Information for Owners and Managers of Buildings that Contain Asbestos

This page provides information on federal requirements for the renovation and demolition of buildings that contain asbestos. It also provides guidance on developing and maintaining an operations and maintenance program to manage asbestos-containing materials in buildings. Public and non-profit private schools have distinct regulatory requirements for the management of asbestos.

• Renovation and Demolition Requirements
• Operations and Maintenance Guidance

Renovation and Demolition Requirements

The National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) regulations under the Clean Air Act specify work practices for asbestos to be followed during demolitions and renovations of all structures, installations, and buildings (excluding residential buildings that have four or fewer dwelling units). The regulations require the owner of the building or the operator to notify the appropriate state agency before any demolition, or before any renovations of buildings that could contain a certain threshold amount of asbestos or asbestos-containing material. In addition, particular manufacturing and fabricating operations either cannot emit visible emissions into the outside air or must follow air cleaning procedures, as well as follow certain requirements when removing asbestos-containing waste.

Read more about the asbestos NESHAP

The Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA)’s Model Accreditation Plan (MAP) requires that asbestos professionals (including any worker, contractor or supervisor, inspector, management planner, or project designer) working with asbestos-containing building materials in a school, public or commercial building be accredited under a training program at least as stringent as the EPA Model Accreditation Plan (MAP).

In addition, state and local agencies may have more stringent standards than those required by the federal government.

These are the types of buildings for which an operations and maintenance program might be applicable.

Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Guidance

EPA has provided guidance to assist building owners and managers in understanding how to develop and maintain an operations and maintenance program for the management of asbestos-containing materials in their buildings. It is important to note that school buildings have separate and distinct regulatory requirements for the management of asbestos under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA).

An Operations and Maintenance (O&M) program is a formulated plan of training, cleaning, work practices, and surveillance to maintain asbestos-containing materials (ACM) in good condition within buildings. The goal is to minimize exposure of all building occupants to asbestos fibers. This information is primarily for owners, managers, workers and other key building staff of office buildings, shopping centers, apartment buildings, hospitals, and similar facilities that may contain asbestos materials that can be managed in place and do not require control and abatement procedures that are outside the scope of an operations and maintenance program.

Read guidance on how to develop and maintain an operations and maintenance program

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