Hiring the contractor with the lowest bid to remove an outdated popcorn ceiling ended up costing a property manager a lot of trouble and more money after neighbors complained that asbestos was spilling out into neighboring yards.

“There’s often a reason why the lowest bidder is the lowest,” said Pete Schmidt, contractor compliance chief for Department of Labor & Industries (L&I). “These individuals may not be registered, bonded, or insured – and may not be qualified to do the work.”

Greg Wales, a Redmond contractor, was cited by L&I for not being a certified asbestos-abatement contractor and for exposing his worker to serious health hazards from asbestos. He was cited for 14 violations, with penalties totaling $51,750.

Asbestos is a mineral-based material widely used in buildings constructed before 1980. It can cause lung disease including lung cancer. Asbestos removal must be done by certified asbestos abatement contractors under strict worker-protection standards.

Not only was Wales not a certified asbestos abatement contractor, he was not registered as a contractor with L&I, nor was he licensed to be in business in the state, and he took no steps to control contamination from the asbestos materials.

The investigation found that the property manager had contracted with Wales after seeing his advertisement in a weekly paper. Wales’s bid to remove the popcorn material and refinish the ceiling was significantly lower than two other contractors who submitted bids. It was agreed that Wales knew how to properly remove and handle asbestos.

Wales then hired a day laborer from the Millionair Club in Seattle and put him to work scraping the material off the ceiling without providing him with personal protective equipment or hazard training. The worker finished the day’s work and went home with asbestos fibers and debris clinging to his clothing and hair.

During the course of the work, a neighbor became alarmed at seeing the ceiling materials drifting out of the house and into the yard and driveway and called the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA). The PSCAA came to the house and persuaded Wales to abandon the project, and then put up barrier tape labeling the site “Danger Asbestos Hazard.” Despite that, Wales returned to the job, ignored the barrier, and worked several more days, according to L&I..

In the end, the property manager paid Wales in full and then hired a certified asbestos abatement contractor to clean up the heavily contaminated home, driveway and landscaping.

For information on hiring a contractor, go to www.HiringAContractor.Lni.wa.gov.