Designated Substance Surveys in Ottawa
Before a project begins, the Occupational Health and Safety Act requires an owner to determine which designated substances are present and to give that list to prospective constructors — HMRS carries out the survey and prepares the report.
Governing instrument — OHSA s. 30 · O. Reg. 490/09
Dispatch — 24 hours
(613) 239-4728Answered at any hour, including through storm events. You are told a real attendance window on the call.
When you need a survey
- 1You are about to tender demolition, renovation, or repair work.
- 2A constructor has asked for the designated substance list before pricing.
- 3You are buying or taking on management of a pre-1990 building.
- 4A trade has stopped work over suspected asbestos in a wall or ceiling.
- 5A capital plan includes work on mechanical rooms, boilers, or pipe insulation.
- 6You are converting or changing the use of an older commercial building.
- 7A previous survey exists but predates renovations that have since happened.
- 8An insurer or lender has asked what is in the building before committing.
What the Act requires of an owner
A designated substance survey is not a best practice a consultant recommends. It is the document that discharges a statutory duty sitting on the owner of the project, and the Act attaches a direct financial liability to getting it wrong. That liability runs to the constructor and to every contractor and subcontractor downstream — which is why a constructor asks for the list before pricing, and why an owner who cannot produce one finds the tender stalls.
How a survey runs
- 01
Scope the project, not the building
Section 30 attaches to the project. What has to be examined is what will be handled, disturbed, or removed by the planned work — which means the survey scope is set from the drawings and the intended sequence, not from a walk-through of the whole property.
- 02
Review what already exists
Prior surveys, asbestos records, and renovation history. A survey that predates a since-completed renovation is not current for the area that was renovated, and relying on it is a common way owners end up outside section 30.
- 03
Inspect and sample
Systematic inspection of the areas in scope, with bulk sampling of suspect materials. In Ottawa's pre-1990 stock the recurring items are drywall joint compound, vinyl floor tile and mastic, pipe and boiler insulation, sprayed fireproofing, textured ceiling finishes, and vermiculite.
- 04
Laboratory analysis
Samples analysed by an accredited laboratory. Results are what the report rests on; a visual identification is not a determination and should not be presented as one.
- 05
Report
A written report identifying which designated substances are present, where, in what condition, and in what quantity where quantity governs the classification of later abatement work. This is the document that goes into the tender package.
- 06
Use it in the tender
The list goes to every prospective constructor before a binding contract, and the constructor passes it to every prospective contractor and subcontractor before theirs. HMRS delivers the report in a form that can be issued as-is with tender documents.
Why property managers and adjusters call HMRS
- Scoped to the project, per section 30
- The examination covers what the planned work will disturb, set from drawings and sequence rather than a general building walk-through.
- All eleven substances, not asbestos alone
- A report covering asbestos only does not discharge the section 30 duty, whatever it is titled.
- A report you can issue with the tender
- Written to go into the tender package as-is, so the list reaches prospective constructors before a binding contract rather than after.
- Abatement capability behind the report
- If the survey finds asbestos, the classification and the abatement path are explained by people who do the work, not left as a finding for someone else to interpret.
Common questions
01What are the designated substances?
Eleven substances are designated under O. Reg. 490/09: acrylonitrile, arsenic, asbestos, benzene, coke oven emissions, ethylene oxide, isocyanates, lead, mercury, silica, and vinyl chloride. A designated substance survey covers all of them, not asbestos alone — although in a typical Ottawa building the findings that drive cost are asbestos, lead, silica, and mercury.
02Is a survey legally required before I renovate?
Section 30 (1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act requires that before beginning a project, the owner shall determine whether any designated substances are present at the project site and shall prepare a list of all designated substances present. If the work is tendered, section 30 (2) requires the list to be included in the tendering information. Section 30 (3) requires the owner to ensure a prospective constructor has received the list before entering a binding contract.
03What happens if I skip it?
Section 30 (5) makes an owner who fails to comply liable to the constructor and every contractor and subcontractor who suffers loss or damage as a result of a designated substance later being discovered on the project that the owner ought reasonably to have known about but that was not on the list. Section 30 (6) applies the equivalent liability to a constructor who fails to pass the list on. The exposure is not only regulatory — it is a direct liability to everyone downstream on the project.
04How is this different from an asbestos survey?
An asbestos survey covers one substance. A designated substance survey covers all eleven and is what section 30 actually requires. Asbestos is the most frequent finding and often the most expensive, but a survey that reports on asbestos alone does not satisfy the section 30 duty.
05Does my existing report still count?
Only for the areas and conditions it actually covered, and only if nothing has changed since. A survey completed before a renovation is not current for the renovated area. Section 30 is tied to the project you are about to begin, so the practical test is whether the existing report covers everything this project will disturb.
06How long does a survey take?
Site work is usually short — often a day or less for a typical commercial floor or a residential building. Laboratory turnaround on the samples is what sets the schedule, and the report follows the results. Building the survey into the pre-tender schedule rather than treating it as a pre-start item is what keeps it off the critical path.
07What if the survey finds asbestos?
The finding sets the classification of the abatement work under O. Reg. 278/05 and therefore the cost and sequence. Knowing that before tender is the entire point — it means the abatement is priced into the project rather than discovered as a change order after a trade opens a wall.
08Can HMRS do both the survey and the abatement?
Yes, and some owners prefer to separate them so that the party identifying the scope is not the party pricing the removal. Both are legitimate; HMRS will tell you which arrangement you have and will provide the report in a form you can tender competitively if that is what you want.
Related services
- Asbestos AbatementWhat a positive asbestos finding turns into: Type 1, 2 and 3 work under O. Reg. 278/05.
- ReconstructionReconstruction after abatement, with the survey findings already priced in.
- Mould RemovalMould is not a designated substance, but it turns up in the same assemblies a survey opens.
- 24/7 EmergencyWhen a trade has already stopped work and the survey is now urgent.
Dispatch
Designated substance surveys across Ottawa, Gatineau, and Eastern Ontario, scoped to your project and written to go into the tender package. Call to discuss scope and timing.