Restaurants, offices and apartments
Restaurant and office turnover
Restaurants, shops and offices change tenants, and a building from the 1970s or 1980s may still have ceiling tiles, flooring and wall finishes from its original build-out that each new finish-out can disturb. The survey covers the space being rebuilt and the areas around it that the work could disturb, and an existing survey from an earlier tenant is worth asking the landlord for.
The Town asbestos page
The Town of Addison’s Asbestos Removal Requirements page says owners of public or commercial buildings who will disturb building materials during renovation or demolition must have them surveyed by a licensed asbestos professional, regardless of the building’s age, and that the Town will withhold its permits until the requirement is met. It also places responsibility on the building owner, even when asbestos professionals are hired.
The page describes a written certification as the alternative to a survey and cites a section number from older state rules. Under the current Texas rules, 25 TAC Chapter 296, that certification comes from a Texas-registered architect or licensed professional engineer who has reviewed the product data sheets and any earlier surveys.
Working next to open businesses
A finish-out in a hotel, a strip center or an office building happens beside people who are still working, sleeping or eating. Sealed containment under negative air keeps the work area apart from the rest of the building, and the schedule is agreed with the property manager: demolition and waste removal at set hours, a separate route for bagged waste and signs at every entrance to the regulated area.
For a public building, the space is not handed back until the owner has confirmed the air in the regulated area meets the state clearance level of 0.01 fibers per cubic centimeter. Set the tenant contractor’s start date by that clearance result rather than by the last day of removal, and the build-out will not stall waiting for paperwork.
Permits and paperwork in Addison
Commercial and multifamily construction packets, the certificate of occupancy packet and the asbestos requirements are handled through Addison Development Services at the Addison Service Center, 16801 Westgrove Drive, 972-450-2880. Bring the survey or certification to the permit stage rather than after plan review, so the asbestos step does not hold up the build-out.
DSHS must be notified at least 10 working days ahead of any abatement or demolition in a public building, and, for other commercial buildings and facilities, ahead of any demolition and of renovation that disturbs regulated asbestos at or above the federal thresholds of 160 square feet, 260 linear feet of pipe or 35 cubic feet. Abatement in a public building is done by a DSHS-licensed contractor. A single house or a building of four or fewer units is outside the state rules, although OSHA worker rules still apply to any crew you hire.
Frequently asked questions
Will Addison issue a remodel permit without an asbestos survey?
Not for a public or commercial building. The Town says it withholds renovation and demolition permits until the owner has a survey or a qualifying written certification that no materials contain asbestos. For a single house, that state rule does not apply.
My restaurant space was built in 1999. Do I need a survey?
Yes. The Town’s page says a survey is required regardless of the building’s age. For a newer space, the architect or engineer certification may be the simpler route, but DSHS leaves it to the city to decide whether to accept that documentation.
Are Addison apartment complexes covered by Texas asbestos rules?
Buildings with more than four dwelling units are. That means a survey before renovation, notice to DSHS ahead of abatement where the rules require it, and licensed abatement in public buildings.
North of Plano, McKinney’s historic neighborhoods and pre-1960 houses raise different questions; see our page on asbestos removal in McKinney. The Plano Asbestos Removal homepage lists every service.
