The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday announced a nearly complete ban on the manufacturing and importing of asbestos.

When I was 18, I got my first car: a 1968 Chevelle Malibu, a classic muscle car with a big throaty engine. I painted it black, put on racing wheels, big wide tires and Gabriel Hijackers. I got so many speeding tickets, my home state of California sent me a letter ordering me to appear at a hearing and politely notifying me that my right to operate a motor vehicle was going to be revoked for six months.

The issue comes up during instruction quite frequently.  In mold classes, water restoration seminars, fire cleanup presentations, and forensic restoration training; it is variations of the same thought.  What takes precedence in our business when we run into materials that may be regulated under various health and safety standards?

As members of the restoration and remediation (R&R) industry, we are in the business of ghost busting. On a daily basis, we battle mysterious, invisible and scary stuff. Most of our foes are imperceptible, being unseeable, untouchable and unsmellable. 

It is important to identify hazardous building materials before beginning a restoration or remediation project.

Laws are always changing! This monthly article can help you stay ahead of the legislation curve.

The Case Study Contest is over, and the votes are counted.

It’s a typical day of restoration work for you and your work crews - a small water damage job in an office complex basement, a smoke-damaged kitchen in a high school and a vandalism clean-up at a former plastics company building downtown.