"hazardous substances, buildings, germany, asbestos, PCB, PCP, abatement, liability, threshold values

Facts on german legislation and regulations on hazardous substances in buildings

 

Of course there are plenty of harmful substances causing problems in buildings, especially during demolition and disposal of building rubble.
Nevertheless, most of these substances do not cause severe problems or expenses during the use of the building.
There are primarily three groups of hazardous substances causing costs and liability problems for owners of buildings in germany:

  • Asbestos
  • PCB / Askarels
  • Wood preservatives containing PCP (Penta-Chloro-Phenole)

All these harmful substances have been forbidden to use in the 1980s. Regulations for sanitation and abatement establishing procedures and threshold values for assessment date largely from the 1990s.

Asbestos
Despite the ban of use of asbestos in buildings only the abatement of friable asbestos in public buildings is regulated by an official guideline. Neither friable asbestos outside of buildings nor non-friable asbestos demand remediation by law.
Friable asbestos in buildings accessible to the public is assessed by summing up points for the kind of product, mineral, structure, potential exposure, use of the room and location of the product in the room. The score determines whether abatement is necessary or not.

PCB
For PCB there is a guideline giving threshold values for PCB in air. There is a tolerable concentration of < 300 ng PCB/m3, concentrations between 300 and 3000 ng/m3 should be investigated (location of the source of contamination) whereas concentrations > 3000 ng/m3 demand remediation. The owner of a building will be responsible for reducing PCB-concentrations in air below 300 ng/m3.

PCP (Pentachlorophenole)
The PCP guideline assesses the hazard using concentrations of PCP in house dust, in wood surfaces and in air to determine, whether sanitation is necessary. Additionally, results of blood and urine tests might contribute to the decision in certain cases.

Facts on german legislation and regulations on brownfields and contaminated sites

Baugrunduntersuchung mit Rammsonde
We help you getting things straight
even with old buildings

Rutschung Bahndamm
Friable asbestos has been used widely in the past