Conduct a Hazardous Building Materials Due Diligence

Depending on the risk appetite of our clients and the condition and age of the building/s and/or the site in general to be purchased, a hazardous building materials (HBMs) due diligence may be undertaken. Part of Edge Group’s building (transaction) due diligence investigation services, it can conduct an assessment on the following materials:

• Asbestos-containing materials (ACM) to built structure and in soil
• Lead-based products (including lead-based paint on walls/other structures)
• Ozone depleting substances (ODS)
• Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB)
• Mercury
• Synthetic mineral fibres
• Treated pine materials
• Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF)
• Hazardous substances and/or Dangerous Goods such as those stored in underground storage tanks (USTs).

Especially in pre-purchase Mergers & Acquisition (M&A) assessments, we can act for a potential asset buyer and inform them of potential environmental and/or OHS liabilities that they should be aware of prior to sale. The findings of such assessments can influence the sale – i.e. from whether no sale occurs to whether a transaction occurs with certain conditions (e.g. removal of high-risk ACM, reduced purchase price to account for the management of hazardous materials, etc).

A potential acquirer’s transaction may be dependent on future modification and/or demolition of the target building/buildings or new structures to be built on-site and therefore the status of the soil (and groundwater) for hazardous materials may be investigated prior to sale.

We can act on your behalf to check you are not inheriting or passing on an environmental liability from current or historical operations or use of the land by previous owners or occupiers. When purchasing, the liability you inherit may be from an entity that no longer exists and you may be the one left to remediate the site (including removal of ACM). This can quickly reduce any profits of a proposed development and extend project delivery timelines.

Alternatively, we can act for a seller of a building or a portfolio of buildings. That is, if you are selling your property, then you should know what liability you are transferring to a prospective purchaser. This can be critical in contract negotiations, will assist in a more accurate valuation of your asset and also ensures that your sale contract addresses the liability and provides the necessary protections. This can also reduce the number of bidders “crawling” around on-site conducting their own investigations – i.e. a vendor’s HBMs due diligence can be given to them to satisfy any due diligence queries they may have over the building/s and/or the site in general.

In general, Edge Group provides consultancy advice from the (initial) identification of HBMs to clearance (occupational hygiene) monitoring during and after the removal of such HBMs. We can review and quantify the environmental liability prior to or during the sale process.

Contact our specialist team today to find out more and get started.