Superstorm Sandy has caused some significant damage to asbestos containing materials, that were otherwise in good condition.  This hardship of having to addresss asbestos before renovation, restoration, or repair work is done, can be a significant burden.  Leading owners to short cut the regulations and hire unqualified/unlicensed workers and companies to handle the asbestos putting themselves and the workers performing the work at risk.

Water Damaged Asbestos Pipe Insulation

It is important to remember that in New York State, all quantities of asbestos disturbance are regulated for both residential and commercial.  Workers must be certified to perform asbestos work and the companies they work for must be licensed.  As of December 10, 2012, there are 856 licensed contractors in New York State.  One of the things we found interesting in searching for contractors is what  we found regarding ServPro & Servicemaster.  As you may have seen ServPro’s television commercial discussing being able to handle emergency cleanups, well it is interesting that ServPro does not come up on New York State list of licensed asbestos contractors.  This means the only way ServPro could handle this work is to partner with a licensed asbestos contractor.  They cannot do the work themselves.  Regarding Servicemaster, they come up on the New York State list of assbestos contractors, however, it is only the Buffalo branch that is licensed.  So only the Buffalo branch can work with asbestos containing materials.  Long Island Servicemasters cannot do the work themselves, they too must partner with a licensed asbestos contractor.
To ensure residential work is done by qualified/licensed contractors the New York State Department of Labor should follow Suffolk County‘s or other towns, and villages lead in waiving fees involved with notifying these projects. The cost involved with notifications range from $200 to $4000. These fees would be better put to use by the owners of the properties to cleanup the damaged materials by licensed/qualified contractors.  To ensure this happens, we need to get this information/request out to Governor Cuomo and our local State Senators & State Assemblypersons.  Be safe and take care!