Rénovations de plusieurs unités dans un immeuble multilogements

Following the awarding of a large renovation contract for several units in a multi-unit building in Montreal, the general contractor had to check for the presence of asbestos in the internal structure of the building. As the building was built before 1980, it is affected by asbestos.

As on each mandate of this type, it is likely that asbestos was added to the plaster or coating mixture during its installation in the building. It is important to emphasize that certain materials such as cementitious plasters, filling mastic, coatings or plaster cement, are considered heterogeneous. This means that during their application (materials), the workers tended to mix them from time to time with asbestos. This is why during the diagnosis, our teams take several samples and not just one.

During our inspection, several types of materials likely to contain asbestos were used in the building: Stucco on gypsum, stucco on concrete structure, gypsum, putty filler and vinyl tile

About fifty materials were sampled and analyzed according to the IRSST 244 and ELAP 198.4 methods. The strategy consisted in making groups of samples called ZPSO (Zone Presenting Similarities of Structure) to separate the different materials with the ultimate objective of not generalizing the presence of asbestos, if any.

Finally, the analyzes revealed the presence of asbestos in the various materials. The risk assessment we performed on the materials, which was based on their friability, asbestos content and quantity, led to low, moderate and high risk work.

Regulatory framework

In Quebec, a characterization is required before workers undertake work likely to emit asbestos dust. It is important to always assume that the material contains asbestos until proven otherwise. According to the Safety Code for construction work (L.R.Q., c. S-2.1, r.6) a material must be considered as containing asbestos as soon as the asbestos concentration is at least 0.1%. The microscopic analysis of the samples makes it possible to determine the absence of asbestos in a material likely to contain it.

Under the Hazardous Products Act 7, since 1980 the use of flocked materials containing asbestos has been prohibited.

A building must be inspected for flocking and heat insulation if the date of construction is before February 15, 1990.

A building will need to be inspected for insulation if the date of construction is before May 20, 1999.

For more information about asbestos testing

Contact us by email at info@air-conseilenvironnement.com or through our online form. For any emergency, leave us a detailed message at 514-294-4387.