Asbestos & Lead Management

Like most universities with buildings dating to the 1970s and earlier, the CU Boulder campus includes a number of facilities built with materials that contain asbestos. For many years, asbestos was commonly used in materials such as fire-retardant insulation, floor tiles, plasters, ceiling tiles, pipe insulation, and soundproofing.

Health issues have been raised by cases of industrial exposure to airborne asbestos fibers. However, the presence of asbestos in a building does not mean that the health of building occupants is necessarily endangered. In fact, exposure is unlikely as long as the material remains in good condition and is not disturbed by building maintenance, repair, renovation, or other activities that can release asbestos fibers into the air.

Team members in the Asbestos and Lead Management Unit specialize in the inventorying, maintenance, and abatement of asbestos and lead building materials. Our staff works closely with building maintenance activities and campus projects to ensure the safe removal of asbestos and lead building materials.

Our asbestos management program is designed to make it possible for persons in the university community to safely coexist with material that contains asbestos in campus buildings while executing a long-term program of removal. Our specially trained asbestos management specialists inspect renovation activities, assist with maintenance work, and monitor asbestos conditions as they may exist on campus. To help in the prevention of unnecessary disturbance of asbestos, it is important for any building materials in CU Boulder facilities are not disturbed.

Services provided by the Asbestos and Lead Unit include:

  • Management and oversight of air monitoring for lead-based paint and asbestos
  • Management and oversight of asbestos/lead abatement
  • Asbestos/lead compliance training
  • Asbestos and lead paint waste management
  • Building audits/inspections
  • Project design review and inspections
  • Management of campus asbestos operations and maintenance

Asbestos & Lead Training

We offer asbestos-related training and documentation for in-house maintenance and custodial staff as part of our Asbestos O&M Program. Further information about this can be found in the Asbestos Operation & Maintenance Program document.

Training is available for Asbestos & Lead Awareness.