Ever since it became clear that asbestos is a major health hazard, property owners all over New Zealand have been paying out the nose for it. Whether it’s short-term renovations or the unfortunate realities of long-term health effects, leaving asbestos untested and unattended always comes with a cost.
Presence absence asbestos testing is a vital step for any property owner in New Zealand who suspects that they might be dealing with asbestos. Conducting these tests and making a plan to remove any asbestos that is found can head off these hidden costs, enabling Auckland property owners like you to not only save time and stress, but plenty of money.
In this blog post, we’ll be breaking down the positive economic impact of presence absence asbestos testing and removal. Stick around for the top benefits, as well as some trips from our experienced team on what to do next.
Compliance Costs and Avoiding Penalties
If you own a property in Auckland, it’s important that you comply with the city’s asbestos regulations. Prior to the cessation of asbestos supply in the late 1990s, many of the commercial and residential buildings constructed in this city were made with some form of asbestos.
In response, a set of Health and Safety standards were created by the New Zealand government that are carefully enforced to make sure property owners and occupants are as safe as possible. There are three main things to remember about these regulations:
- They encompass all properties that might include asbestos, whether they be commercial, industrial, or residential.
- They are the responsibility of the property owner to carry out, whether you’re running a business or renting out your property.
- They always recommend contacting a professional to take care of testing and removal work.
Being non-compliant can cause a number of health issues, but they can also draw down fines if property owners fail to comply with safety regulations. This is especially true for commercial property owners and landlords. These fines are often in the tens of thousands, so it’s worth following these regulations to the letter.
Preserving and Enhancing Property Value
Even if asbestos is safely contained, the presence of asbestos in a building can significantly reduce how much it can fetch on the market. Asbestos is a major hazard and might require removal down the line, which means that potential buyers are often unwilling to take the risk of purchasing a property with asbestos-containing materials.
Taking the time to conduct presence absence asbestos testing and removal ensures you’re putting a pristine property on the market when you’re ready to sell.
Savings from Preventative Action
Asbestos is a volatile material, but much of the time, the non-friable variety can be safely isolated as part of an asbestos management plan. But most of the time, it’s important that the asbestos is removed as soon as possible. The longer an asbestos-containing material remains in a property, the more time it has to degrade.
Unfortunately, that usually means that ACMs become more volatile over time, presenting more of a hazard. Removing volatile asbestos materials is more dangerous and more costly than removing undamaged materials, so there’s a strong motivation for property owners to take care of presence absence asbestos testing and removal as quickly as possible.
Long-Term Health and Safety Costs
Asbestos is well-known for causing a variety of aggressive health conditions with long-term exposure. The trouble is this material only brings on these issues many years after exposure, which is known in the business as a long latency period. Essentially, this means it’s difficult to tell whether you’ve been exposed to enough asbestos to cause an issue for up to a decade.
Treating major health conditions like asbestosis, mesothelioma, and respiratory issues is not only time-consuming and incredibly stressful but also very costly. Leaving asbestos in the home can invite these long-term health and safety costs, creating all sorts of issues down the road that must be dealt with.
For landlords and PCBUs, there’s even a chance that occupiers of your properties may claim health expenses against you as a result of improper or absent asbestos removal.
In summary, all property owners should be thinking about presence absence asbestos testing. This is the first link in a vital chain that ensures all occupants are living and working in safe, asbestos-free environments. Not only that, but approaching this proactively can save you a lot of time, stress, and money.
If you are unsure about what to do next, we always recommend starting with a test to determine whether there is asbestos on your property and where to look for it.
Looking to save on long-term costs? Get in touch with Consultex Labs, your presence absence asbestos testing specialists.
Consultex Labs provides asbestos testing and identification services for residential, commercial, and industrial sites all over New Zealand. We’re proud to be an IANZ-accredited asbestos laboratory with a full contingent of qualified staff and equipment ready to test your property rigorously for the presence of asbestos.
Get in touch with us today to arrange a consultation or test with our team.