Asbestos—Specified, Approved
and Required:
Asbestos in Building Codes and Engineering Standards
Rachel P. Maines, Ph.D.
Cornell University
School of Electrical & Computer Eng
Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 257-2859
rpm24@cornell.edu
Rachel P. Maines, Ph.D., is the author of Asbestos & Fire (Rutgers 2005) as well as
three other books and numerous articles on the history of technology. Her first book
won the Feis Award of the American Historical Association. She holds a doctorate
from Carnegie-Mellon University (1983), and is a visiting scientist in Cornell
University’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She was elected to the
governing board of the Society for the History of Technology in 2010.
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required:
Asbestos in Building Codes and Engineering Standards
Table of Contents
I.Abstract.........................................................................................................................................................43
II. Specifications for Asbestos in Federal Rules and Regulations...................................................................43
III. Asbestos in State Regulations.......................................................................................................................44
IV. Asbestos in Municipal and County Codes..................................................................................................45
V. Insurance Codes............................................................................................................................................45
VI. Standards Development by the Consensus Process....................................................................................45
VII. What Does This Mean for Defendants?.......................................................................................................47
VIII.Exhibits..........................................................................................................................................................48
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required: Asbestos in Building Codes and... ❖ Maines ❖ 41
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required:
Asbestos in Building Codes and Engineering Standards
I.Abstract
The vast majority of current asbestos claims result from past efforts on the part of defendants to comply with, and/or to enable compliance by property owners and building contractors, with building codes and
engineering standards at the Federal, state and local levels that specified and approved asbestos in code-compliant assemblies. For most of the second half of the 20th century, asbestos was specified, approved, and, some
cases, required, by building codes and engineering standards adopted by municipalities, states, and Federal
agencies, including OSHA and the U.S. Public Health Service. Hundreds of specifications for asbestos were
incorporated by reference, for example, into OSHA’s Rules and Regulations (29 CFR 1910) in1971 and 1987.
Asbestos-containing assemblies, including but not limited to friction products, pipe, fiber reinforcement of
plastics, clothing, electrical and thermal insulations, welding and cutting gear, filters, conduit, roofing, millboard, gaskets, packing and seals were all tested and approved by Federally-accredited standards-development
organizations, including the U.S. Bureau of Standards (now NIST), the National Fire Protection Association,
and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Assemblies in which asbestos was required by building
laws before 1990 include cathodic wrap for underground steel gas pipe, hot-air register insulating paper, and
electrical insulation for conductors in switchboards. Compliance with these standards was also required for
insurance purposes.
II. Specifications for Asbestos in Federal Rules and Regulations
Mark Twain once observed, on the difference between history and fiction, that “It’s no wonder that
truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.” I mention this because much of the history of asbestos in building codes and engineering standards is completely counterintuitive, and many of you will have
doubts about the data I’m presenting here. Please be assured that I welcome your skepticism, and would be
happy to bore you to tears with hundreds of gigabytes of reliance documents that lend a new meaning to
the word “burdensome.” You’ll find a fully-footnoted version of most of what I’ll be telling you today in the
December 2012 issue of Enterprise & Society, the electronic version of which is downloadable from the Oxford
Journals website.
I’ll start by presenting the most striking (and most difficult to believe), of my research results, the
incorporation into OSHA and US Public Health Service regulations, both in text and by reference, of specifications for asbestos. Exhibit 1 is page 254 of 29 CFR 1910, 1 July 1987, showing the OSHA regulations for the
insulation of ducts. Three assemblies are approved, of which two contain asbestos.
Exhibit 2 is a table of examples of incorporations by reference of specifications for asbestos into
OSHA’s 1971 and 1987 rules and regulations, as published in the Federal Register and in the Code of Federal
Regulations. So far I’ve found 38 incorporated standards that specified asbestos, and I’ve only worked my way
through about half of the incorporated standards. There were some two hundred or so in OSHA’s May 1971
Rules and Regulations, and about 500 in the July 1987 revision. I expect to find many more as I continue this
research.
What are these doing in OSHA rules and regulations, you’re no doubt wondering, and how did they
get there? Congress directed OSHA, in the enabling legislation that created the agency, to adopt and enforce
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required: Asbestos in Building Codes and... ❖ Maines ❖ 43
national consensus standards where these existed. Exhibit 3 is the relevant clause. Asbestos was specified in
thousands of national standards created by standards development organizations (SDOs), using the consensus
process, which is itself a standard. Exhibit 4 lists the official technical definitions for these expressions, which
are what you lawyers call “terms of art.” I will have more to say later on of what consensus standards are and
how they are developed.
