An Introduction to Hazardous Materials in the Built Environment

Hazardous materials within building environments can pose significant challenges to building owners, property managers, maintenance staff and others involved in building management or property acquisitions. A fundamental understanding of the potential environmental hazards within buildings can help building management professionals avoid common problems during acquisitions, regular operations, during renovation and demolition projects and emergency response activities. This live webinar is designed to provide an introductory look at frequently encountered hazardous materials and conditions which building management professionals should be aware of. Serious problems can arise when undocumented hazardous substances are unintentionally disturbed without proper environmental controls; the substances are released into the environment, exposing workers and the public, and the release is then discovered after the fact.

Learn how these liabilities can be reduced or eliminated by anticipating, identifying and proactively managing hazardous site conditions, hazardous substances and regulated building materials. Appreciate why environmental due diligence assessments are necessary to identify recognized environmental condition. Understand the intent of environmental and worker protection regulations which apply to hazardous substances encountered during earth work, new construction, renovation and demolition. Review the types of hazardous substances and regulated building materials commonly encountered during disruptive site activities. These substances include asbestos, PCBs, lead, mercury and other toxic heavy metals; discarded chemical products, abandoned CFC-based refrigerants and substances of biological origin such as pigeon guano, rodent feces, human wastes, blood-borne pathogens and mold (fungi). Learn how to develop and incorporate a hazardous substances remediation scope of work into technical specifications and contract documents for the purpose of competitive bidding. Several brief case study project examples will be presented to illustrate how projects can go bad when unanticipated hazardous substances and site conditions are suddenly encountered in the midst of a project. Learn how to plan and implement contingency actions to manage such changed conditions, and how to keep your project on schedule, while avoiding exposures, minimizing risks and limiting liability.

Learning Objectives:

• You will be able to identify three basic types of potential liability.
• You will be able to recognize commonly encountered hazardous substances.
• You will be able to explain why mold is perceived as an issue.
• You will be able to discuss bid documents, technical specifications & drawings.