An owner or an owner's agent, except the owner of one and two-family dwellings who contracts for, but does not direct or control the work, shall cause to be conducted, an asbestos survey completed by a licensed asbestos contractor using inspectors certified in compliance with section 56-3.2(d) of this Part, to determine whether or not the building or structure, or portion(s) thereof to be demolished, renovated, remodeled, or have repair work, contains ACM, PACM or asbestos material. This asbestos survey shall be completed and submitted as indicated in subdivision (g) of this section, prior to commencing work. All such asbestos surveys shall be conducted in conformance with the requirements of subdivision (e) of this section.

The asbestos survey required by this subdivision (a) of this section shall not be required for the following classes of buildings or structures:

If a building/structure asbestos survey is not required or performed per subdivision (b) of this section, and the building/structure is certified to be unsound or slated for contracted demolition, the building/structure shall be assumed to contain asbestos, and shall be demolished per this Part, unless the building/structure is adequately certified to be free of asbestos containing material. Acceptable documentation for certification shall be a previous thorough building/structure asbestos survey, abatement records or other documentation acceptable to the commissioner or his or her representative.

No exemption to the requirement to conduct an asbestos survey shall exempt any person, asbestos contractor, property owner or business entity from the inspection or asbestos survey requirements of EPA, OSHA, and any other applicable section of this Part.

The asbestos survey shall include a thorough inspection for and identification of all PACM, suspect miscellaneous ACM, or asbestos material throughout the building/structure or portion thereof to be demolished, renovated, remodeled, or to have repair work. The required inspection shall be performed by a certified asbestos inspector, and, at a minimum, shall include identification of PACM, suspect miscellaneous ACM or asbestos material by all of the following methods:

One copy of the results of the building/structure asbestos survey shall be immediately transmitted by the building/ structure owner as follows:

If the building/structure asbestos survey finds that the portion of the building/structure to be demolished, renovated, remodeled, or have repair work contains ACM, PACM, suspect miscellaneous ACM assumed to be ACM, or asbestos material, which is impacted by the work, the owner or the owner's agent shall conduct, or cause to have conducted, asbestos removal performed by a licensed asbestos abatement contractor in conformance with all standards set forth in this Part. All ACM, PACM, suspect miscellaneous ACM assumed to be ACM, or asbestos material impacted by the demolition, renovation, remodeling or repair project shall be removed as per this Part, prior to access or disturbance by other uncertified trades or personnel. No demolition, renovation, remodeling or repair work shall be commenced by any owner or the owner's agent prior to the completion of the asbestos abatement in accordance with the notification requirements of this Part. For multi-phased work, the access restriction for uncertified trades or personnel applies to each intermediate portion of the entire project. Upon completion of the intermediate portion of the asbestos project, other trades or personnel may access that portion of the work site. For demolition projects that are exempt from asbestos survey requirements due to being structurally unsound, the demolition is considered an asbestos project and shall proceed as per section 56-11.5 of this Part.

Bids may be advertised and contracts awarded for demolition, remodeling, renovation, or repair work, but no work on the current intermediate portion of the project shall commence on the demolition, renovation, remodeling or repair work by any owner or agent prior to completion of all necessary asbestos abatement work for the current intermediate portion of the entire project, in conformance with all standards set forth in this Part.

When any construction activity, such as demolition, remodeling, renovation or repair work, reveals PACM or suspect miscellaneous ACM that has not been identified by the asbestos survey per this Part, or has not been identified by other inspections as per current OSHA or EPA requirements, all activities shall cease in the area where the PACM or suspect miscellaneous ACM is found and the Asbestos Control Bureau shall be notified by telephone by the building/structure owner or their representative, followed with a written notice in accordance with the notification requirements of this Part. Unassessed PACM or suspect miscellaneous ACM shall be treated and handled as ACM and assumed to be ACM, unless proven otherwise by standard EPA and OSHA accepted methods, including multi-layered systems sampling protocols; subsequent analyses performed by a laboratory that meets the requirements of section 56-4.2 of this Part; and the analyses satisfies both NYS ELAP and Federal requirements, including multi-layered sample analyses, to document non-asbestos containing material.