The Truth About Clearance Testing: What “Safe to Reoccupy” Really Means

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Welcome to the Environmental Testing Show.
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Because what you can't see is a fetch your health.
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Hosted by Shelly Hyde, CEO of DCG Environmental, this episode explores the different environmental hazards that impact homes and commercial spaces from old and expected to other outstanding websites.
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Serving property owners throughout Dallas, Houston, and Austin.
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DCG Environmental believes finding the problem is the first step to making everyone safe.
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When a remediation project wraps up, the work is not finished until the science confirms the space is truly safe.
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And that's where clearance testing becomes the hero of the story.
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Welcome everyone.
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I'm Julie Schwenzer, co-host and producer, here with Shelly Hines, the CEO of DCG Environmental.
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Shelly, how is it going today?
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It's going well, Julie.
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How are you?
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Oh, I'm doing okay.
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We're excited to learn from you.
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So if we could talk about why clearance testing is not only important but required, can you walk us through what clearance testing actually verifies and why it matters?
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Yeah, um, so talking in the asbestos world, after an asbestos abatement is finalized, we do first a visual clearance.
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So we'll go inside the containment, uh suit it up, respirator, and do a visual check first.
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So we're looking for loose debris, dust, um, making sure everything that they were supposed to be removing has been removed.
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And then once all the visual is clear, then we'll do um actual air monitoring testing where we're testing the air to make sure that there's no asbestos fibers still floating around, that everything inside the containment has been cleaned.
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Um, and then that way we know that we can safely take down the containment and nobody outside of the containment gets affected by anything left inside.
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So it's a it's um a scientific clearance, if you will.
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So first a visual and then a scientific.
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So we're double checking to make sure that they did everything correctly.
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They removed all the materials that were identified to remove, and that it is passing the ear tests.
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Uh so when we do take down the containment, it's kind of like a containment's like a big plastic bubble that they put around the work area so that none of the asbestos fibers can escape and harm anybody that's outside the work area.
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So we're making sure that that's all cleaned up, wiped down, type of act, uh, all clean before we take down that plastic containment so that now we can go back to putting things back together and everybody can go back to living normally.
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It's really a um it's it's safe for reoccupation, you know, it's safe for someone else to be inside the building.
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Um it's not the same as like just removing and cleaning up itself, it's actually the final verification that there's no more airborne asbestos fibers so that um people can reoccupy safely.
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And then what are the biggest risks when clearance testing is skipped or rushed that you've seen other providers do?
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Um, in asbestos, it's a Texas state law, so you have to have a clearance test.
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Um, I don't typically ever see anybody skipping that part around a commercial building where it's regulated.
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Um, I have seen like homes are not regulated.
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So a lot of times though that might get skipped on that part.
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Um, we usually try to educate our clients, our homeowners, that while it's not regulated by the state, you still want a third-party verification that the remediation company completed the task correctly and that they left their home safe for reoccupancy.
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Um, it's not required by law at all, but I um always recommend that for a homeowner just so that they have peace of mind that that job was completed correctly and that their house is safe to reoccupy.
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And it's also a liability issue for not an issue, but third-party verification is good for the contractor themselves.
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So they have verification that they did their job correctly.
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So that's good for their liability as well.
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So somebody can't come back and say they did something wrong because somebody else verified that they did it correctly.
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So it's good in all cases for the remediation company themselves, the homeowner or the building owner.
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And then, of course, commercial buildings are state regulated.
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They have to have a clearance test to pass before they're allowed to remove that containment.
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And again, the saying rules apply.
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That's safety for the building occupants, uh liability protection for the remediator or the abatement contractor that they removed everything correctly, and how we just give that final sign-off based on the visual and the air data that we have to say yes, this was done properly.
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How can a proper clearance inspection um differ from like an initial testing?
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Initially, um, asbestos has not been removed.
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And so we are doing usually like a bulk sample.
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We will take a piece of the material and take it to the lab, and then they read underneath the microscope to see if it contains asbestos in it.
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So once we determine, let's use uh flooring, for example, or a wall, wall is probably better.
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Um, the wall gets really dusty when you cut it, and so if it has asbestos in it, asbestos is very dangerous when you can breathe it.
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So we want to make sure that we are containing that space so they build that big plastic bubble around it and they cut the materials inside that plastic bubble.
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So all the dust and debris is contained inside.
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Then they put everything that they remove inside a bag, they actually double bag it, and it has to be wet.
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So they have um water sprayers inside the containment.
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The water helps keep all the asbestos fibers down.
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So the water captures the asbestos fibers in the air and pulls it down to the ground, and then they wipe that up with uh rags and they throw those away.
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They can't be reused and then go away as asbestos waste as well.
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And so that's once that's all clean, well, then that that's how it differs.
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Like the first testing, the initial testing is a bulk piece of a sample.
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It's not airborne usually, it's not disturbed, but now that we're gonna remove it, that's when we're disturbing it, making it dangerous.
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So that testing after the fact uh is very different because now it's air.
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Sometimes we can do wipes, so we'll do a what we call a TEM wipe.
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Um, and that is a process read a little differently at the at the lab.
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So they'll um it's not the exact way that they do it, but for lack of better terms, it's kind of like asbestos doesn't burn, so they burn everything else off.
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And what's left is asbestos on a TEM wipe, so it's more concrete, like that is exactly what's left over.
