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Survey & sample
An IDPH-licensed inspector walks the property, flags suspect materials, and collects small samples using wet methods and containment so nothing is released into the air.
Test it, survey it, and if it’s there, get it removed properly. We arrange asbestos testing in Chicago with IDPH-licensed sampling and NVLAP-accredited lab analysis, plus asbestos removal and abatement by licensed personnel, across the city and Cook County. You get a written report you can hand to a contractor or the City, before you gut a kitchen or pull a demolition permit.
Three layers of rules sit on any asbestos job in Chicago. The State licenses the people, the federal rule decides which projects need advance notice, and the City runs its own demolition and asbestos process on top. Which ones apply depends on the size and use of your building, and an asbestos inspection is how you find out.
The IDPH asbestos program licenses the inspectors, supervisors, project designers and abatement contractors who sample and remove asbestos in Illinois, and building owners choose from its list of licensed contractors. Sampling on your Chicago property should be done by an IDPH-licensed inspector so the result stands up for a contractor, a buyer or the City.
The federal asbestos NESHAP (40 CFR 61.141 and 61.145, US EPA) requires written notice at least 10 working days before covered demolition or renovation, filed with the Illinois EPA. The rule excludes a residential building with four or fewer dwelling units, but several small buildings on one site under one owner, or work for a commercial or public purpose, can still be covered. A survey is how you find out which side of the line your job is on.
Chicago has its own asbestos and demolition rules that sit on top of the federal one, so a two-flat falling outside NESHAP does not mean it is exempt from the City. Check with the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Department of Buildings before you assume your building is exempt.
The City issued 661 wrecking and demolition permits and 5,505 renovation and alteration permits in 2025, against 635 and 6,185 in 2024, according to City of Chicago building permits data, 2025, queried October 2026. Each one is a job where suspect materials should be identified before work starts. For a pre-1980 building, that means an asbestos test first.
A permit tells the City what you plan to build. It doesn’t tell you what’s in the plaster, flooring or pipe wrap you’re about to open, and on a Chicago two-flat or bungalow that is the part that decides your budget and your schedule.
Source: City of Chicago Data Portal, Building Permits, by issue date. Building permits issued, not asbestos jobs.
Asbestos testing isn't a guess or a hardware-store kit. It's a controlled process: careful sampling by a licensed inspector, accredited lab analysis, and a clear written result you can act on. Here's how a job runs across the city.
An IDPH-licensed inspector walks the property, flags suspect materials, and collects small samples using wet methods and containment so nothing is released into the air.
Samples go to an NVLAP-accredited lab for Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM), with TEM available for fine flooring and confirmation. No home-kit guesswork.
You get a plain-English report: what was sampled, percent asbestos by type, and where it is, formatted to support a City permit filing or a contractor's scope.
If it's positive, we explain your options and can arrange licensed abatement plus post-work clearance air testing. If it's clean, you have the report to show your contractor.
The Bungalow Belt, the brick two-flats and three-flats, the greystones and worker cottages: most were built when asbestos went into flooring, insulation, plaster, and pipe wrap as a matter of course. You usually can't tell by looking. These are the materials we sample most in Chicago and Cook County homes.
Those small 9-inch vinyl-asbestos tiles in basements, kitchens and sunrooms, and the black cutback adhesive under them, are a classic find in Chicago flats and bungalows built before the 1980s.
Loose, pebbly vermiculite (often Zonolite) poured into attic joist cavities of Bungalow Belt homes can carry amphibole asbestos. Never disturb it; we sample it safely before any attic or reroof work.
The white, plaster-like pipe wrap and boiler lagging in old Chicago basements, a legacy of steam and hot-water heat, is one of the highest-risk materials, friable and easily disturbed during heating or plumbing work.
Sprayed popcorn ceiling texture and skim coats from the mid-century era often contain chrysotile. Scraping one in a Logan Square or Lakeview walk-up before testing releases fibers throughout the room.
Wall plaster, drywall joint compound, and the paper wrap on old gravity-furnace ductwork all turn up positive in pre-war Chicago homes. We take composite samples so nothing gets missed.
Cement-asbestos transite siding, roofing shingles, and old glazing and window caulk show up on cottages and two-flats across Pilsen, Bridgeport, and the near-west neighborhoods.
Most Chicago jobs start with a test and only some end in removal. Pick the side that matches where you are.
Not sure what’s in the material, or planning a gut rehab, sale or demolition? Start with a survey. An IDPH-licensed inspector samples each suspect material and an accredited lab gives you the answer in writing.
Already positive, or will the work disturb a known material? IDPH-licensed abatement covers containment, removal and post-work clearance air testing, so you have independent proof the space is safe to reoccupy.
A survey is how you find out what you are disturbing, and it is the sensible first step for any pre-1980 building before demolition or a gut rehab. Federal NESHAP requires written notice at least 10 working days before covered work, but the rule excludes a residential building with four or fewer dwelling units, so a single two-flat or three-flat usually falls outside it. Several small buildings on one site under one owner, or work for a commercial or public purpose, can still be covered. Chicago has its own asbestos and demolition rules, so check with the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Department of Buildings before assuming you are exempt.
The Illinois Department of Public Health licenses asbestos inspectors, supervisors, project designers and abatement contractors, and building owners choose from its list of licensed contractors. Sampling should be done by an IDPH-licensed inspector and the samples analyzed by an NVLAP-accredited lab. You can check a firm's licence with IDPH before you hire.
In bungalows, two-flats, three-flats and greystones built before the 1980s, the usual suspects are 9x9 vinyl floor tiles and black mastic, boiler and pipe lagging, vermiculite attic insulation, popcorn ceilings, transite siding and shingles, and plaster or joint compound. You cannot confirm any of it by sight; a lab-analyzed sample is the only reliable answer.
It isn't strictly mandatory, but for a pre-1980 bungalow, flat or greystone it is often worth it. A documented result removes an unknown that buyers, inspectors and lenders flag, and disclosing a result is far better than a surprise mid-transaction.
Testing identifies whether a material contains asbestos and how much, through licensed sampling and accredited lab analysis. Removal, properly called abatement, is the licensed work of containing and taking out the material, followed by clearance air testing. You test first: the result decides whether removal is needed and sets its scope. See asbestos testing in Chicago and asbestos removal and abatement for each service.
We arrange certified sampling across the city (Lincoln Park, Logan Square, Pilsen, Hyde Park, Lakeview, Bridgeport and beyond) plus older Cook County suburbs like Oak Park, Evanston, Cicero and Berwyn. Use the quote form on this page for a free quote.
Certified sampling, accredited lab results and licensed removal across Chicago and Cook County.