If you’ve recently bought, or you’re seriously considering buying, a vintage house that was built during the 70s or 80s, one of the first things that you need to do is to ask the landlord for asbestos register documents. This is to see whether the house is filled with asbestos substances.
What’s asbestos, you might ask?
Asbestos is a staple construction material that was widely used in building residential properties back then. It’s mainly used for insulation and fireproofing in houses and other establishments.
However, it was later found out that asbestos has significant health risks when inhaled that’s why no one uses it anymore. Below are only some of the diseases that you can get if you accidentally inhale some asbestos dust:
Lung cancer – once you’ve inhaled asbestos, the dust or fibres will reach your lung tissues and cause genetic or cellular damage, which can lead to lung cancer.
Mesothelioma – it’s a different form of cancer that occurs in the linings of your vital organs like the heart, lungs, and abdomen. This disease takes 20-50 years to develop, but once you’re diagnosed with this cancer, doctors will likely give you 1-2 years of life expectancy.
Asbestosis – unlike the first two, this disease is not cancerous. However, if you’re diagnosed with this, you’ll suffer from tightness in the chest and shortness of breath. In some cases, it can even lead to cardiac failure.
Now that you know the importance of knowing whether your house is filled with asbestos or not, it’s time to look for companies that offer asbestos testing Melbourne and have your house inspected.
Follow the steps to find the best one:
- Look for companies that offer asbestos inspection only
Since you just want to know whether there’s asbestos presence in your house or not, what you need is an inspection.
And you need to veer away from companies that offer inspection and removal of asbestos at the same time. You might think that hiring a company that will give you the best of both worlds is a better option. Trust us, it’s not.
Hiring such companies will only create a conflict of interest. There’s a good chance that these companies will whip up their asbestos inspection report that will greatly favour their asbestos removal business.
So if you want an accurate report, hire contractors that offer asbestos inspection only.
- Ask if their inspectors are certified
Asking for certifications is not too much to ask. And most legit companies will be more than happy to show you the companies accreditations and their employees’ certification.
Beware of companies that hire retired builders who didn’t undergo training. While we have nothing against former builders, it would be better if you know that you’re hiring people who actually know the work.
After all, it’s your family’s health that’s at stake here.
- Check their websites for accreditations
Like we’ve said earlier, legitimate companies will be more than happy to show you their accreditations and certificates. But if you’re too afraid to ask, you can simply check their websites and look for their awards, affiliations, and memberships so that you can confirm their legitimacy.
You can also check their websites to see if they offer other services like plumbing and pest extermination. These are red flags. If you see these services, don’t even try to contact them.
As much as possible, you should hire companies who specialise only in the asbestos inspection. This way, you’re reassured that you are hiring people who put all their resources into improving their expertise.
After all, what you want is the most accurate report about the presence of asbestos in your house. Once you have the reports, you can decide whether it’s better to have the substance removed for renovation or just leave it alone.
