Class A licensed · Licence No. 2333881
Friable Asbestos Removal
Friable asbestos can be crumbled by hand pressure. It releases fibres readily, which is why it demands the strictest class of licence, full enclosure and negative pressure. This is the work most contractors have to sub out. We hold the licence for it.
Overview
The Strictest Class of Work
Material becomes friable through age, water damage, fire, impact or simply because it was always loose, as lagging and insulation were. Once it is friable, the controls are not a step up from bonded work. They are a different method entirely.
A Class A licence is required. So is an enclosure, negative pressure, decontamination facilities and air monitoring by an independent party throughout. We are licensed for all of it, which means the job does not change hands halfway through.
Scope
What We Remove
Friable scopes we are licensed to take on. Several of these are commonly found only after work has already started.
- ·Pipe and boiler lagging
- ·Sprayed limpet and thermal insulation
- ·Friable vinyl sheet flooring and backing
- ·Gaskets, rope seals and packing
- ·Fire-retardant material and fire doors
- ·Fire-damaged and water-damaged sheeting
- ·Contaminated land and soil
- ·Storm and impact-damaged cladding
- ·Plant, switchboard and duct insulation
- ·Debris and fibre-contaminated fill
Process
How a Friable Removal Runs
Scope and assess
We attend site and define the extent, the condition and the access. Friable scopes are rarely obvious from a register alone.
Notify and plan
Friable work is notifiable. Workplace Health and Safety Queensland is notified and a site-specific removal control plan is prepared before anyone enters.
Build the enclosure
A sealed enclosure is constructed and put under negative pressure with HEPA filtration, with decontamination facilities attached to it.
Monitor throughout
Air monitoring runs for the duration, carried out by an appropriately qualified independent party rather than by us.
Remove and bag
Material is removed wet where possible, bagged inside the enclosure and passed out through the decontamination unit.
Clear, then dismantle
Independent clearance is obtained before the enclosure comes down, not after. The documentation follows to your file.
Compliance
The Controls That Apply
Class A licence, held not borrowed. Licence No. 2333881 covers friable and bonded asbestos in any quantity. No second contractor is brought in for the friable portion.
Enclosure and negative pressure. A sealed working area held under negative pressure with HEPA filtration, with decontamination facilities attached, for the duration of the removal.
Air monitoring, independently run. On removal work we are carrying out, monitoring is run by an independent licensed asbestos assessor or competent person we engage, so the results that clear the area are produced by someone other than the removal crew.
Clearance before dismantling. The enclosure stays up until independent clearance is obtained. That order is not negotiable and it is what protects everyone downstream.
Questions
Friable Asbestos Questions
How do I know if what I have is friable?
If it can be crumbled, pulverised or reduced to powder by hand pressure when dry, it is friable. Lagging, sprayed insulation and anything fire or water damaged usually is. If you are not sure, treat it as friable until an assessment says otherwise.
Why does friable work cost more?
The enclosure, the negative pressure equipment, the decontamination facilities, the independent air monitoring and the slower, wetter removal method all sit behind the price. The licence class is the smallest part of it.
Can the building stay in use during the work?
Often yes, depending on where the enclosure sits and how the services run. We plan the exclusion zones around your operation where it is possible to do so safely, and tell you plainly when it is not.
What happens after a fire?
Fire damage turns bonded material friable and spreads it as debris across the site. That combination is a friable scope from the outset, and it usually needs a make-safe before anything else can be planned.
The other half of the licence
Bonded Asbestos Removal
Sheeting, cladding, eaves and flooring in sound condition. Removed whole, under site-specific controls.
We are set up for commercial, industrial and public-sector work, and that is where our plant and crews spend their time. We do take residential enquiries, and if you have asbestos on a house we will either help or tell you who should.
Not sure what you have?
Send through what you know and we will tell you what it looks like and what it would take.