Asbestos Abatement & Removal

Ontario sorts asbestos work into three Types under O. Reg. 278/05, section 12, and the Type decides what the contractor must do. Type 1 includes removing ceiling tiles that "cover an area less than 7.5 square metres" when they come out without being broken or cut, and "removing less than one square metre of drywall" with asbestos joint compound.

Type 2 includes "the removal or disturbance of one square metre or less of friable asbestos-containing material", ceiling tiles of 7.5 square metres or more, and one square metre or more of that drywall. Type 3 includes "the removal or disturbance of more than one square metre of friable asbestos-containing material". Whether a material is friable is decided on site by the people doing the work, not from a photo.

Section 12(5) stops a job being split to lower its Type: work is classified by "the total area on which work is done consecutively in a room or enclosed area, even if the work is divided into smaller jobs."

For a Type 3 job, the contractor must notify a Ministry of Labour inspector before starting, every worker needs the approved Asbestos Abatement Worker training and every supervisor the supervisor program, and the area must pass a clearance air test at no more than 0.01 fibres per cubic centimetre. The regulation's owner duties do not apply to an owner-occupied home, but a contractor you hire is still bound by it. Published Ontario prices run about $8 to $15 per square foot.