You’ve got three siding quotes on the kitchen table. They cover materials, trim, the rainscreen and the price. If your house has old stucco or original cladding, one more thing belongs on every one of them. Often it isn’t there: asbestos.
Why it comes before tear-off
Old stucco, asbestos cement siding, soffit boards and some older gutters can contain asbestos. Left alone and intact, it doesn’t do much harm. Tearing it off a wall is a different story. That’s when fibres get into the air.
In BC, the duty sits on both sides of the job. Under WorkSafeBC’s regulation, the owner and every contractor doing the work must make sure a qualified person inspects for hazardous materials before work starts. A licensed surveyor samples the materials and sends them to a lab. If asbestos turns up, a licensed abatement contractor deals with it first. You get a clearance report confirming the asbestos has been dealt with, and then the siding work can start.
The year your house was built isn’t the whole rule
You’ll hear that only homes built before 1990 need testing. Older homes are the most likely to have asbestos, but WorkSafeBC says newer homes can have it too. What really matters is what the job will disturb. Even a small repair that cuts into old stucco can count.
What a good quote says about it
A siding contractor shouldn’t test for asbestos unless they’re also a licensed surveyor. But a good one will bring it up. Look for:
- A clear note that tear-off waits until the survey is done.
- A list of the exterior materials the job will disturb, so the surveyor knows what to sample.
- Time in the schedule for lab results and any removal.
- Who books the survey, and roughly when it needs to happen so the start date holds.
If a quote treats old stucco like any other wall, ask why. For the full picture, this explainer from Mi Casa Exteriors, a Surrey siding company, walks through where testing fits in a stucco or siding project and what it typically costs.
Can you just side over it?
Removal can be expensive, so some owners ask about covering old stucco instead of tearing it off. But new siding still has to be fastened to the wall. Screwing strapping through old stucco means drilling into it, and drilling is one of the ways fibres get released. Covering it doesn’t skip the test.
Who the test really protects
The test protects your family, but it protects the crew first. They’re the ones standing in the dust while the old wall comes down.
The Canadian Cancer Society says asbestos exposure is Canada’s leading cause of workplace death. It lists home and building renovation among the jobs where exposure runs highest. It also notes that fibres can come home on a worker’s clothes and reach their family. An asbestos-related cancer can take decades to show up.
That’s not a step worth skipping to save a week.
Book it during the wet months
Lab results take time, and removal adds a step before tear-off. Booking the survey during the rainy season means you’re ready to go when drier weather comes.
So when you compare those three quotes, look past the price. The best one tells you what happens before the first board comes off.