Under the Ontario Occupational Health & Safety Act, designated substances (asbestos, lead, mercury, silica, isocyanates, vinyl chloride, benzene, acrylonitrile, coke oven emissions, arsenic and ethylene oxide) must be identified prior to demolition, renovation or construction that may disturb these materials. It is the employer’ s duty to identifying the presence designated substances that can pose health and safety risks to your employees  and individuals on the property.  Contractor are required to report any Designated Substances likely to be used, handled or disturbed during a project when submitting the Notice of Project form, and property owners are being required to provide a DSS to the municipality as part of building permits for demolition/renovation.

Before any work begins, a copy of the designated substance survey report (DSR) must be provided to  any contractors, and by the contractor to any subcontractors. Workers need to be made aware of designated substances so precautions can be taken to limit their exposure.

The scope of a designated substance survey (DSS) involves destructive testing as samples are collected from drywall/plaster, insulation(s), flooring, ceilings, painted finishes, exterior building envelope materials, etc. for the presence of the four designated substances most likely to be found in building construction materials: Asbestos, Lead, Mercury, and Silica (free crystalline silic a), with selected samples for lead and asbestos are submitted to an accredited laboratory for analysis. A DSS also commonly includes the identification of PCB containing materials, mould and UFFI insulation as well.

Concord Engineering services include performing the designated substance survey (DSS) and the preparation of a designated substance report (DSR).