Throughout this presentation, I will be using these terms of art in their technical senses, and would
like at this point to clarify one more, perhaps the most overused and under-defined expression in American
law: “the asbestos industry.” The official United States Bureau of the Census definition of the asbestos industry was and is those manufacturing concerns subsumed under Standard Industrial Classifications (SIC codes)
3292 and 3293. No other entities can correctly be called “the asbestos industry.” Exhibit 5 is from the 1972
Census of Manufactures; most of the firms represented in it are now insolvent. If I speak of “the asbestos
industry,” I refer only to these two SIC codes.
To return to the history of asbestos in Federal standards, the U.S. Public Health Service is, as all
of you know, thought by the plaintiff bar to have established by 1935 that asbestos is an inhalation hazard.
Bloomfield and DallaValle’s articles (1935 and 1938) on the asbestos textile industry are widely cited in this
context. What seem never to be cited are the dozens of 20th century U.S. Public Health Service documents that
approve and specify asbestos in water and sewer pipe, hospital construction materials, insulation, gaskets,
pump packing, and many other types of service. Exhibits 6, 7, 8 and 9 include some representative examples.
Some of you are no doubt asking yourselves, “Isn’t it a contradiction that these agencies said asbestos is an inhalation hazard, but they approved and specified its use?” The answer is no, it’s not a contradiction.
In the regulatory world of the mid-to-late 20th century, asbestos was one of thousands of materials in regular
and approved use in American industry that posed health hazards unless proper precautions were taken. Thus
OSHA, US PHS, and, as we shall see, state and municipal regulatory agencies imposed air quality standards
for asbestos, but continued to specify the mineral in approved assemblies almost until the end of the century.
The dates by which this approval was withdrawn differed, unsurprisingly, by jurisdiction. Where “equivalent” materials or assemblies were permitted, proof of equivalence could only be obtained by certification by a
nationally-accredited testing laboratory, such as Factory Mutual or Underwriters’ Laboratories.
The Federal government, for example, entered the housing market in the 1920s and remained a
major player through the 20th century, partly through construction standards for Federal buildings, Federallyfinanced projects such as college and university buildings, Hill-Burton Act hospitals, and, in the 1960s and
1970s, housing projects financed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (Exhibits 10, 11 and
12). Between 1934 and 2009, the Federal Housing Administration insured the mortgages of about 34 million
properties that met the agency’s insurability standards. The Veterans Administration underwrote 18 million
home loans after World War II. For all of these between 1943 and 1985, the provisions of the National Board
of Fire Underwriters (NBFU) building code applied, including its requirements and specifications for asbestos (Exhibit). The incorporation of the NBFU code into federal home mortgage underwriting requirements
made the NBFU’s requirements and specifications for asbestos a nearly universal national standard in residential construction (Exhibit 14). Military construction also used codes and standards specifying and approving
asbestos (Exhibit 13)
III. Asbestos in State Regulations
Every state in the Union that had a state building code before 1990 incorporated into it specification
for asbestos. Most incorporated national standards like the Table of Clearances from NFPA 31, 54 and 90a and
44 ❖ Asbestos Medicine Seminar ❖ November 2012
b. California, for example, established a state building code in 1961 that incorporated hundreds of specifications for asbestos in electrical and thermal insulation, fire-resistive construction, sewer and water pipe, and
many other types of service (Calif. Health and Safety §17922, Exhibit 17). The California Housing Code of
1963 specified asbestos, as did the California Plumbing Code of 1992 (Exhibit15). Whether you’re a premises
or a product defendant, take a careful look at state and local codes, and the consensus standards incorporated
into them, for the period at issue.
In some states, compliance with a national standard or code is a defense to negligence. This the case
in Tennessee, for example (see Clarksville-Montgomery County School System v United States Gypsum Company, no. 89-6325, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 925 F.2d 993; 1991 U.S. App. Lexis 2758).
IV. Asbestos in Municipal and County Codes
Even in states that have state codes, cities, and sometimes counties as well, are usually permitted
to promulgate stricter code than that of the state. In densely populated areas like New York City, Chicago,
Boston, and Philadelphia, asbestos was specified in many types of service through most of the 20th century.
Exhibit 18, for example, is a page from the 1991 City of Chicago Building Code; Exhibit 19 is from the New
York City code of 1996-97. The tables of clearances from combustible construction in both of them are drawn
from NFPA standards 31, 54, and 90b.
V. Insurance Codes
I have mentioned that fire and property insurers imposed codes. As you know, insurance was and
is required for mortgage financing. The national standard for this purpose was the model code that the Federal government and some states and localities used, the National Board of Fire Underwriters code, later the
American Insurance Association. This code specified, approved and sometimes required the use of asbestos.
VI. Standards Development by the Consensus Process
Building codes across the United States included specifications for asbestos in building construction,
electrical assemblies, plumbing, underground and process pipe, theater safety curtains, and dozens of other
types of service. Developed by the technical committees of about 200 different U.S. and international engineering and safety organizations, these standards continued to specify asbestos through the 1980s in approved
assemblies for which alternative materials failed the tests specified in the standard.
