Real Estate National Test Ch 21 Flashcards
D: Asbestos
Is a fire-resistant mineral that was once used extensively as insulation and to strengthen other materials.
A component of more than 3,000 types of building materials, asbestos was first used in the early 1900s and is found in most construction, including residential, built from the early 1940s until 1978, when its use was banned.
Asbestos is highly friable, meaning that as it ages, asbestos fibers easily break down into tiny, very light filaments that stay in the air a long time when it is disturbed or exposed, as often occurs during renovation or remodeling.
Those who have inhaled asbestos fibers often develop serious and deadly respiratory diseases decades later.
While federal regulations establish guidelines for owners of public and commercial buildings to test for asbestos-containing materials, there are no guidelines regarding the presence of asbestos in residential properties.
Because improper removal procedures may further contaminate the air within the structure, the removal process requires state-licensed technicians and specially sealed environments.
The waste generated must be disposed of at a licensed facility, which further adds to the cost of removal.
Only a certified asbestos inspector should perform an asbestos inspection of a structure to identify which building materials may contain asbestos.
The inspector can also provide recommendations and costs associated with remediation.
Buyers should be aware of where ACMs are located so that they are not disturbed during any repair, remodeling, demolition, or even routine use.
Appraisers also should be aware of the possible presence of asbestos.
D: Encapsulation
or the sealing off of disintegrating asbestos, is an alternate method of asbestos control that may be preferable to removal in certain circumstances, provided the condition of the encapsulated asbestos is monitored periodically to make sure it is not disintegrating.
D: Lead
Used as a pigment and drying agent in alkyd oil-based paint in about 75% of housing built before 1978.
An elevated level of lead in the body can cause serious damage to the brain, kidneys, nervous system, and red blood cells.
Children younger than six are most vulnerable.
Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act
AKA: LBPHRA
In 1996, the EPA and HUD issued final regulations under the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act (LBPHRA) of 1992, requiring disclosure of the presence of any known lead-based paint hazards to potential buyers or renters.
The federal law does not require that anyone test for the presence of lead-based paint, however.
Under later regulations, EPA imposed training and certification requirements, which took effect June 23, 2008, for renovators of certain property containing lead-based paint.
The EPA now requires the following from sellers, landlords, and renovators of residential dwellings built before 1978:
- Landlords must disclose known information on lead-based paint and hazards before leases take effect. Leases must include a disclosure form regarding lead-based paint.
- Sellers have to disclose known information on lead-based paint and hazards prior to execution of a contract for sale. Sales contracts must include a completed disclosure form about lead-based paint. Click here for Disclosure of Lead-Based Paint and Lead-Based Paint Hazards. This is the form for sellers and is slightly different from the form for landlords. Real estate professionals should use EPA-written disclosure forms rather than creating their own forms.
- Buyers must have up to 10 days to conduct a risk assessment or inspection for the presence of lead-based paint hazards. Buyer and seller can mutually agree in writing to lengthen or shorten that time period, or the buyer may waive the inspection.
- Real estate professionals must provide buyers and lessees with “Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home,” the pamphlet created by the EPA, HUD, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
- Anyone who is paid to perform work that disturbs paint in housing, schools, and child care facilities built before 1978 must be trained and certified in EPA lead-based work practices. This includes residential rental property owners/managers, general contractors, and special trade contractors (e.g., painters, plumbers, carpenters, electricians). The Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RR&P) program involve prerenovation education, including distribution of the pamphlet Renovate Right to the property owner before work commences.
- Real estate professionals must ensure that all parties comply with the law.
- Sellers, lessors, and renovators are required to disclose any prior test results or any knowledge of lead-based paint hazards. With only a very narrow exception, all real estate professionals (subagent, buyer’s representative, transaction facilitator) are required to advise sellers to make the required disclosures. Only buyer’s representatives who are paid entirely by the buyer are exempt.
In what ways can a home be inspected for lead hazards in the following ways.
- Paint inspection: Will provide the lead content of every different type of painted surface in a home. This inspection will not indicate whether the paint is a hazard or how the homeowner should deal with it.
- Risk Assessment: Indicates whether there are any sources of serious lead exposure, such as peeling paint or lead dust. It also describes what actions can be taken to address the hazards.
D: Radon
Is a naturally occurring, colorless, odorless, tasteless, radioactive gas produced by the decay of other radioactive substances.
Radon is measured in picocuries (a unit of radiation) contained in a liter of air (pCi/L). Radon is found in every state and territory with radon levels in the outdoor air averaging 0.4 pCi/L.
Fans and thermal “stack effects” (i.e., rising hot air draws cooler air in from the ground through cracks in the basement and foundation walls) pull radon into buildings.
The potential for developing lung cancer from exposure to radon is a function of the extent and the length of a person’s exposure to radon.
Radon has been classified as a Class A known human carcinogen.
Furthermore, smokers have a radon risk factor 15 times greater than nonsmokers.
Because neither the EPA nor current scientific consensus has been able to establish a “threshold” safe level of radon exposure, the EPA suggests an “action” level of 4 pCi/L.
The action level of 4 was chosen because 95% of the time, current technology can bring the level below 4, and 75% of the time, levels can be reduced to 2 pCi/L. A radon mitigation system is less expensive when installed during construction. Mitigation consists of removing the radon before it seeps into the house by means of a fan installed in a pipe running from the basement to the attic to draw the radon up and out.
Home testing may be done with passive devices, such as alpha track detectors and a charcoal canister.
