The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) dictates that public and commercial buildings, including Federal facilities, must be inspected by accredited asbestos inspectors. You can read the regulation in 40 CFR Part 763, Appendix C to Subpart E, the Model Accreditation Plan , particularly the top of the second page. Accredited inspectors have had a special 3-day training session and are certified either by their State or the EPA. They attend yearly refresher classes and are accredited on an annual basis. Always use an accredited inspector, and require inspectors to provide you with a copy of their most current credentials, including documents showing yearly refreshers since their initial training. A list of these inspectors can be obtained from your EPA asbestos NESHAP coordinator.

The AHERA regulations specify a protocol for sampling building materials inside schools and public and commercial buildings. You should ask that an AHERA inspection be conducted and ask that the exterior be inspected as well.

If you read the regulations closely, you might notice instances where the use of an AHERA-accredited inspector is not mandated, such as in a single-family dwelling. In these cases, an OSHA-trained inspector is required. Since OSHA accepts the AHERA training for asbestos inspectors, it’s easiest to use an AHERA inspector for all inspections, both inside and outside the building.