A number of national standards were incorporated into OSHA by ANSI designation, which certified
that they were developed by due process. Originally a coalition of five engineering organizations with the U.S.
Departments of War, Navy and Commerce established in 1919, ANSI defines “Due Process” as follows”
• consensus on a proposed standard by a group or “consensus body” that includes representatives
from materially affected and interested parties;
• broad-based public review and comment on draft standards;
• consideration of and response to comments submitted by voting members of the relevant consensus body and by public review commenters;
• incorporation of approved changes into a draft standard; and
• right to appeal by any participant that believes that due process principles were not sufficiently
respected during the standards development in accordance with the ANSI-accredited procedures
of the standards developer.
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required: Asbestos in Building Codes and... ❖ Maines ❖ 45
This definition of “due process” with respect to consensus standards has withstood a number of legal
challenges, including suits filed after hundreds of them were incorporated into OSHA rules and regulations
1971. The constitutionality of this kind of incorporation of standards has been consistently upheld by the
courts.
The National Electrical Code (NEC), for example, sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association, began its long and still-ongoing process of triennial revision in 1890, and was backed by nearly a century
of experience as the adopted building law of thousands of U.S. jurisdictions when the 1968 edition was incorporated into the OSHA rules in 1971. This edition of the NEC specified asbestos 50 times; the 1971 edition
incorporated by reference into the 1987 OSHA rules included 53 specifications for asbestos (Exhibit 20).
Another example of the development of a standard incorporated into OSHA’s rules and regulations,
as well as nearly every other building code jurisdiction in the 20th century United States, was NFPA 54, which
governed the installation and maintenance of gas-fired heating equipment. The National Fire Protection Association first developed a standard for connections to city gas in 1920; and in 1928, the American Gas Association (AGA) promulgated a standard for gas pipe in residences. In 1950, the NFPA and AGA collaborated on
the first edition of NFPA 54, which was nationally accredited as ASA (later ANSI) Z21.30, American Standard
Installation of Gas Appliances and Piping in Buildings. This standard included a list of approved heating equipment insulation assemblies developed during World War II, the “Table of Clearances from Combustible Construction with Specified Forms of Protection.” Of nine approved insulation assemblies in the Table, eight
contained asbestos, including “rock wool bats,” which included asbestos as a binder. Already in force in thousands of local and state jurisdictions, NFPA 54-1969’s incorporation into the OSHA rules made the Table a
national, Federally-enforceable standard in workplaces. The Table was revised and updated at regular intervals
through 1990.
So where do national standards like NFPA 54 and the ASME Boiler Code come from? Who writes
them? Can the plaintiff bar claim that “the asbestos industry” exerted undue pressure on the technical committees that wrote and revised the codes and standards? They can and do try, but it’s a tough case to make.
Here’s why:
• The asbestos industry, properly so-called, rarely had any representation at all on any of the relevant technical committees. It was, for one thing, too small: at the peak of its prosperity and
expansion in 1973, the U.S. asbestos industry accounted for two-tenths of a percent of all manufacturing employment, and a corresponding two-tenths of a percent of the value of all manufacturing shipments. It’s hard to see how this tiny economic sector could have controlled the other
99.8 percent of manufacturing, let alone the technical committees (Exhibit 5).
• There are dozens of standards development organizations, with hundreds of technical committees. Membership on these committees changes every few years.
• Most importantly, there are standards for codemaking. Manufacturing industry is, and has been
since the early 20th century, limited by rule to a 30 percent minority on technical committees.
Other interests represented include labor unions, academics, Federal, state and local governments, the insurance industry (Exhibit 21). The Federal government, especially the military
and the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), now called NIST, is and always has been the 800pound gorilla on these committees. It was the NBS, for example, that established by 1922 that
asbestos in brake lining was the only available material that would stop a motor vehicle within
an acceptable distance (Exhibit 22). The same agency tested asbestos-cement pipe for 13 years
(1937-1950), in cooperation with the U.S. Public Health Service, which approved a-c pipe in the
National Plumbing Code in 1940.
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VII. What Does This Mean for Defendants?
• If your defense strategy currently includes denying or casting doubt on the proposition that there
was asbestos in your product or on your premises, this would be a very good time to reconsider
it. If asbestos was specified in the building codes and/or engineering standards of the jurisdiction at issue, at the time of the alleged exposure, on the one hand, plaintiff counsel will rightly
consider this to be confirmatory evidence that asbestos was present in the working environment. On the other hand, it forces plaintiff counsel into the awkward position of arguing that
compliance, and/or enabling compliance, with building laws, regulations and national consensus
standards constitute negligence and breach of warranty. As far as I’m aware, no plaintiff firm has
elected to go to trial with this kind of argument.
