Grow ops and drug labs seem to be everywhere these days, from upscale homes to commercial warehouses.

Even with disclosure, due diligence and detective work, it’s often difficult to discover exactly what’s been done to a property. All in all, it’s still a case of buyer beware for the simple reason that there is often a lack of remediation standards.

Last autumn, the Alberta Real Estate Association (AREA) decided property buyers and owners deserved better.

They began by defining the enormity of the long-term health and safety problems caused by marijuana grow operations and methamphetamine labs. AREA identified:

• Primary hazards: (those causing immediate bodily harm), which include fire, explosions, booby traps, electrocutions, combustible gases, structural damage and ultraviolet light.
• Secondary hazards: mould, chemicals, including strong pesticides and fungicides, toxic vapours and hazardous materials.

AREA then reviewed existing remediation standards, and found:

• municipalities have different standards, procedures and guidance for remediation;
• a lack of procedures for properties that are so damaged they can’t be remediated to local standards;
• a lack of standards for safe levels of contaminants within Alberta, across provinces or nationally; and
• the technical expertise of those restoring and removing hazards varied and there was no credentialing system.

All of this pointed to a lack of consumer protection, further health and safety risks and liability concerns.

AREA’s objective

AREA’s objective was to develop a provincial set of recommendations for the assessment and remediation of properties formerly used as illegal drug operations.

The experts

AREA hired an architect and an environmental designer to develop provincial standards for assessing and rehabilitating properties seized as a result of illegal drug operations.

Who did they talk to?

AREA also talked to a wide range of stakeholders, including law enforcement agencies, health authorities, safety code officers, environmental consultants and REALTORS®.

What did they review?

They reviewed studies and documents from Canada Mortgage and Housing, Health Canada, the Canadian Construction Association, the Canadian Real Estate Association and many others in Canada and the U.S. They also looked at building codes, occupational health and safety codes, and guidelines from public health authorities.

AREA recommendations

AREA developed recommendations for roles and responsibilities, procedures, assessment, remediation, environmental clearance testing, education, communication and reporting.

Alberta REALTOR® position

AREA recommended that Alberta on its own or together with federal authorities, establish universal remediation standards by:

They put all of this information into a report, Recommendations for the Assessment and Remediation of Properties Used as Illegal Drug Operations, which is being presented by REALTORS® and AREA representatives to government and industry stakeholders for endorsement.

Read the report online at: www.areahub.ca/Members/media/main/AREA-Report_Final.pdf

Source: Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver