Do You Need an Asbestos Survey Before Remodeling in Las Vegas?

Whether you need an asbestos survey before remodeling in Las Vegas depends on the kind of home you own and who does the work. For a single house that isn’t part of a larger project, Clark County’s asbestos rule doesn’t require one. For a condo, Clark County requires an asbestos inspection before renovation work inside your unit if the condominium has more than four units. The building’s age doesn’t matter. And if you’re hiring a contractor to tear out ceiling texture, flooring or pipe and duct insulation, a survey is the practical first step. That last part is our reading of Nevada Administrative Code (NAC) 618.961.

Las Vegas asbestos abatement is our part of this. We don’t do surveys. A licensed asbestos inspector does the survey, and a lab analyzes the samples. Below, we cover the rule for houses, how the answer changes by building type, the condo rule and what happens when a survey finds asbestos.

Does Clark County Require an Asbestos Survey for My House?

No, as long as the house isn’t part of a larger project. Clark County’s Division of Air Quality (DAQ) runs the air pollution control program for the county under the Clark County Air Quality Regulations. Section 13.1 of those regulations incorporates a federal rule by reference. It adopts subparts of the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including the National Emission Standard for Asbestos.

The EPA’s overview of the asbestos NESHAP says the rule’s work practices apply to demolitions and renovations of all facilities, excluding residential buildings that have four or fewer dwelling units. For the buildings it covers, the rule requires a thorough inspection where the work will occur. So a single-family house sits outside it, and so do a duplex, a triplex and a fourplex. The same page limits that exclusion. EPA does not consider residential structures that are demolished or renovated as part of a commercial or public project to be exempt. We sort out what that covers in the next section.

State law points the same way when you do the work yourself in your own home. Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 618.755 sets the scope of the state’s asbestos sections, NRS 618.750 to 618.850. It says those sections do not apply to the control of asbestos by a person in his or her own residence. Hiring a contractor is a different question under the state’s rules, and we take it up in the next section too.

Not required isn’t the same as not worth doing. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) puts it plainly in its Asbestos in the Home guide. “Before you have your house remodeled, find out whether asbestos materials are present.” For example, say you’re gutting the hall bathroom in the house you live in, doing the work yourself. Neither the county’s rule nor the state’s asbestos sections require a survey first. But the old floor and wall materials are about to be broken up, and nobody knows yet what’s in them.

Which Las Vegas Homes Need an Asbestos Survey?

We sort Las Vegas homes by building type below, from homes no rule reaches to homes where Clark County’s rule requires an inspection before any renovation. The CPSC guide’s advice for hiring an inspector is to make sure the inspection includes a complete visual examination and the careful collection and lab analysis of samples. Before a remodel, the survey looks at the materials the work will touch, such as ceiling texture, flooring and pipe and duct insulation. Popcorn ceilings have their own post, which covers the options for them.

1. A house you live in and remodel yourself. Neither the county’s rule nor the state’s asbestos sections reach this case, so the decision is yours. The CPSC guide gives the reason to survey anyway. It says asbestos is found in some vinyl floor tiles and in the backing on vinyl sheet flooring. It adds that scraping or sanding that backing during removal may release fibers. For example, if you pull up the old sheet flooring in a laundry room on your own, you’re the one doing the scraping.
2. A house you hire a contractor to remodel. The county’s rule still doesn’t apply, but a Nevada rule may. NAC 618.961 says surfacing material, flooring material or thermal system insulation in a building is presumed to contain asbestos unless a licensed inspector rebuts the presumption. Under Nevada’s definitions, surfacing material is material that is sprayed or troweled on or otherwise applied to a surface. Thermal system insulation is insulation applied to parts like pipes, ducts and tanks. Our reading of the text, not a ruling, is that this binds the contractor you hire. The exemption in NRS 618.755 is written for a person working in his or her own residence. That’s why a survey is the practical first step: a licensed inspector’s results show which of those materials contain asbestos.
3. A house that’s part of a larger project. EPA’s NESHAP overview gives examples. Tearing down one or more houses for an urban renewal project or a highway project would be subject to the rule. So would tearing them down to develop a shopping mall, industrial facility or other private development. EPA’s 1995 Clarification of Intent adds a smaller case: more than one small residential building (four or fewer units) on the same site. In EPA’s opinion, the rule covers that work when the same owner or operator does it as part of the same project.
4. A condo or apartment in a larger property. Clark County’s condominium and rental property handouts both require an asbestos inspection before renovation work within any individual unit, regardless of age. For apartments, the rental handout covers complexes with two or more buildings, apartment buildings previously subject to the rules, and single apartment buildings with more than four units. We take the condo case in the next section.

Do I Need an Asbestos Survey to Remodel My Las Vegas Condo?

Yes, if your condominium has more than four units. Clark County’s condominium handout says renovations and demolitions at condominiums with more than four living units fall under the federal asbestos rule the county adopts. Its first checklist item reads: “An asbestos inspection must be completed prior to any renovation or demolition activity affecting the condominium common areas or within any individual condominium unit regardless of age.”

Two phrases in that sentence matter most for a remodel. “Within any individual condominium unit” means the rule reaches inside your own unit, not only the hallways, roof and other common areas. “Regardless of age” means a newer building isn’t excused. For example, say you want new cabinets and flooring in your kitchen. Under the handout, the inspection comes before the first cabinet comes off the wall.