• Codes and standards apply to an astonishingly broad range of products and installed assemblies.
Virtually any installation involving electricity, heat, gas, water, or sewage is and was regulated
by national standards. 93,000 national standards are in current use in the United States. You can
safely assume that one or more of them is or was relevant to your product or premises. Premises
defendants should look first for a state code for their jurisdiction, then for county and municipal codes. After 1971, OSHA’s rules and regulations, including the incorporated specifications
for asbestos, applied to all workplaces. Those of you who were members of the National Safety
Council will want to get copies of the many NSC codes and standards that specified asbestos.
• Building codes and engineering standards are complex and voluminous. Many standards incorporate other standards by reference. Be prepared to invest in new research. Allow your researchers and experts as much time as you can to gather documents. Experts on codes and standards
need to know the jurisdiction of the alleged exposure and the range of dates, as most codes and
standards are updated on a regular basis. In states that adopted state building codes, the state
library usually has an archive of the relevant codes and standards.
• Investigate the possibility of retired building officials, insurance-company fire inspectors, and
similar professionals as experts. The Federal Housing Administration, for example, had inspectors in field offices all over the United States and its territories between 1937 and 1985. The International Code Council, formerly Building Officials and Code Administrators (BOCA), can
direct you to experts in 20th century building inspection.
• Many plaintiffs, especially those who were or are members of trade unions, are familiar with the
provisions of the state and local building codes. To plumbers, pipefitters and electricians who
have spent many years in the work force, for example, code-checking and inspections for compliance are or were a familiar routine. Deposition questions can bring out their knowledge that
asbestos was specified and approved by the authorities having jurisdiction.
• Don’t hesitate to question the mythology. Take, for example, the popular canard that asbestos
was used because it was cheap. As Exhibit 23 shows, this is patently false. Another such error
is the Castlemanian claim that OSHA required warning labels on asbestos-containing products
and/or their packages in 1972. The agency, in fact, did not even seek this authority until 1981,
and its labeling standard for products entering the stream of commerce became effective 25
November 1985, after 11 years and thousands of pages of Congressional hearings (Exhibit 24).
The plaintiff bar asserts that Asbestos magazine was “widely distributed” at the time of the Sumner Simpson letters. This too is false and readily refutable using circulation and library holdings
data (Exhibit 25). Other such myths abound in asbestos litigation.
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required: Asbestos in Building Codes and... ❖ Maines ❖ 47
In short, many of you have more defense resources available to you than you’re currently using.
Asbestos defendants incorporated the mineral into products and installed assemblies, not because it was profitable to do so, but because it was the material that passed standard engineering performance tests developed
by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), Underwriters’ Laboratories, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM), the National Board of Fire Underwriters
(NBFU), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS), and
dozens of other organizations concerned with safety and health. Thousands of engineering and public policy
documents are available that support the claim that asbestos was specified and approved by Federal, state
and local administrative law, including OSHA rules and regulations, before 1990. If you’re not using these
resources, it’s a good time to start.
VIII.Exhibits
Rights and Permissions
• Federal publications are not copyright.
• The right to reproduce building codes and standards affirmatively adopted as law was upheld in
Veeck v. Southern Standard Building Code Congress, 2002.
• Exhibit 22 was published before 1926 and is now out of copyright.
• Exhibit 25 is reproduced by permission of the H.W. Wilson Company.