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The air testing is more PELM, PLM testing, and that's or PCM testing.
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Sorry, so many acronyms in this industry.
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Yeah, yeah, you guys are a lot.
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And um, it's an estimation on how many fibers they feel are left in that field.
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So one is an estimation by the person reading the microscope, the other one is concrete counting what pieces are left.
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And so there's, you know, in schools we require TEM clearances.
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It's a little bit more strict because we have a lot more children in the building.
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Uh regular asbestos abatement is usually cleared by PCM, and that's the one that's estimated.
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So very very stringent rules on all of it.
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Um, both can get to the same conclusion of you know, this has been done properly, and it's clear to reoccupy.
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And then when it comes to clearance testing for mold, could you just expand on that, some of the details?
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Uh very similar process to asbestos, if you will.
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Uh we come and test the air or do a swab test in the beginning to see what kind of mold is there, how much mold is there.
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And then at the end of the process, uh we'll come do clearance testing.
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So we after they're done cleaning everything, again, we do a visual check, make sure that all the mold that was identified has been removed.
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Um, and then we run either an air test, a tape lift, or a swab to see if there's any mold left in the space.
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And then once that comes back that everything's clean and clear, um, then that containment passes and they can take that down.
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And it's the same, same verification process, making sure there's no mold left, making sure the remediate the remediator removed all the mold they were supposed to remove, and just giving them that third-party stamp that somebody else checked their work and they completed the process correctly.
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Okay.
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And do you have a real world example where clearance testing either for asbestos or mold caught something that you think maybe the client would have definitely missed otherwise?
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Oh, yeah, I got a really good one on that.
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Um, we are doing a residence, mold is regulated in Texas for residences and commercial buildings, and we have the containment fail.
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And you know, it's a it's it's an all um all senses kind of uh clearance, right?
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You're going in there to see, you're smelling, you're looking.
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Um you're it and sometimes the containment looks beautiful, everything's clean, everything was properly contained, and you can't find anything, but you run that air test, and something comes back and keeps saying there's still mold here.
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And so we had a situation where they um had mold in the bathroom and everything like got checked.
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And my um vault consultant got down on her hands and knees because we couldn't find anything.
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And so finally, when she was on her hands and knees, they had removed around a master tub, and the lip of the tub underneath had mold on the under underpiece of that lip.
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And I mean, visually standing up, you would never see it.
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Had she not gotten on her hands and knees and floor and looked underneath, because normally when you get down, you look underneath the tub and you're looking at the floor space, or you're trying to see, you know, is there anything down here?
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But it was literally down and then look up underneath that lip, and that's where we finally found the mold that was coming back, showing that that was a clean or clear.
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And so it's it's really a process of, you know, you can think there's nothing there, everything looks fantastic, and mold is one of those, you know, little hidden things that that's why we usually run an air test and not a swab test.
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So because if we had ran a swab test, that would have passed.
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We would have probably swabbed near where the mold was.
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And, you know, that might have been missed if you're just doing a tape lift or a swab lift.
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But running air tells me there's still something here and we're still breathing it.
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And so um that was a really unique situation.
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So now it's kind of funny that anytime we're any counters or anything are left in place that's on our list of like, hey, make sure you bend down and look underneath and are checking all the places because that would have been a really easy one to um not be found.
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We work with our remediation companies.
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Um, like if we come in and they don't pass deals, we try and help them figure out why.
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We're not we don't just walk in and go, oh yeah, and you can all go figure it out.
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We we do have some competitors that will do that, or they'll change the requirements of the clearance.
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They'll come in and say, Oh, hey, to clear, you got to do this.
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And the next week they come and go, oh, well, now to clear, you got to do that.
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So we are really uh good at helping define here's where we think the problem is.
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Uh sometimes we can't find it.
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Sometimes it's just a you got to go reclean everything, something was missed and it's not visually obvious.
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Um, you can look in in every nook and cranny.
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Um, sometimes it's further up the wall than we suspected, and there might be a gap.
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So you think you've cleaned everything from here to here, it looks really clean, but right above here, there was a little bit more mold.
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So sometimes that can make a difference.
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And just really being a partner to the remediation companies and not just uh, hey, we're here to check to see if you did your job right.
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That's that's not being a partner, right?
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So we try and help help them figure out if it if it does fail, why is it failing?
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What are we noticing?
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Um, if their containment falls down before we get there, sometimes that happens.
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Uh, we don't charge for that.
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We're like, hey, your containment fell down, you need to come resecure that, rerun, uh, your scrubbers, re-clean, and then we'll come back and test.
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Because you know that could be an automatic failure.
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If the containment falls down on mold, especially, you can pull in air from anywhere.
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And so that can really contaminate a clean um containment, contempt contained space.
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And so we want to be a partner in that and just help facilitate, make sure that they're getting a fair, a fair assessment on their clearance, if you will.
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Wouldn't be fair to try and run samples and say you failed it.
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I know they're containment fell down.
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It's gonna fail.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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Thank you for breaking this down uh very clearly on why clearance testing is like really critical to everything.
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Yeah, we appreciate your insight as always, Shelly.
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Yeah.
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Thanks for listening to the Environmental Testing Show.
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If you're concerned about mold, asbestos, or other environmental hazards, peace of mind starts with proper testing.
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Call 972-876-0008 or visit dcenvironmental.com to schedule a convenient appointment.
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Because when it comes to your environment, yes, it's the safety plan.