Last month, the board said it did not expect the cost of managing the hazard to be much more than about $1.3million. Asked about the figure later, facilities and site development manager Warren Taylor said he had not known about the cost increase, but it was not particularly surprising. ‘‘We're discovering things all the time. That's the nature of old buildings.''
Work undertaken included decontaminating lifts in the clinical services building which reopened recently after being closed last October. Many organisations were in a similar position at present. ‘‘Asbestos awareness has changed dramatically in the last 12 months, with the new [health and safety] Act coming in''.
The board recently contracted Precise Consulting and Laboratory Ltd for a three-year contract to help manage its asbestos problem.
The company conducted the board's asbestos surveys and other asbestos work, but the three-year contract was the first time the board had had an ongoing agreement for asbestos management. It meant Precise could be called in at short notice as issues arose. Precise does not carry out asbestos removal. Asked if the high demand for asbestos management in Dunedin was pushing up contractors' prices, Mr Taylor said that was likely.
Although it is not the only affected building, much of the focus has been the clinical services building, which will be replaced within the next decade. ‘‘That's why we closely monitor every single dollar we spend in that building on maintenance, asbestos removal, anything like that.''
‘‘We don't want to waste money on a building that's not fit for purpose,'' Mr Taylor said.
