The Add-On Scope at the Occupied Motel-Casino
Your company holds a Nevada A-23 asbestos abatement license with a $500,000 monetary limit. You are awarded a $180,000 contract at a 1974 motel-casino in Reno: remove 3,200 square feet of 9-inch-by-9-inch floor tile and mastic, 600 linear feet of pipe insulation, and replace 1,200 square feet of water-damaged drywall in 14 guest rooms. The owner's pre-renovation survey identified asbestos-containing material only in the tile, mastic, and pipe insulation. Eight days before mobilization, the owner asks you to also demolish a 30-foot non-load-bearing wall, install and finish new drywall, and install new vinyl composition tile in the rooms for an additional $28,000, "so we don't have to hire three more trades." Your supervisor's walkthrough finds suspect joint compound in the wall cavity that was not in the survey. The building is occupied, and guests will remain on the first floor.
1. Which portions of the added work fall inside and outside the A-23 classification, and how should you structure the contract?
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Start by separating abatement from construction. A-23 authorizes removal, encapsulation, enclosure, repair, cleanup, and disposal of asbestos-containing material, including containment and clearance. If the joint compound is confirmed as ACM, removing it and cleaning the wall cavity are abatement work. By contrast, demolishing a non-load-bearing wall, hanging and finishing new drywall, and installing VCT are general building or flooring trades, not abatement. The A-23 license does not become a general building license because the work is adjacent to abatement. You may prime the added work, but you should either subcontract the drywall and flooring to contractors holding the appropriate Nevada classifications or tell the owner to contract directly with them. Put the abatement scope and the non-abatement scope in separate line items with separate prices, schedules, and responsible licensees. Do not let the owner's single change order blur who is licensed for what. Verify each subcontractor's license is active and its monetary limit covers its portion.
2. What must you do about the newly discovered suspect material and the eight-day start date?
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Treat the suspect joint compound as ACM until an accredited inspector samples and confirms it. Stop work in that area, notify the owner in writing, and do not let workers disturb it. If it is confirmed, the abatement scope expands and the NESHAP notification must be amended with the revised quantities, locations, and dates. The general rule is written notification at least 10 working days before asbestos removal begins, so an eight-day mobilization may be impossible if the original notice did not cover this material. Contact the delegated air quality authority-in Nevada, NDEP-and determine whether the existing notice can be amended or a new notice is required. Also revise the containment plan, worker protection measures, and clearance strategy. Do not accept a verbal assurance from the owner that the material is "probably not asbestos." The schedule is secondary to a compliant notice and a safe regulated area.
3. The owner insists you self-perform the wall demolition and flooring without additional licensed trades and offers to indemnify you. What do you do?
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Decline the indemnity as a solution. An owner's promise to indemnify does not create a license, and it does not cure unlicensed contracting by you or by an unlicensed subcontractor. If you self-perform drywall or flooring outside A-23, you are acting beyond your classification; if you hire an unlicensed firm, you are allowing unlicensed contracting on your project. Either path exposes you to Board discipline, possible contract unenforceability, and liability if the work fails or a worker is injured. The practical response is to issue a written clarification: you will perform the abatement and the ACM-related demolition, and the owner must award the drywall and flooring to properly licensed contractors. Offer to coordinate schedules and containment so the trades can follow your clearance. If the owner refuses, document the refusal and consider whether to proceed only with the abatement portion under a revised contract.