Asbestos Inspection Requirements

Asbestos Inspection Requirements of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code - Section 110.3

Asbestos inspections in buildings to be renovated or demolished; exceptions.

The code official shall not issue a permit allowing a building for which an initial permit was issued before January 1, 1985 to be renovated or demolished until the code official receives a certification from the owner or his agent that the affected portions of the building have been inspected for the presence of asbestos by an individual licensed to preform such inspections pursuant to Section 54.1-503 of the Code of Virginia and that no asbestos-containing materials were found or that appropriate response actions will be undertaken in accordance with the requirement of the Clean Air National Standard for the Hazardous Air Pollutant (NESHAPS) (40CFR 61, Subpart M) and the asbestos worker protection requirements established by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration for construction workers (29 CFR 1926.58). Local education agencies that are subject to the requirements established by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) shall also certify compliance with 40 CFR 763 and subsequent amendments thereto.

To meet the inspection requirements above, except with respect to schools, asbestos inspection projects consisting only of repair or replacement of roofing, floor covering, or siding materials may be satisfied by a statement that the materials to be repaired or replaced are assumed to have asbestos and that the asbestos installation, removal, or encapsulation will be accomplished by a licensed asbestos contractor.

The provisions of Section 108.10 shall not apply to single-family dwellings or residential housing four or fewer units, unless the renovation or demolition of such buildings is for commercial or public development purposes. The provisions of Section 108.10 shall not apply if the combined amount of regulated asbestos containing material involved in the renovation or demolition is less than 260 linear feet on pipes or less than 160 square feet on other facility components or less than thirty-five cubic feet of facility components were the length or area could not be measured previously.

An abatement area shall not be reoccupied until the building official receives certification from the owner that the response actions will be completed and final clearances measured. The final clearance levels for reoccupancy of the abatement area shall be 0.01 or fewer asbestos fibers per cubic centimeter if determined by Phase Contrast Microscopy analysis (PCM) or 70 or fewer structures per square millimeter if determined by Transmission Electron Microscopy analysis (TEM).