48 ❖ Asbestos Medicine Seminar ❖ November 2012
Maines
13
Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 1: Specifications for asbestos in text of OSHA rules and regulations 1987
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required: Asbestos in Building Codes and... ❖ Maines ❖ 49
50 ❖ Asbestos Medicine Seminar ❖ November 2012
14
Specified, Approved, and Required
ANSI
ANSI
ANSI
ANSI Z9.11969
ANSI Z9.11951
ANSI Z9.31970
ANSI
ANSI
ASA/ANSI
ASA/ANSI
A58.1-1955
ANSI Z9.41968
ANSI Z21.301964
ANSI
ACGIH
AAI-RMA
SDO
ANSI A40.8 1955
Standard
Specifications for
Anhydrous Ammonia
hose
Industrial Ventilation
9th edition 1966
National Plumbing
Code
Minimum design
loads in buildings and
other structures
Practices for
ventilation and
operation of opensurface tanks
Safety code for
ventilation and
operation of opensurface tanks
Safety code for
design, construction &
ventilation of spray
finishing
Ventilation and Safe
Practices of Abrasive
Blasting Operations
Standard for the
Installation of Gas
Title
264
139, 246
99
261
N/A
22 (b and c)
1910.143
94
111
OSHA 1971
29 CFR 1910
Section(s)
265
94, 99,137, 139
94, 99
94
94
35
N/A
N/A
111
OSHA 1987
29 CFR 1910
Section(s)
Abrasive materials for blasting
(with PEL)
Thermal insulation, heat
shielding
Thermal insulation, heat
shielding
Asbestos cement duct and tube
Asbestos cement duct and tube
Asbestos roof coverings
Heat shielding, air filters
Asbestos-cement and
bituminized fiber pipe
Fiber reinforcement of hose
Asbestos specification(s)
Exhibit 2: Specifications for asbestos in engineering standards incorporated into OSHA Rules and Regulations, 1971 and 1987
Maines
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required: Asbestos in Building Codes and... ❖ Maines ❖ 51
ASTM/ANSI
NFPA
NFPA
NFPA
NFPA
ASTM D-2155
1966
NFPA 11-1970
NFPA 13-1961
NFPA 16-1968
NFPA 20-1970
API/ASME
ASME Boiler
Code 1970
USAS/ASME
API
API 650 1966
API/ASME
ANSI/USAS
USAS B31.11967
API/ASME
Code 1951
ANSI B31.11967
ANSI/USAS
ASA/ANSI/ASME
ASA B31.11955
USAS Z49.11967
Maines
Fuel Gas Piping
Test method for
autoignition
temperature of liquid
petroleum
Standard for Foam
Extinguishing
Systems
Standard for the
Installation of
Sprinkler Systems
Standard for the
Installation of FoamWater Sprinkler
Systems
Standard for the
Boiler and Pressure
Vessel Code Section
VIII
Unfired Pressure
Vessels for Petroleum
Liquids and Gases
Standard Code for
Pressure Piping
Welded Steel Tanks
for Oil Storage
Appliances and Gas
Piping
Code for Pressure
Piping
Safety in Welding and
Cutting
160, 163
Appendices B and
Appendix C
107, 109 159,
165a, 177
N/A
156
Appendix C
N/A
261 (1968)
110
102, 103, 104, 106,
107, 110, 111, 169,
217, 261, 262, 263
106
Asbestos cement pipe lining
Asbestos cement pipe
Underground pipe coating
Porous asbestos tubes
Asbestos-cement board
(transite)
Gaskets
Gaskets and seals
Gaskets and seals
Gaskets
Gaskets
Gaskets
Spark shielding, protective
clothing
Specified, Approved, and Required
103, 104, 105, 252
252, 253
21
108
324
106
110, 168
106
103, 104, 106,
107, 110, 111,
168, 169, 261,
262
252
103, 104, 106,
218, 252, 261,
264
106
15
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NFPA
NFPA
NFPA
NFPA
NFPA
NFPA/NBFU
NFPA/ANSI
NFPA
NFPA
NFPA/ANSI
NFPA
NFPA
NFPA 22-1970
NFPA 24-1970
NFPA 31-1968
NFPA 33-1969
NFPA 51b-1962
NFPA/NBFU
54-1969
NFPA 70-1968
NFPA 70-1971
NFPA 86A1969
NFPA 91-1961
NFPA 91-1969
NFPA 96-1970
Maines
Installation of
Centrifugal Fire
Pumps
Standard for Water
Tanks for Private Fire
Protection
Standard for Outside
Protection
Standard for
Installation of OilBurning Equipment
Spray Finishing Using
Flammable and
Combustible Materials
Cutting and Welding
Processes
Installation of Gas
Appliances and Gas
Piping
National Electrical
Code (ANSI C-11968)
National Electrical
Code
Standard for Ovens
and Furnaces: Design,
Location and
Equipment
Blower and exhaust
systems (ANSI Z33.1)
Standard for the
Installation of Blower
and Exhaust Systems
Ventilation of
Cooking Equipment
110
108
108
110
94, 261, 265
107, 108
N/A
66, 68, 94, 103,
110, 178
265
253
94, 99, 115
N/A
Appendix B
Thermal insulation
Duct insulation, rope seals,
asbestos cement duct
Asbestos rope duct seals
Duct insulation, rope seals,
asbestos cement duct
Electrical insulation, asbestos
cement conduit
Electrical insulation, asbestos
cement conduit
Heat shielding
Thermal insulation, heat
shielding, asbestos cement
vents
Heat shielding
Thermal insulation, heat
shielding
Asbestos cement pipe
Joint packing, gaskets, roof
covering
Specified, Approved, and Required
Appendices B and
C
C
94, 107
108
N/A
110
68, 94, 143, 177,
178, 309, 314,
320, 322, 330
253
94, 115
263
156, 177
156, 158
16
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required: Asbestos in Building Codes and... ❖ Maines ❖ 53
NFPA
NFPA
CGA
NFPA 251-1969
CGA P-1
NFPA
NFPA 203M1970
NFPA 220-1969
(1961)
Maines
Manual of Roof
Coverings
Standard Types of
Building Construction
Fire Tests of Building
Construction
Materials
Safe Handling of
Compressed Gases
101
106
103
109
17
102
106
103
109
Asbestos gloves
Asbestos cement board and
millboard, pads
Roof coverings
Incombustible construction
materials
Specified, Approved, and Required
Maines
18
Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 3: Consensus standard clause in OSHA enabling legislation, PL 91-596 1970
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19
Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 4: Terms of Art--Definitions of Codes, Standards, Consensus, Specifications and
Assemblies
Assembly: According to the Oxford English Dictionary (2000), “The action or method of assembling a
machine or composite article; the parts so assembled.”
