When selling your home, you are required to present an asbestos certificate. What is asbestos, how do you recognize it and what if your home contains asbestos? This article will tell you all about it.
Contents
- What is asbestos?
- How do you recognize asbestos?
- For whom is the asbestos certificate required?
- What about buildings built after 2000?
- How do you apply for an asbestos certificate?
- What is the cost of an asbestos certificate?
- The property is non-asbestos safe, now what?
1. What is asbestos?
Asbestos is a harmful substance. It is a natural mineral that people used in building materials because of its heat resistance and strength. However, it is enormously dangerous to health because it can cause serious lung diseases if inhaled. There are signs to recognize asbestos yourself, but it is best to have a building inspected by a licensed asbestos lab or expert. You cannot recognize asbestos with the naked eye with 100% certainty.
2. How do you recognize asbestos?
If you are going to check asbestos, protect yourself with an FP3 dust mask and gloves. Make sure the mask fits properly.
- Check the construction period of your home: people used asbestos between the years 1945 and 2001.
- Consult documents: what products and manufacturers are on the invoices?
- Look at the materials: there are more than 3,500 types of asbestos materials. You can recognize some asbestos products, but often asbestos is invisible in them. So be sure to have your home inspected or read the existing asbestos certificate.
- Corrugated sheets.
- Roofing sheets.
- Slates in asbestos cement.
- Fluffy cord attached to a stove.
- Imitation natural stone to a stove, window sills, sills, the floor etc.
- Glassallen cement panels in kitchen cabinets, doors, windows etc.
- White dots and white spots on or in the material.
- …
- Cover damaged asbestos materials with tape to prevent further releases.
- Are there asbestos-containing materials on the ground? Clean them with wet cloths while wearing safety clothing. Afterwards, take this to the dumpster park.
Note: Never use a vacuum cleaner to vacuum up asbestos materials! This disperses the harmful substances into the air.
3. For whom is the asbestos certificate required?
All house and apartment owners of a building built before 2001 who wish to sell their property are required to have an asbestos certificate. All house and apartment landlords of a building with a year of construction before 2001 are required to present it:
- If you sign a new lease, you are required to provide a copy of the asbestos certificate to the tenant(s).
- For a current lease, provide your tenants with a copy of the asbestos certificate no later than one month after the date indicated on the certificate.
All employers are required to prepare an asbestos inventory. The asbestos inventory lists all asbestos-containing materials in the business building or work zone. You may draw up the inventory yourself (so far), but it is best to have this done by an expert. Based on the asbestos inventory, you must conduct a risk analysis and draw up a management plan. By 2032, every building built before the year 2001 must have an asbestos certificate.
4. What about buildings built after 2000?
Using materials containing asbestos in buildings is prohibited after the year 2000. In principle, these buildings may not contain asbestos and preparing an asbestos certificate is not mandatory. On the other hand, preparing a post-intervention file is mandatory. In this file, you will find all the information about the building materials you used.
5. How do you apply for an asbestos certificate?
- Step 1: Contact a certified asbestos expert or surveyor. Not sure where to find an asbestos expert right away? The Flemish government compiled a list of certified asbestos expert. Consult the list and make an appointment.
Or give power of attorney to notary, building manager or even a real estate agent to prepare the asbestos certificate. Make an appointment with your chosen party. - Step 2: After this, the asbestos expert conducts the asbestos survey. During this survey, the expert will make an inventory describing all the materials that may pose a risk when using the home. In addition, the asbestos expert also takes samples that a test lab will analyze.
- Step 3: After examining the samples, you will receive a certificate from the asbestos expert. The attestation has a standard validity period of 10 years. Consult the attestation through the Housing Pass.
6. What is the cost of an asbestos certificate?
The cost is determined by the asbestos expert himself based on several factors:
- The area of the property to be inspected
- The age of the building
- The number of sample collections and additional lab analyses
With most parties, you ask for a quote in advance, but below you will already find an approximate price:
- Apartment: 420 euros incl VAT and 2 samples
- House up to 500m²: 540 euro incl VAT and 2 samples
- House from 500m²: 690 euro incl VAT and 2 samples
- Additional samples cost 40 euros per sample
For the delivery of the attestation, OVAM charges a fee of 50 euros which is passed on to the customer.
7. The property is non-asbestos safe, now what?
If your home is declared non-asbestos safe, there are some actions you can take. The actions are divided into five categories and are included in the asbestos certificate: urgent removal, urgent measures, removal, measures and careful management. To remove asbestos, it is best to hire a certified expert. These experts have special equipment and specific steps they follow to safely remove the asbestos. Moreover, you protect yourself from the harmful substances released during asbestos removal.
Sources: Antwerp, Belgium, Flanders
Would you like to cite this article as a source? Then use:
Luyckx, S. (2024, November 26). The asbestos certificate according to legislation. Apartment.be. Consulted on (date XX/XX/202X), from https://www.appartement.be/het-verplichte-asbestattest/
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