Licensing, Certification, and Project Notification
This domain tests who must hold what credential, how notification is filed and timed, and what must be on site during a project. Questions often turn on the difference between a company license and an individual certificate, and on counting notification days correctly.
Who needs what
- Company licenses: abatement contractor and asbestos consultant (inspection, management planning, project design, air monitoring).
- Individual certificates: abatement worker, supervisor, inspector, management planner, project designer, and air-monitoring technician.
- Prerequisites: a Maine-approved training course with a passing exam, plus annual refresher training; the photo identification card is carried on site.
- Independence: the consultant performing inspection, design, or clearance on a project cannot be the abatement contractor or its employee.
Notification
Written notice goes to Maine DEP at least 10 working days before abatement begins. It identifies the owner and contractor, describes the facility and the material and quantity to be removed, gives start and completion dates, the work practices to be used, and the receiving waste site. Emergency or ordered projects are reported as soon as possible and no later than the next working day. Changes require an amended notice. The notice is posted at the job site and records are retained.
Worked example
A project starts Monday, September 8, and Labor Day falls on September 1. Count back ten working days, skipping weekends and the holiday: September 5, 4, 3, 2, then August 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 22. The notice must reach DEP by Friday, August 22.
Traps
Counting calendar days instead of working days; sending the notice to the training provider rather than DEP; treating notification as an approval to wait for; failing to file an amended notice when the schedule slips; letting a certificate lapse mid-project; allowing the contractor to run its own clearance sampling.