The definitions below are drawn from United States. Commerce Technical Advisory Board, and United
States. Office of the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Science and Technology. Report of the Panel
on Engineering and Commodity Standards of the Commerce Technical Advisory Board to the Assistant
Secretary for Science and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce. Washington: Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Science and Technology, 1965, as reproduced in United States. Congress. Senate.
Committee on Labor and Public Welfare. Subcommittee on Labor. Occupational Safety and Health Act,
1970 Hearings, Ninety-First Congress, First and Second Sessions, on S. 2193 and S. 2788. Washington:
U.S. Government Printing Office, 1970, part 1: 467.
“Code: A document setting forth requirements based on certain considerations, frequently health and
safety, and the criteria and standards against which compliance with the requirements is measured. It is
usually intended for impartial regulation of an area of activity. The most important codes are those
promulgated by government (Federal, state or local), thereby achieving the force of law.
Consensus: In standardization practice a consensus is achieved when substantial agreement is reached by
concerned interests according to the judgment of a duly appointed authority. Consensus implies much
more than the concept of a simple majority but not necessarily unanimity.
Specification: A document setting forth in detail pertinent defining characteristics of a product, such as
performance, chemical composition, physical properties, dimensions, color, etc.; giving or referencing the
standards by which the correspondence to the define characteristics is to be measured; and prepared for
use in, or to form the basis for, an agreement between negotiating parties.
Standard: A document, or an object for physical comparison, to define properties, processes,
dimensions, materials, relationships, concepts, nomenclature or test methods.”
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required: Asbestos in Building Codes and... ❖ Maines ❖ 55
Maines
20
Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 5: The asbestos industry according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1972
56 ❖ Asbestos Medicine Seminar ❖ November 2012
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21
Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 6: Examples of Specifications for Asbestos in Publications of the U.S. Public Health Service
United States. Public Health Service. Division of
Environmental Engineering and Food Protection. Manual
of Individual Water Supply Systems, 1962.
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required: Asbestos in Building Codes and... ❖ Maines ❖ 57
Maines
22
Specified, Approved, and Required
United States. Public Health Service.
Report of Public Health Service
Technical Committee on Plumbing
Standards: A Proposed Revision of the
National Plumbing Code ASA A40.81955, 1962.
United States. Public Health Service. Division of
Engineering Services. Manual of Septic Tank
Practice, 1967
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23
Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 7: U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Public Health Service. Division of
Hospital and Medical Facilities. General Standards of Construction and Equipment for Hospitals
and Medical Facilities. Public Health Service Publication No. 930-a-7, 1967.
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required: Asbestos in Building Codes and... ❖ Maines ❖ 59
Maines
24
Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 8: Asbestos in U.S. Public Health Service, Basic Housing Inspection, 1970
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25
Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 9: United States. Public Health Service. Division of Hospital and Medical Facilities.
General Standards of Construction and Equipment for Hospital and Medical Facilities: LongTerm Care Facilities, 1962.
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required: Asbestos in Building Codes and... ❖ Maines ❖ 61
Maines
26
Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 10: United States. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. Design and
Construction Standards: Housing, 1969.
62 ❖ Asbestos Medicine Seminar ❖ November 2012
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Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 11: United States. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, HUD Minimum
Property Standards, 1973.
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required: Asbestos in Building Codes and... ❖ Maines ❖ 63
Maines
28
Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 12: United States. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. Office of Housing.
Minimum Property Standards for Multifamily Housing, 1984.
64 ❖ Asbestos Medicine Seminar ❖ November 2012
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Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 13: United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Engineering and Design:
Basic Criteria and Construction Standards for Army Facilities, 1963.
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required: Asbestos in Building Codes and... ❖ Maines ❖ 65
Maines
30
Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 14: Construction details of an approved chimney assembly, from United States. Federal
Housing Administration. Minimum property requirements for properties of one or two living units
located in the states of Maryland and Virginia and the District of Columbia. Washington DC: FHA,
1952.
66 ❖ Asbestos Medicine Seminar ❖ November 2012
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Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 15: California Building Standards Commission and International Association of
Plumbing and Mechanical Officials. Uniform Plumbing Code. California Plumbing Code, 1991 ed.
