Asbestos removal - Union County
Monroe, the Union County seat with 34,562 residents in 2020, runs its own building department, and its demolition permit form asks whether the applicant has a state asbestos abatement permit. About 40 percent of its housing was built before 1980, the second-highest share around Charlotte after Gastonia.
Monroe, the Union County seat, runs its own building department, the Building Standards Permit Center at 300 West Crowell Street, separate from Union County Building Code Enforcement. Its demolition permit form asks directly whether the applicant has a state asbestos abatement permit. A copy of the asbestos abatement report has to be attached if the building is non-residential, if it is residential with more than four units, or if a house is being replaced by a non-residential use. Structures in a historic district need an approved Certificate of Appropriateness attached as well.
Union County has no asbestos program, so the state Health Hazards Control Unit covers Monroe. It requires a demolition notice at least 10 working days before work, even when no asbestos is found, and says a local demolition permit does not count as that notice. For a single-family house the federal rules depend on the circumstances, so the HHCU is the office to ask before a teardown.
About 40 percent of Monroe's homes were built before 1980 and about 17 percent before 1960, the second-highest shares around Charlotte after Gastonia. The Monroe Residential Historic District, listed on the National Register in 1988, developed between about 1874 and 1940 and includes many 1920s and 30s brick-veneer bungalows. Mid-century housing rings the core, and newer growth runs out along the US-74 Bypass.
A bungalow from the 1920s and a ranch from the 1960s will have different suspect materials, from pipe insulation under an old heating system to vinyl tile and textured ceilings, so the sampling follows the house rather than a checklist.
Asbestos testing and removal across Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell, Union and York counties:
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