Continuous monitors require electrical power and usually a trained technician. Test results are normally received within 10 days or so when using a passive device (immediately when using an electric continuous monitor).
Although a 90-day testing period is most accurate, the EPA developed a 48-hour procedure that can be used in a real estate transaction.
The 48-hour test can satisfactorily predict whether a home’s annual average is at or above 4 pCi/L in 94% of cases.
Because one out of every 15 homes probably needs mitigation, before looking at properties, real estate professionals should discuss radon concerns with their buyers.
D: Formaldehyde
A colorless chemical with a strong, pronounced odor, is used widely in the manufacture of building materials and many household products because of its preservative characteristics.
Often emitted as a gas, formaldehyde is one of the most common and problematic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and is one of the few indoor air pollutants that can be measured.
Formaldehyde was listed as a hazardous air pollutant in the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.
The largest source of formaldehyde in any building is likely to be the off-gassing from pressed-wood products made using adhesives that contain urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins.
Pressed-wood products include particleboard, hardwood plywood paneling, and medium-density fiberboard.
It is also used in carpeting and ceiling tiles.
Since 1985, HUD has regulated the use of plywood and particleboard so that they conform to specified formaldehyde-emission levels in the construction of prefabricated homes and manufactured housing.
D: Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Products Act enacted in 2010
The latest regulations that will be enforced by the EPA under the Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Products Act enacted in 2010, went into effect on May 22, 2017.
D: Urea-Formaldehyde Foam Insulation
AKA: UFFI
Once popular, then banned, and now legal again, is rarely used.
When incorrectly mixed, UFFI never properly cures, resulting in strong emissions shortly after installation.
Studies have shown that formaldehyde emissions generally decrease over time, so homes where UFFI was installed many years ago are unlikely to still have high levels of formaldehyde unless the insulation is exposed to extreme heat or moisture.
Real estate professionals should check their state’s property disclosure form to see whether UFFI must be disclosed.
Appraisers should also be aware of the presence of formaldehyde.
D: Carbon Monoxide (CO)
Is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that occurs as a by-product of burning fuels such as wood, oil, and natural gas, owing to incomplete combustion.
Carbon monoxide is quickly absorbed by the body, where it inhibits the blood’s ability to transport oxygen, resulting in dizziness and nausea.
As CO concentrations increase, the symptoms become more severe, and death may occur within a short time.
D: Polychlorinated Biphenyls
AKA: PCBs
Consist of more than 200 chemical compounds that are not found naturally in nature.
Flame resistant, they were often used in electrical equipment, such as transformers, electrical motors in refrigerators, caulking compounds, and hydraulic oil in older equipment.
The EPA has classified PCBs as reasonably carcinogenic, and these chemicals have been implicated in lower fertility and shortened life spans.
Although the commercial distribution of PCBs was banned in 1979, PCBs remain in the environment because burning them at more than 2,400 degrees in a closed environment is the only known way to destroy them.
PCBs are most likely a concern for commercial and industrial property managers.
These managers should ask the local utility company to identify and remove any type of transformer that might be a source of PCBs.
If the PCBs leak into the environment, penalties, and removal methods are expensive.
D: Chlorofluorocarbons
AKA: CFCs
Are nontoxic, nonflammable chemicals used as refrigerants in air conditioners, refrigerators, and freezers.
CFCs are also used in aerosol sprays, paints, solvents, and foam-blowing applications.
Although CFCs are safe in most applications and are inert in the lower atmosphere, once CFC vapors rise to the upper atmosphere, where they may survive from 2 to 150 years, they are broken down by ultraviolet light into chemicals that deplete the ozone layer.
Global treaties have sought to reduce the production levels of CFCs.
The manufacture of these chemicals ended for the most part in 1996, with exceptions for production in developing countries, medical products (e.g., asthma inhalers), and research.
Although newer air conditioners use a different product, older appliances may leak CFCs and should be properly disposed of to prevent further leakage.
A buyer’s representative may wish to advise the client to consider upgrading to newer, more energy-efficient and environmentally safe appliances.
Only EPA-certified technicians should do any work on a refrigeration system, especially the larger systems found in commercial and industrial buildings. Approved equipment should carry a label reading, “This equipment has been certified by ARI/UL to meet EPA’s minimum requirements for recycling and recovery equipment.”
True or False
The Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act (LBPHRA) of 1992 requires disclosure of the presence of any known lead-based paint hazards to potential buyers or renters of commercial properties.
False
D: Groundwater
Water that exists under the earth’s surface within the tiny spaces or crevices in geological formations.
D: Water Table
The natural level at which the ground is saturated.
The water table may be several hundred feet underground or near the surface.
When the earth’s natural filtering systems are inadequate to ensure the availability of pure water, any contamination of underground water threatens the supply of pure, clean water for private wells or public water systems.
Numerous state and federal laws have been enacted to preserve and protect the water supply.
Explain The Safe Drinking Water Act
AKA: SDWA
Was passed in 1974 (and amended in 1986 and 1996) to protect public health by regulating the nation’s public drinking water supply.
The SDWA authorizes the EPA to set national health-based standards for drinking water.
The amendments strengthened the law by increasing source water protection, operator training, funding for water system improvements, and public information.
Explain The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948
Was amended in 1972 and is now known as the Clean Water Act.
Under the authority of the Clean Water Act, the EPA is concerned with protecting and improving the quality of wetlands, areas where water covers the soil all or part of the time.