Sacramento and Whittier CA: California Building Standards Commission and International
Conference of Building Officials, 1992.
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required: Asbestos in Building Codes and... ❖ Maines ❖ 67
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32
Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 17: State of California, Health and Safety Code. Division 13: Housing, Part 1.5.
Regulation of Buildings used for Human Habitation Chapter 2. Rules and Regulations, 1961
§ 17922. Building standards and rules and regulations; Uniform codes
(a) Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, the building standards adopted and submitted
by the department for approval pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 18935) of Part 2.5,
and the other rules and regulations that are contained in Title 24 of the California Code of
Regulations, as adopted, amended, or repealed from time to time pursuant to this chapter shall be
adopted by reference, except that the building standards and rules and regulations shall include any
additions or deletions made by the department. The building standards and rules and regulations
shall impose substantially the same requirements as are contained in the most recent editions of the
following uniform industry codes as adopted by the organizations specified:
(1) The Uniform Housing Code of the International Conference of Building Officials, except its
definition of "substandard building."
(2) The Uniform Building Code of the International Conference of Building Officials.
(3) The Uniform Plumbing Code of the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical
Officials.
(4) The Uniform Mechanical Code of the International Conference of Building Officials and the
International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials.
(5) The National Electrical Code of the National Fire Protection Association.
(6) Appendix Chapter 1 of the Uniform Code for Building Conservation of the International
Conference of Building Officials.
HISTORY: Added Stats 1961 ch 1844 § 8. Amended Stats 1963 ch 441 § 1; Stats 1965 ch 345 § 1;
Stats 1969 ch 820 § 1; Stats 1970 ch 1436 § 1; Stats 1972 ch 1224 § 2; Stats 1974 ch 1268 § 4; Stats
1977 ch 847 § 3; Stats 1979 ch 62 § 4, effective May 14, 1979, ch 434 § 3, ch 1152 § 66; Stats 1983
ch 101 § 127, ch 129 § 1; Stats 1984 ch 908 § 1; Stats 1991 ch 173 § 1 (AB 204); Stats 2001 ch 159
§ 129 (SB 662).
1963 Amendment:
Prior to 1963 the section read: "The rules and regulations adopted, amended, or repealed from time
to time pursuant to this chapter shall include provisions imposing requirements equal to or more
restrictive than those contained in the Uniform Housing Code, 1958 edition, the Uniform Building
Code, 1961 edition, as adopted by the International Conference of Building Officials, the Uniform
Plumbing Code, 1958 edition, as adopted by the Western Plumbing Officials Association, and the
National Electrical Code, 1959 edition (1960 printing), as adopted by the National Fire Protection
Association. …”
68 ❖ Asbestos Medicine Seminar ❖ November 2012
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Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 18: Specifications and requirement for asbestos in City of Chicago Building Code, 199091
Required:
no other
assemblies
approved
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required: Asbestos in Building Codes and... ❖ Maines ❖ 69
Maines
34
Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 19: Reduced clearances for vent connectors, from New York (N.Y.). Building Code of the
City of New York: (Titles 26 and 27 of the Administrative Code) Including Building Code Reference
Standards and Rules of the City of New York. 1996-1997 ed. Binghamton, N.Y.: Gould
Publications, 1996.
70 ❖ Asbestos Medicine Seminar ❖ November 2012
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Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 20: Specifications for asbestos in approved electrical assemblies, from NPFA 70 National
Electrical Code 1971, as incorporated by reference into OSHA Rules and Regulations 1987.
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required: Asbestos in Building Codes and... ❖ Maines ❖ 71
Maines
36
Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 21: ANSI standard for balance of views representation on technical committees. ANSI rules
provide that not more than one third of the membership in a committee shall come from any one of
these categories.
1. Manufacturers of the product or the material
2. Employers who are purchasers or owners of the product
3. Employees affected by the safety standard; labor unions are represented on most technical
committees
4. Governmental bodies having regulatory power or influence over the field in question, especially
National Bureau of Standards (now NIST)
5. Specialists having expert knowledge in the field of the committee's work, representatives of
independent laboratories, or representatives of technical or other societies, including academics
6. Insurance interests
7. Installers and erectors
8. Utilities
9. Independent distributors and retailers
10. Consumer interests
72 ❖ Asbestos Medicine Seminar ❖ November 2012
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Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 22: By 1922, the National Bureau of Standards (U.S. Department of Commerce) had
established that asbestos was the only available brake lining material that would stop a motor vehicle
within an acceptable distance. Subsequent state brake safety legislation drew on this Federal testing
history.
