Asbestos Stop-Work Order or Red Tag in New York? What Happens Next

What a stop-work order means

In New York, the NYS DOL Asbestos Control Bureau stops asbestos work. Its inspectors post a stop-work order on the project under the authority Labor Law §908 gives the Commissioner of Labor. The notice must "specifically enumerate the violations," and no further work may proceed "until the violations complained of cease and the notice is rescinded by the commissioner" (Labor Law §908).

On site, DOL posts form SH 471, "Warning – Asbestos Project Suspended." Only a DOL representative may remove it (SH 471). The posted notice states that "Section 213 of the New York State Labor Law says that any person who violates the New York State Labor Law or regulations and orders of the Commissioner of Labor may be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to civil penalties." (SH 471, as posted).

What can still happen on site: work to correct the violations, with the contractor keeping up the engineering controls and daily inspections Industrial Code Rule 56 requires (SH 471). Everything else on the asbestos project waits (Labor Law §908).

This page covers New York outside New York City, which has a separate NYC DEP asbestos program. Vermont has its own rules; see our Vermont page.

Reasons DOL stops a job

DOL can stop any asbestos project that "is not being performed in accordance with" the law or its rules (Labor Law §908). The rules most directly tied to a stop:

• No survey before the work. The owner (or owner's agent) must have a licensed firm with certified inspectors survey before demolition, renovation, remodeling or repair, except the single-family, owner-occupied exemption, where the homeowner does the work themselves (12 NYCRR 56-1.3(a)). NYS DOL requires an asbestos survey before work disturbs building materials, regardless of construction date.
• Work started before abatement was finished (ICR 56-5.1(h),(i)).
• Work continued after unsurveyed suspect material turned up. Activities in that area must stop, and the owner or their representative must notify the Asbestos Control Bureau by telephone, then in writing (ICR 56-5.1(j)).
• Licensing or notice problems: an unlicensed contractor, uncertified workers, or a missing 10-day notice on a Large project (ICR 56-3.1(a), 56-3.2(a), 56-3.4(b)(1)).
• Air sampling that isn't independent of the abatement contractor (ICR 56-4.3, 56-4.4).
• Improper work practices, such as dry removal or poor containment (ICR 56-7 through 56-10).
• Not following a variance's conditions, which makes the variance "null and void" for that project (ICR 56-12.2).

Other rules that can apply. Federal EPA rules (NESHAP) are a separate layer, requiring an asbestos inspection before demolition or renovation and, where required, notice 10 working days ahead (40 CFR 61.145(a), (b)(3)(i)); residential buildings with four or fewer units are excluded (40 CFR 61.141). The owner or their agent also sends a copy of the survey to the local permit office (ICR 56-5.1(g)(1)). Controlled or pre-demolition surveys are also submitted to the Asbestos Control Bureau district office (ICR 56-5.1(g)(2)).

What usually gets the job moving again

What has to be fixed follows from the violations on the notice. The rules divide the work like this:

1. The owner arranges a survey by a licensed firm with certified inspectors (ICR 56-5.1(a),(e)). When material has already been disturbed, a contamination assessment is sometimes needed as well (DOL guidance P232, 03/26). After an uncontrolled disturbance, the owner must also have a licensed asbestos contractor isolate and clean it up right away (ICR 56-1.5).
2. A Project Designer determines whether a variance is needed and tells the owner. If one is, the owner is the petitioner on DOL form SH752, which a DOL-certified Project Designer prepares, with a copy of the Order to Comply or Notice of Violation attached (SH752, item 6). DOL decides and can attach conditions (Labor Law §30).
3. A licensed asbestos abatement contractor does the removal. For Large projects, it also files or amends the Asbestos Control Bureau notification (ICR 56-5.1(h), 56-3.4(b)).
4. An independent air-sampling firm hired by the owner does monitoring and clearance. An independent project monitor does the visual inspection before clearance air sampling (ICR 56-4.3, 56-9.1(d)(1), 56-4.11).
5. The contractor sends DOL a written notice that the violations are corrected (Labor Law §908; SH 471). DOL then has ten days to decide whether to rescind the notice (Labor Law §908). Only DOL removes the posted notice.

DOL decides whether and when an order is rescinded, so nobody can promise a restart date.

How ClearVU can help

We provide the testing and documentation side of a stopped job.

In New York, the work is performed by NYS DOL-certified asbestos inspectors, management planners, project monitors, project designers, air sampling technicians, and supervisors on our team. New York license: NYS DOL Asbestos Handling License 282890.

• Asbestos surveys and contamination assessments of the affected areas by NYS DOL-certified inspectors (ICR 56-5.1(a); DOL guidance P232, 03/26).
• Independent project monitoring and air sampling while your licensed abatement contractor corrects the problem (ICR 56-4.3).
• Visual inspection and clearance air sampling before the area is released (ICR 56-9.1(d)(1), 56-4.11).
• Documentation: survey reports, air results and monitoring logs. The owner and contractor rely on these records when the contractor notifies DOL that the violations are corrected.
• Variance petitions: when a site-specific variance is needed, our DOL-certified Project Designer can prepare the SH752 petition.

ClearVU is an independent asbestos consulting firm. We handle surveys and contamination assessments, project design and variance petitions, project monitoring, air sampling and clearances. We're hired by the owner or the owner's agent, not the abatement contractor, as Rule 56 requires for the air-sampling firm (ICR 56-4.3, 56-4.4(a)). We don't do abatement, so our findings stay independent of whoever does the removal. We work alongside your licensed abatement contractor.

Call 518.832.9213 to discuss emergency scheduling, including weekends.

We work across Upstate New York from offices in Queensbury and North River.