Asbestos and Lead in Old Roofing: Michigan Rules for Repairs

Asbestos was added to many building products for strength and fire resistance. EGLE's guidance says it was used extensively until the 1970s, when EPA banned certain uses, and it lists roofing among the products where it turns up. You cannot tell by looking: the only way to know is to have a sample analyzed by a lab.

The federal rules sort asbestos roofing into two groups, and the group matters more than the product name.

The federal asbestos rule for demolition and renovation (40 CFR Part 61, Subpart M, often called the asbestos NESHAP) is enforced in Michigan by EGLE's Air Quality Division. Michigan has also adopted it into state rules, so a violation of the federal rule is a violation of Michigan's administrative code too.

For homeowners the key point is coverage. EGLE's guidance says residential dwellings containing four units or fewer under private control or ownership are not subject to the rule. EPA's roofing interpretation says the same thing directly: the rule does not cover roofing projects on single-family homes or on residential buildings with four or fewer units. Apartment buildings with five or more units, some condominiums and cooperatives, churches, schools, farms and commercial buildings are covered.

On covered buildings, the rule applies when regulated material reaches the thresholds: 160 square feet on facility components such as a roof, 260 linear feet on pipes, or 35 cubic feet already removed. EPA's roofing interpretation adds a specific figure: when a rotating-blade cutter is used on Category I roofing, removing 5,580 square feet of it creates 160 square feet of regulated material, so projects of that size or more are covered.

Michigan's Asbestos Abatement Contractors Licensing Act (1986 PA 135, MCL 338.3101 and following) requires a license from the state to demolish, renovate or encapsulate friable asbestos. Section 207 makes an exception that matters for roofs: a business licensed as a residential builder or a residential maintenance and alteration contractor does not need the abatement license for work incidental to its licensed trade that involves no more than 160 square feet or 260 linear feet of friable asbestos.

Section 220 adds a notice rule. When one of those exempt contractors discovers, after signing the contract, that removing more than 10 linear feet or 15 square feet of friable asbestos is needed, it must notify the department before removal begins and follow up in writing within 10 days. Section 219 says that if the contract does not provide for asbestos abatement, a construction contractor is not responsible for removing asbestos discovered during the work.

In practice, if a repair turns up friable or badly deteriorated asbestos material, expect the roofer to stop, explain what was found, and either handle a small, incidental amount under the rules or bring in a licensed abatement contractor. A change in price or schedule at that point is normal, not a trick.

Lead shows up on older roofs in two ways. The first is paint: fascia, soffits, rake boards, trim and painted metal flashing on homes built before 1978 may have lead-based paint. The second is metal: some older vent pipe flashings and roof jacks are made of sheet lead.

The paint is what the federal Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule regulates. Its definitions list painted roofing, chimneys, flashing, gutters, soffits and fascias among exterior building components. Paid work on pre-1978 housing that disturbs painted surfaces is a renovation under the rule, unless it is minor repair and maintenance: 20 square feet or less of painted exterior surface, without prohibited practices and without demolition of painted areas. Before a covered job, the contractor must give the owner EPA's Renovate Right pamphlet no more than 60 days before work begins.

In Michigan, the RRP rule is run by the EPA, not the state. A Michigan health department fact sheet explains that firms must be EPA lead-safe certified, at least one worker on the job must be a certified renovator, and that RRP is separate from lead abatement, which is licensed by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. It also says that for a pre-1978 site, EPA assumes lead-based paint is present unless testing shows otherwise.