The handout says the inspector should be licensed by the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Nevada OSHA). That inspector works for a different company from ours, since we don’t do surveys or lab work.

The handout also brings your association into it. It says that under EPA’s regulations, the condominium association is responsible for making sure the asbestos rule is followed. It adds that the board is responsible for communicating with each unit owner, so that each one acknowledges and understands their own responsibility to comply. It also quotes EPA on work inside units. EPA says the board should make sure it is notified in advance when renovation or demolition involving asbestos will occur within a unit. So before you book a contractor, ask your association what it needs from you and when.

The handout sets a lead time for bigger jobs, too. Under the handout, a notification form must be submitted to DAQ at least 10 working days before the abatement begins. The handout’s trigger is more than 160 square feet, 260 linear feet or 35 cubic feet of regulated asbestos-containing material to be abated or disturbed. A smaller job needs the notice as well, the handout adds, if the building has already had more than that amount abated in the same calendar year.

The checklist ends with who may do the removal. Its last item reads: “Only a licensed asbestos contractor, licensed by the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration may perform asbestos removal.”

If you’re not sure whether your condominium falls under the rule, ask your association first. The handout names Clark County’s Department of Environment and Sustainability, Division of Air Quality, as the contact for questions about renovation work involving asbestos. It also recommends contacting Nevada OSHA about that agency’s requirements for disturbing asbestos-containing materials.

What Happens if My Asbestos Survey Finds Asbestos in Las Vegas?

A survey that finds asbestos is the better way to get this news, because nothing has been torn out yet. The other way shows up mid-job. On Reddit’s r/asbestoshelp, a California homeowner posted that their house tested positive for asbestos mid-renovation. The renovation had started without a survey. A survey moves that discovery to before the tear-out starts.

Start with the report. The CPSC guide says that if asbestos is present, the inspector should provide a written evaluation describing its location and extent of damage. The inspector should also give recommendations. That evaluation is the map for the rest of the job. For example, say the kitchen floor comes back positive and the wall texture comes back negative. The same guide says that when changes in your home might disturb asbestos material, repair or removal by a professional is needed. Under that advice, a professional takes up the floor, and the work on the wall texture can go ahead as planned.

Then the order of the work changes, under our reading of Nevada’s rules. NAC 618.961 says presumed asbestos material must be removed before a renovation project that will disturb it begins. A positive result confirms the presumption instead of rebutting it. The same section says the removal must follow 29 C.F.R. 1926.1101, the federal asbestos standard for construction work, and NAC 618.9155. NAC 618.9155 says a project for the abatement of asbestos must be performed by a contractor licensed under NAC 618.850 to 618.986. NAC 618.894 defines that as more than 25 linear feet on pipes or ducts, or more than 10 square feet of other asbestos material.

NAC 618.951 exempts work on some nonfriable materials, such as vinyl asbestos tile and drywall joint compound, from the requirements of NAC 618.850 to 618.986. The exemption holds only while the work follows 29 C.F.R. 1910.1001 and 1926.1101 and keeps specific work practices. Those practices include wetting the material and not sanding, power sawing or drilling it. As with the presumption, applying these rules to a house remodel by a hired crew is our reading, not a ruling. In a condo, the notice period from the last section can add lead time before the abatement starts.

We develop a custom asbestos abatement plan for your project, set up containment to keep dust from spreading, and decontaminate and inspect the work area after removal. Our Nevada State Contractors Board license, 0091986, carries the Removal of Asbestos classification. Our About page covers the license and training behind our asbestos work.

Before you hire anyone for asbestos removal, ask to see their licenses, including a Nevada OSHA asbestos license. In a condominium with more than four units, Clark County’s handout requires one. For a house, our reading of NAC 618.9155 is that a hired crew needs one for jobs over the size threshold.

If you’re wondering whether insurance pays for any of this, our asbestos FAQ covers that question and a few others.

The Bottom Line on Asbestos Surveys in Las Vegas

For a house in Las Vegas, a survey before a remodel is your choice, not Clark County’s requirement. The federal asbestos rule the county adopts excludes residential buildings with four or fewer dwelling units. In EPA’s view, that changes for a house in a commercial or public project. It changes too when one owner or operator works on more than one small residential building at one site as part of the same project. NRS 618.755 leaves a person working in his or her own residence out of the state’s asbestos sections. Once you hire a contractor, our reading is that NAC 618.961 applies. It presumes surfacing material, flooring and thermal system insulation contain asbestos until a licensed inspector rebuts the presumption. That makes a survey the practical first step.

For a condo in a condominium with more than four units, Clark County’s handout requires an asbestos inspection before renovation within any individual unit, regardless of age. Your association’s board should hear in advance about renovation work involving asbestos.

If a survey finds asbestos in material your remodel will disturb, the removal comes first under our reading of Nevada’s rules. In that reading, a removal job over the state’s size threshold also needs a contractor licensed under those rules, so ask to see licenses first. Under our reading, NAC 618.951 exempts work on some nonfriable materials, such as vinyl asbestos tile, only while its work practices are kept. When you have the inspector’s report, get in touch with our asbestos team and we’ll walk you through the plan.