mold, drywall, or general remodeling and never names asbestos removal or asbestos abatement, keep looking. The crew that already has tools in your house is convenient, and still the wrong hire if the listing never names that work.

How many bulk samples an inspector takes is the tester’s job. The asbestos testing guide covers that work, including the report you should already be holding. Your abatement contractor should work from that report.

Ask for a written work plan, not a handshake

A remodeler’s verbal offer is not a work plan. Before anyone hangs plastic, get the plan in writing.

A work plan you can actually compare names at least:

• Containment: how they seal the work area from the rest of the house, including filtered air so dust does not leave the rooms in play
• What they will do to the material: take it out, enclose it, or use encapsulation, which is sealing the material in place so fibers stay put
• Disposal: sealed, labeled bags and where the waste goes
• Clearance testing after the job, and who pays for it
• Who stays out of the area, including pets, and when you can use the rooms again

Ask the plan to add three lines that do not show up in a remodeler handshake: shut down heating and cooling so fibers are not pulled through the ducts, wet the material before they take it down, and do not break removed material into small pieces to make it easier to carry.

Get written assurance at the end of the job that those procedures were followed. An inspector or a separate air-testing firm can run clearance testing so the company that did the work is not the only one declaring the rooms clean.

If one bid is seal-in-place and another is take-out, read encapsulation vs removal before you treat those two quotes as the same job. The method should follow the condition of the material and whether a remodel will disturb it. Do not let a handshake decide that.

On listings here, 15% advertise a free estimate, which is a reason to ask for that written work plan rather than a spoken price. A free number with no containment, disposal, or clearance line is not something you can compare. For ranges, use the asbestos abatement cost guide. This page is the hire.

Confirm the firm on the state registry

License rules for a house sit mostly with the state, not on a national stamp. Ask the firm to document the training the state requires before anyone hangs plastic.

We do not list each shop’s license number, so confirm the firm on your state’s asbestos contractor registry before you sign. Start at the EPA list of state asbestos contacts, reach your state program, and look the company up on that registry. Match the legal name on the bid to the name on the list, not a nickname on a truck. If the bid names a subcontractor, run that name too. Ask each person doing the work for the accreditation the state requires.

A Seattle listing or a Baltimore listing is not proof the firm is allowed to work at your address. Neither is a listing in your own city, until the registry says so.

What the removal job involves

The asbestos removal guide covers what the job itself involves. This page is the hire. If a remodeler offers to pull the material as part of a larger job, that is the wrong crew. Do not treat friable material, material that crumbles in your hand and can release fibers, as ordinary demolition debris, and do not cut, sand, or bag it yourself.

Compare shops on your city page

Open the homepage to find remediation shops in your city, pick the city page for your area, and ask two or three shops that list asbestos removal or asbestos abatement for a written work plan. Compare those plans on containment, disposal, and clearance, then take the company you choose to the state registry before you sign.