How The Asbestos Institute Transforms Property Inspection Training

Based in Phoenix, Arizona, The Asbestos Institute, Inc. (TAI) provides online and on-site training to thousands of individuals annually. Classes focus primarily on asbestos, but also cover other dangerous construction-related hazards. Students include Building Inspectors, Management Planners, Project Designers, Contractor Leads/Supervisors, Risk Assessors and Asbestos-Abatement Workers. TAI is fully accredited by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal-OSHA).

 TABLE OF CONTENTS 

• CHALLENGE: How to convince new building inspectors to minimize complex paperwork 

• SOLUTION: Teach them to appreciate and use a digital tool for information gathering and reporting

• RESULT: Indications of likely technology adoption

• OUTLOOK: More widespread interest in and adoption of the digital tool across the industry

CHALLENGE 

“In our industry, too much time is spent on paperwork for asbestos inspections and reporting,” states Andre Zwanenburg, TAI Co-Owner and Executive Manager. “I would say about 30% to 40% of total time for a project is spent on paperwork – filling out information, transferring it to a Word document on a computer, saving it as a PDF, and sending it to the client.”

The information-gathering alone is extremely time-consuming. “It involves keeping track of everything,” Andre explains. “For example: Where exactly did I collect each sample? What was the material I collected? What was the color of the material? How many square feet does it cover? All of that data is associated with just that one sample.”

And he says the number of required samples can be extensive: “In a normal United States home, we take approximately 30 to 50 samples. That's just a standard home. If you go to any average-size commercial building, you're looking at 100 to 200 samples. If you go to a large commercial building, you're looking at 600 or 700 samples. And I've done inspections where I had over 1,000 samples. Keeping track of all that is just a nightmare, and it requires more paperwork.”

Andre knows that frustration all too well. He has over 30 years of experience working on hazardous-materials projects for commercial companies, public entities and military bases.

He also is a seasoned trainer, and conducts a three-day building-inspection course on a regular basis. “Students get three days of theory in the classroom,” he says. “But they also have to do a mock inspection in our building, determine what should be sampled, and then write a one- page document – which, in the real world, would be 20 to 30 pages. After that, they must pass a test to get a certificate that allows them to be an asbestos building inspector for one year.”

Bottom line: Students initially must learn how to use cumbersome, time-intensive, paper-based reporting for asbestos inspections in order to meet industry regulations. But Andre believes they should also eventually learn how to eliminate paperwork altogether, in order to improve accuracy and efficiency. And he found the perfect solution for that.

SOLUTION 

Andre discovered the magicplan app in 2012, and has used it successfully ever since to eliminate paperwork for his own projects. He has found it to be fast, accurate and intuitive, and states that “magicplan definitely is useful for asbestos inspections” because it greatly reduces the need for paperwork while also producing better results.

“Of course, you will still have a bit of paperwork,” he clarifies. “For instance, I'm required to have a piece of paper called a ‘chain of custody’ that goes with my samples to the laboratory. So, that's expected to still be a piece of paper. I'm okay with that. But using magicplan to eliminate all of the other paperwork is tremendous. That paperwork was my biggest struggle in previous years.”

In fact, Andre is so impressed with magicplan, he believes it can be the catalyst for technology adoption in his industry. So, he figured out a way to introduce the app to his TAI students: by talking about it during mandatory refresher classes.

RESULT 

“After students pass our initial asbestos-inspection course, they have to come back every year for our refresher class,” Andre explains. “In that class, we talk about case studies, regulation changes, and tricks and tips from the industry. That's where magicplan comes into our training. I will say, ‘Hey, do you guys know about magicplan?’ And then I'll explain it with a PowerPoint presentation, because I have worked with magicplan and I’m more than willing to share what it can do.”

He reports that this information sharing has been well received and has proven to be an effective method for inspiring early technology adoption.

OUTLOOK 

Andre knows that the building-inspection industry has been slow to embrace and adopt digital technology. But he views the magicplan app as an instrument for change.

“Inspectors are using tons and tons of paper. We need to get rid of that. It's not necessary anymore,” he says. “They need to adopt technology. And I think a technology like magicplan can elevate our industry to the next level – not just from a monetary standpoint, but also from a sustainability standpoint.”

Filled with optimism for what’s ahead, Andre’s mission is to continue to boost technology adoption for the betterment of the industry. “That's what I want to do with magicplan,” he says.

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