Pre-Demolition Asbestos Survey in Broward County

You’ve got a demolition date, maybe a contractor already lined up, and then someone at the permit counter or on the job site mentions that nothing can come down until asbestos has been ruled out. Now the demo is on hold while you figure out who does the survey, how long it takes, and what paperwork the county wants before the permit moves. The timeline matters as much as the testing itself — a survey ordered too late can push a demolition date by weeks.

Why Does a Structure Need an Asbestos Survey Before It Can Be Demolished?

Under EPA’s NESHAP rule (40 CFR Part 61, Subpart M), a thorough asbestos inspection is required before the demolition or renovation of a regulated facility, and Broward County builds that same requirement directly into its own permitting process by requiring a Statement of Responsibilities Regarding Asbestos (SRRA), filed through the county’s ePermits system, before a demolition or renovation permit can move forward — a filing the Broward County Asbestos Program (EPGMD) reviews before issuing a Certificate of Submittal that lists the project’s specific requirements. The logic behind both rules is the same: demolition disturbs materials that can’t be identified by sight, and once a wall or ceiling comes down, there’s no way to test what already turned to dust. Ordering a standard asbestos survey before demolition, rather than after work has started, is what keeps the county’s paperwork — and the job site — moving on schedule.

What Are the Broward County and Florida DEP Filing Steps, and What Is the 10-Working-Day Rule?

A pre-demolition survey feeds two separate filings, and the Florida DEP notice carries a hard deadline: it generally has to be submitted at least 10 working days before demolition work begins, so the survey has to happen early enough to leave that window intact, since Broward County’s Certificate of Submittal process can also require Florida DEP’s “Notice of Demolition or Asbestos Renovation” under Chapter 62-257.900, F.A.C. — a separate filing from the SRRA, with its own strict timing rule tied to the confirmed demolition date. Missing that 10-working-day window is one of the more common reasons a demolition date slips, because the notice can’t be backdated once submitted.

Step	What Happens	Typical Timing
1. Order the survey	Site walkthrough and sampling of every material set for demolition	~30–60 min on-site; report in 2–3 business days (rush often 24 hours)
2. File the Broward County SRRA	Submitted through the county’s ePermits system	Before the demolition/renovation permit application
3. County review	Broward County Asbestos Program (EPGMD) reviews the submittal	Issues a Certificate of Submittal
4. FL DEP notification (if required)	“Notice of Demolition or Asbestos Renovation,” Ch. 62-257.900, F.A.C.	Minimum 10 working days before demolition
5. Abatement (if ACM is found)	Licensed contractor removes asbestos-containing materials	Completed before demolition begins
6. Demolition permit / demolition	Permit issued once submittals and any abatement clear	Demolition proceeds on schedule

Residential structures with four or fewer dwelling units are generally exempt from most of these requirements beyond the online SRRA submittal, according to broward.org — but a demolition contractor will still want survey results on file before mobilizing equipment.

What Does the Survey Cover, and What Happens if It Finds Asbestos?

A pre-demolition survey samples every material category scheduled for disturbance — not just the materials a homeowner happens to notice — because the county and DEP filings both assume whole-structure coverage rather than a spot check, and each distinct material found during the walkthrough gets its own bulk sample, analyzed by an accredited lab under EPA’s Polarized Light Microscopy method (PLM, EPA Method 600/R-93/116), so no single test result is left standing in for a material it was never taken from. Suspect materials in structures built before the early 1980s commonly include:

• Roofing, siding, and exterior wall panels
• Interior ceiling and wall finishes, including textured “popcorn” coatings and joint compound
• Flooring materials and adhesives, including 9x9 vinyl tile and black mastic
• Pipe, duct, and mechanical system insulation
• Any other material within the footprint of the planned demolition

“On a demolition survey we sample by material type, not by room, because two ceilings that look identical can come back with completely different results,” our licensed inspectors note. If any sample comes back positive, a licensed abatement contractor removes the asbestos before demolition equipment moves in — the survey identifies the material, but a separate crew handles removal, which keeps our findings independent. There is no established safe level of asbestos exposure, per OSHA, which is why removal happens before the structure comes down, not after.

How Much Does a Pre-Demolition Survey Cost, and How Fast Can It Be Scheduled?

Pre-demolition surveys in South Florida typically start around $450 and scale up from there based on sample count and square footage, since a whole-structure survey samples more materials than a single-material test, and turnaround usually becomes the deciding factor on a demolition timeline because on-site sampling takes about 30 to 60 minutes, standard lab results come back in 2 to 3 business days, and rush processing is often available within 24 hours when a permit deadline is close. A standard lab test on one material runs $250 to $700 on its own; a multi-sample survey is priced by how many distinct materials the structure contains — one Broward homeowner reported paying around $400 for eight samples. If your project is a renovation rather than a full teardown, a pre-renovation survey follows a similar process with different scope, and commercial projects — including commercial demolition surveys — are typically priced by square footage. Working with an independent testing firm like Broward Asbestos Testing means the result isn’t shaped by whether a positive finding leads to more work — we don’t perform abatement. If you have a demolition date on the calendar, schedule your pre-demolition survey now so the 10-working-day filing window doesn’t become the reason the schedule slips.