Asbestos testing & inspection in Calgary
Before you renovate, demolish, or buy an older property, know exactly what's in it. Fast, lab-verified asbestos testing across Calgary and area.
If your home or building dates from before the mid-1990s, asbestos could be present in more than a dozen common materials: flooring and adhesives, textured ceilings, drywall joint compound, pipe and boiler insulation, vermiculite attic insulation, exterior stucco, siding, and cement board. Testing tells you what's actually there — so you don't pay for abatement you don't need, and don't get shut down mid-renovation by material you didn't know about.
Just found it and not sure what to do? Read what to do if you have vermiculite in your attic — what to do first, whether it even contains asbestos, and what removal costs.
How testing works
1. Sampling. We identify the materials your project will disturb and collect samples safely — small, targeted, and repaired after collection.
2. Accredited lab analysis. Samples go to an accredited laboratory for analysis. Results typically come back within days; rush options are available for time-sensitive projects.
3. Written report. You receive a clear written report identifying which materials contain asbestos and which don't — the documentation contractors, the city, and Alberta OHS expect before demolition or renovation of older structures.
4. Abatement quote (if needed). If asbestos is found, we quote the removal on the spot. Because testing and abatement are the same team, there's no waiting on a second contractor — and if the results are clean, your project proceeds immediately.
Illustrated explainer, no sound needed — an animation of our method, not footage of one particular job. For photographs of our own work, see a job step by step.
Asbestos surveys for contractors and property managers
An asbestos survey — also called an asbestos inspection or a hazardous materials assessment — is the walk-through and sampling exercise that produces a written register of what is in a building and where. A pre-demolition asbestos survey is the more thorough version, done before a building or a tenant space comes apart, because demolition disturbs materials nobody planned to touch.
If you are a general contractor, property manager, landlord or commercial tenant, this is usually the document you are being asked for before work can start. We arrange the sampling and the accredited lab analysis and hand you the written report.
When to test
- Before any renovation or demolition that could disturb older materials — identification is required under Alberta OHS rules whatever the building’s age, and before about 1990 is where it is most often found
- Before buying an older home, so abatement costs are known upfront
- After fire or water damage disturbs older materials
- Before a commercial fit-out, tenant improvement or partial demolition, where a pre-demolition asbestos survey is normally required
- Before removing popcorn ceilings or upgrading attic insulation
Where we work
We provide asbestos testing across Calgary and the surrounding communities, including Calgary, Airdrie, Cochrane, Okotoks, Chestermere, Strathmore, High River, Red Deer.
Filing the City of Calgary asbestos abatement form? If a building or demolition permit on a pre-1990 house is what brought you here, we have a page on exactly that: the City of Calgary asbestos abatement form — what it says, who signs it, and how long it takes.
What testing costs
Sampling visit — $225 within Calgary. Travel, collection under full protective equipment, sealing every sample location afterwards, the chain-of-custody paperwork and the laboratory report emailed to you.
Lab analysis — $85 per sample. Vermiculite is $165 per sample because it needs a more sensitive method. Rush turnaround adds $60 per sample.
One material in one area needs three samples, so a popcorn ceiling test is $480. A whole house with two or three materials is usually five samples, around $650. Prices exclude GST. Airdrie, Chestermere, Cochrane, Okotoks and Strathmore add $95.
On a budget? One sample is $310. Treat it as a screening test: a positive result is final, and the whole area is then handled as asbestos-containing with no further testing. A clean result only speaks for the spot it came from. Three samples from different parts of the material is the Alberta minimum for a room and the number to choose for peace of mind, or for a report a buyer, an insurer or the City will accept. Vermiculite is always at least three.
Attic and crawl-space sampling starts at $425 for the visit, plus $165 per sample. Alberta OHS treats those as confined spaces and they need a two-person crew. We will not do one single-handed.
Go ahead with the removal and we credit the $225 sampling fee against the contract, within 90 days. Lab fees are paid to the laboratory and are not credited.
We do not certify a material as asbestos-free. We collect the samples under a documented chain of custody and you receive the laboratory's own report, with the laboratory's name on it. A homeowner can send a sample to a lab themselves — but a sample collected without a chain of custody is routinely rejected by the City for a permit, by insurers on a claim, and by any contractor pricing the removal. That paperwork is most of what you are paying for. Full price list.
Frequently asked questions
Is asbestos testing required before renovation in Alberta?
Alberta occupational health and safety rules require asbestos-containing materials to be identified before work that could disturb them, and removed before a building is demolished (OHS Code section 34) — regardless of the building’s age. In practice, anything built before about 1990 should be assumed to contain some until a lab says otherwise. Contractors, and the City of Calgary when a building or demolition permit is involved, will ask for the report before work starts.
How long do results take?
Standard lab turnaround is typically a few business days. Rush analysis is available when a project is waiting on results.
How much does asbestos testing cost?
Our sampling visit is $225 within Calgary, which covers travel, collection under full protective equipment, sealing every sample location, chain-of-custody paperwork and the report. Lab analysis is $85 per sample. A three-sample popcorn ceiling test comes to $480 and a five-sample whole-home test around $650, excluding GST. Vermiculite is $165 per sample and attic sampling starts at $425 for the visit because a confined space needs a two-person crew. Rush turnaround adds $60 per sample. If we do the removal we credit the $225 sampling fee against the contract within 90 days.
How many samples we take. The count follows the size of each material, not the number of rooms you would like done: a small patch is one sample, one room-sized area is three, most of a house is five. Vermiculite is always at least three, from separate parts of the attic — it is unevenly contaminated, and a single sample that comes back clean is the most dangerous result in this business, because it is the one people act on.
What happens if the test is positive?
You'll get an abatement plan and quote from us immediately. Only the materials your project disturbs need removal — a positive test rarely means gutting the building.
One call covers it all
Asbestos Removal
Asbestos was used for decades in Calgary homes and buildings, and it has to be removed safely before renovation or demolition can continue.
Vermiculite Removal
Vermiculite attic insulation often contains asbestos. We test it, remove it safely, and document everything.
Popcorn Ceiling Removal
Textured ceilings installed before the 1990s often contain asbestos. We test, remove safely, and finish smooth.
Need help now?
Speak with Aden Integrated Services Ltd about your project.