Pricing for a rewire-high likelihood of asbestos

[MFS Electrical]

anyone had an asbestos survey done average price for it and what kind of building it was you had done? Also which type did you do construction and demolition or just the management?

Sort of under the impression that you’d go management first and if asbestos is suspected/found then Construction and demolition would be next on the list?

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

asked to quote for a house rewire that had asbestos - the whole street does, also had asbestos panels below windows and up by the guttering.
said thanks but no thanks and walked away, too much of a risk for me.

 

[MFS Electrical]

asked to quote for a house rewire that had asbestos - the whole street does, also had asbestos panels below windows and up by the guttering.
said thanks but no thanks and walked away, too much of a risk for me.

Why not Surface sticky back trunking and glued on surface pattress boxes?

 

[ruston]

If I were you I would get the customer to sort the asbestos problems out and quote for the job after it is done.

 

[buzzlightyear]

asked to quote for a house rewire that had asbestos - the whole street does, also had asbestos panels below windows and up by the guttering.
said thanks but no thanks and walked away, too much of a risk for me.

I would rather walk through a mine field, then working on that stuff.

 

[buzzlightyear]

anyone had an asbestos survey done average price for it and what kind of building it was you had done? Also which type did you do construction and demolition or just the management?

could you image you start the rewire with bio suit on ,and the customer mouth open looking at you ,is ok ,you just sit there I'm ok .LOL.

 

[SparkyChick]

Working on things like asbestos containing artex, asbestos cement sheets, even asbestos insulating board can be done quite safely if you follow the guidance from the HSE and get yourself on a non-licensed works course, very informative.

I've done a rewire in a house with asbestos in artex on every wall and every ceiling.

Cost about £300 to get rid of the asbestos waste (6 bags if I recall correctly - mainly materials used during works, but also included vacuum cleaner left in the house that appeared to have been used to clean up artex), about £20 in disposable overalls, good quality facemask with FP3 filters and a FaceFit test was about £60. I hired in a class H vacuum cleaner (for cleanup of possible waste - already there - and dust extraction when drilling the walls).

Took me about 3-4 days to cut all the holes in the ceiling and drill all the screw holes for fixing the trunking. I would go about it this way as if you stick it to asbestos containing materials there is a chance it will damage the material if it's bumped. PVA adhesive to paint on/around any holes you cut drill, to seal the edges. That sounds like a long time, but in a disposable overall with a respirator on it's hard going especially when you think about what you have to do (basically, setup a clean working environment, do the cutting/drilling and then cleanup everything before moving on). If you're cutting bigger holes, include some bog standard wall paper paste in the price and possibly some new hole saws/arbors (the paste gets everywhere).

So those are the costs associated with working with it. Materials, there is the obvious cost of trunking. I used countersunk screws with cup washers to help spread the load when fixing the trunking.

Insurance may be an issue... I found insurance to do even non-licensed works prohibitively expensive, so suffice to say I had a chat with the client and we came to an understanding.

In terms of the survey, I think the bill was somewhere in the region of £400. The guy doing the survey met me on site and we had a chat about why it was needed and he sampled everywhere I was planning on cutting a chase. I think it was the demolition/construction survey. Obviously it came back as positive everywhere.

Would I do another one? I would consider it because if you set yourself up with the right gear, it's fairly easy and straightforward. There are companies that will hire you the gear you need and I found they were very helpful. They'll also supply waste bags and disposable overalls, with the later being much cheaper than buying from say ScrewFix.

 

[SparkyChick]

If I were you I would get the customer to sort the asbestos problems out and quote for the job after it is done.

If there is a lot of asbestos containing materials on site, this is likely to be prohibitvely expensive. I had a chat with the surveyor (from a local company that specialises in removal, cleanup from accidental fibre release, training etc.) and if I recall correctly, the indicative price to remove the artex from the hall was in the thousands as they gel it off which can take days.

For ceilings with artex on, removal can I believe be carried out as non-licensed notifiable works (i.e. you have to notify the local council and/or the HSE - notifiable works then require you to have a medical before you start and then every two years with the records being kept by your company for a period of I think 50 years), with the boards being cut down (with the cutting being done through paste or using class H dust extraction), bagged and disposed off by a licensed asbestos waste company.

 

[SparkyChick]

Oh and I should add.... if you do get trained to do non-licensed works, you basically become authorised to do so for a period of 12 months and you have to do a refresher which extends that authorisation for another 12 months.

 

[PEG]

Yep,i like that,practical and doable.

It's a personal choice,but throwing your arms up and legging it,is ironic,being as most of the properties in the UK,will contain either a trace or a lot.

Anyone who has drilled,cut,ground or dug...has more than likely,liberated some. If you have been to school,gone to hospital,or a thousand other offices,museums and buildings - you have been exposed.

It is all a question of amount and duration. I am not belittling the risks of any harmful material - i was at a pals funeral before Christmas,where mesothelioma did for him. That was as a result of pipe fitting and rigging work,on the oil-rigs,including Piper Alpha (RIP pete )

Here is one for you...the product is in a hundred building materials,in soft,hard and liquid form. All these were removed,over the last 70 years,and dumped,tipped and transported,in open backed skips,wagons,and every bodies clothes.

It fell,blew and ended being all over our land and roadways.
Our roads,are the best means invented,of grinding waste in to microscopic particles,by means of a million tyres,it's how plastics particles get to the drains,and the sea...

You all walk by the sides,live near,and drive on them. Do you reckon,you have none in your lungs?

So,set your job out,use all the wonderful safety additions we now have,and charge accordingly because if responsible craftsmen,shy away from these tasks,a cowboy will say "yes",attack it with an egg whisk....and we'll ALL be breathing it in

 

[Nigel]

For a rewire you can only work under a R&D Asbestos Survey. A Management Survey is not appropriate and not safe.

 

[PEG]

For a rewire you can only work under a R&D Asbestos Survey. A Management Survey is not appropriate and not safe.

....like using a lucky rabbit's foot,as contraception...

 

[MFS Electrical]

....like using a lucky rabbit's foot,as contraception...

Worked well so far

 

[jamie-spark]

is This standard practice now to have a survey done for a rewire ?

 

[SparkyChick]

It should be standard practice whenever you think you might encounter asbestos containing materials.

If you're not sure and the client doesn't want to pay for a survey and you are legally allowed to carry out the works, you should treat the works as though they do contain asbestos and carry them out as such.

Getting rid of a small amount of waste is cheaper than a big survey and saves you from potentially huge fines.