Asbestos removal - Mecklenburg County
Charlotte had 874,579 residents at the 2020 census, and about 28 percent of its housing units were built before 1980, according to the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey. Mecklenburg County is one of only three North Carolina counties with its own asbestos program, so demolition and renovation notices here go to Mecklenburg County Air Quality rather than the state.
Most of North Carolina sends asbestos paperwork to the state Health Hazards Control Unit in Raleigh. Mecklenburg is one of three counties, with Buncombe and Forsyth, that run their own asbestos program instead, so a demolition or renovation notice for a Charlotte building goes to Mecklenburg County Air Quality. MCAQ wants that notice 10 working days before work starts on a regulated demolition, or on a renovation that disturbs at least 260 linear feet, 160 square feet or 35 cubic feet of asbestos-containing material. A demolition notice has to carry an asbestos inspection report with it. Since April 2, 2026, those filings go through MCAQ's online system, MeckAIR.
Building and demolition permits for Charlotte come from Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement. The asbestos notice is a different filing with a different office, and one does not stand in for the other. Removing more than the threshold amounts of regulated material also needs a state permit from the Health Hazards Control Unit, even inside Mecklenburg.
Charlotte grew from 134,042 people in 1950 to 201,564 in 1960 and kept going, so most of the city is newer than people expect: the median home was built in 1995. About 28 percent of homes predate 1980, though, and about 10 percent predate 1960. They sit in a ring around Uptown: Dilworth, the 1890s streetcar suburb; the mill housing of NoDa near the Highland Park Mill No. 3 on North Davidson Street; the 1940s small houses of Sedgefield; and the 1950s and 60s homes of Cotswold. Those are the houses where a kitchen remodel turns up 9-inch floor tile, or an HVAC swap finds wrapped pipe in the crawlspace.
The federal rule's definition of a facility leaves out houses with four or fewer units, but MCAQ says private homes can be covered in some circumstances and publishes a Residential NESHAP Applicability Form to settle it. When it is unclear, that form is the place to start.
Asbestos testing and removal across Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell, Union and York counties:
Free to ask
Don't sand, scrape or drill it. A quick description is enough to start.
We will call to talk through what you have found. To talk sooner, call (704) 327-3475
Something went wrong sending your request. Please call (704) 327-3475 and we’ll take the details over the phone. Your answers are still filled in below if you’d rather try again.