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required: Asbestos in Building Codes and... ❖ Maines ❖ 73
Maines
38
Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 23: U.S. historical prices of thermal insulation materials and labor, representative years, 1957-1985
Compiled from Robert Snow Means Company. Building Construction Cost Data, Kingston, Mass.
Year
1957
1960
1965
1970
1975
1979
1985
ACM boiler
insulation with
½” magnesia or
calcium silicate,
per square foot
$1.85
$2.55
$1.59
$2.45
$5.90
$8.40
$12.50
ACM pipe
covering, 1”
thick, 85%
magnesia, per
linear foot for
1¼” pipe, with
fiberglass outer
jacketing
$0.98
$1.95
$1.05
$1.00
$1.94
$2.22
$3.14
Rock or mineral
wool batt
insulation, 3-4”
thick, per square
foot*
$0.12
$0.12
$0.12
$0.12
$0.18
$0.23
$0.50
Fiberglass,
blanket type, 1-4”
thick, per linear
foot*
$0.19
$0.32
$0.28
$0.10
$0.20
$0.25
$0.49
*Not code-compliant at this period for temperatures above 650°F for rock or mineral wool, and 600°F for fiberglass.
74 ❖ Asbestos Medicine Seminar ❖ November 2012
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Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 24: Representative examples of Congressional hearings and other documents on OSHA’s
proposed Hazard Communication Standard, 1974-1986
In chronological order
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. An Identification System for Occupationally
Hazardous Materials: A Recommended Standard. HEW Publication. Cincinnati: U. S. Dept. of Health,
Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Center for Disease Control, National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health: Washington, 1974.
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Manpower and Housing
Subcommittee. Control of Toxic Substances in the Workplace Hearings before a Subcommittee of the
Committee on Government Operations, House of Representatives, Ninety-Fourth Congress, Second
Session, May 11, 12, and 18, 1976. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1976, especially the testimony of
Dr. John F. Finklea, NIOSH director, pp. 62-73.
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Manpower and Housing
Subcommittee. Performance of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Hearings before a
Subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations, House of Representatives, Ninety-Fifth
Congress, First Session, April 27 and 28, 1977. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Office, 1977, especially
the testimony of Dr. Eula Bingham, Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S.
Department of Labor, pp.95-103 and 145, and Dr. John F. Finklea, NIOSH director, pp.60-71.
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Manpower and Housing
Subcommittee. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, State Plans, Federal Agencies, and Toxic
Substance Identification Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations,
House of Representatives, Ninety-Fifth Congress, Second Session, September 14 and 19, 1978.
Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Office, 1979, especially the testimony of Dr. Eula Bingham, Assistant
Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S. Department of Labor, pp.40-71.
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Education and Labor. Subcommittee on Health and
Safety. OSHA Oversight Hearings on Proposed Rules on Hazards Identification: Hearings before the
Subcommittee on Health and Safety of the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives,
Ninety-Seventh Congress, First Session, Hearings Held in Washington, D.C., on April 7, 28; May 19, 27;
July 8, 14, 21; and October 6, 198[1]. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1981, especially the testimony of Ray
Denison, AFL-CIO, pp.1-4.
U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. "29 CFR Part 1910: Hazard Communication,"
Federal Register 48, no. 228 (1983): 53280-348, especially pp.: 53280-53282.
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Education and Labor. Subcommittee on Health and
Safety. OSHA Hearings--State Staffing Levels and OSHA Hazard Communication Standards: Hearings
before the Subcommittee on Health and Safety of the Committee on Education and Labor, House of
Representatives, Ninety-Eighth Congress, Second Session, on H.J. Res. 319 ... and H.J. Res. 514,
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required: Asbestos in Building Codes and... ❖ Maines ❖ 75
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Specified, Approved, and Required
Hearings Held in Washington, DC, on June 6, 26, 1984. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1985, especially the
testimony of Jennifer Silk, OSHA health scientist, pp.102-122.
Hall, Stephen K. "Safety Tips: Labeling in Hazard Communication," Journal of Chemical Education 63,
no. 3 (March 1986): 225-28.
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Education and Labor. Subcommittee on Health and
Safety. OSHA Oversight--Worker Health and Safety in the Manufacture and Use of Toxic and Hazardous
Substances: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Health and Safety of the Committee on Education and
Labor, House of Representatives, Ninety-Ninth Congress, First Session, Hearings Held in Washington,
DC, on April 16 and 25 and May 1 and 8, 1985. Washington: U.S. G.P.O.,1986.
76 ❖ Asbestos Medicine Seminar ❖ November 2012
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Specified, Approved, and Required
Exhibit 25: Five North American libraries reported holdings of Asbestos Magazine in 1931.
Even the Theosophical Quarterly was more accessible, with nine library locations, as shown
below.
Asbestos—Specified, Approved and Required: Asbestos in Building Codes and... ❖ Maines ❖ 77