Asbestos on an FHA multifamily loan

Section 9.6.2 of the Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP) Guide, issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), requires asbestos studies and information in the environmental report for an application for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) multifamily mortgage insurance. Structures built before 1989 are surveyed under a named ASTM practice. Where asbestos-containing material (ACM) is found or suspected, HUD requires a response action, and an operations and maintenance (O&M) program where any remains. This page rests on the 2020 MAP Guide, revision of March 19, 2021. Mortgagee Letter 2026-04, the only later letter or notice whose title touches the chapter as of October 9, 2026, changes no section cited here.

Who the rule binds

The application. The studies go in the environmental report under HUD's policy at 24 CFR 50.3(i) (MAP Guide, 9.6.2.B). No survey is required for an application categorically excluded and not subject to the laws and authorities that 24 CFR 50.4 lists (the guide's CENST level), under the exclusion for "Refinancing of HUD-insured mortgages that will not allow new construction or rehabilitation, nor result in any physical impacts or changes except for routine maintenance" (24 CFR 50.19(b)(21)). The guide encourages one even then (MAP Guide, 9.6.2.D, 9.6.2.E).
The asbestos professional. Every survey and sample analysis must be done by a licensed or accredited professional and laboratory. The professional's accreditation must come from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), or from a state program EPA has approved, under the Model Accreditation Plan, with a license from the state, city or local jurisdiction of the work where it requires one (MAP Guide, 9.6.2.H).
The abatement contractor must be qualified, with a supervisor trained under the standards of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and, if applicable, EPA, and workers trained under the OSHA standard (MAP Guide, 9.6.2.M).

What it asks

Surveys:

Built before 1989. Any structure or ancillary facility on the site must be assessed under ASTM E 2356-18, in its most recent edition in force (MAP Guide, 9.1.1.D), or under city, county or state requirements where those exceed it. The minimum is a Baseline Survey, or a stricter standard where the jurisdiction has one (MAP Guide, 9.6.2.F, 9.6.2.F.1). The guide describes it: most accessible spaces inspected, suspect materials bulk sampled, concealed spaces not normally breached (MAP Guide, 9.6.2.F.2).
Built before 1989 and planned for demolition or rehabilitation. A structure to be demolished, or rehabilitated beyond the repair level that MAP Guide Chapter 5, Section 5.1.3 defines, must have a survey by a qualified asbestos inspector under ASTM E 2356-18's requirements for a Pre-Construction Survey, or a stricter standard the jurisdiction applies. It must cover at least every space within the limits of construction and the adjacent areas where construction may disturb ACM. Destructive testing is required where construction will breach concealed spaces (MAP Guide, 9.6.2.F.3).
Which surveys. An accredited asbestos professional determines whether a project that does a Pre-Construction Survey needs a Baseline Survey as well, and whether it needs surveys beyond HUD's minimum (MAP Guide, 9.6.2.G).
Built in 1989 or later. HUD requires the project to report what it knows of asbestos use on the property, and to verify the roofing materials' composition by direct documentation such as receipts or labels or by sampling and analysis (MAP Guide, 9.6.2.F).
Earlier surveys. HUD may accept a prior survey done by a licensed professional and an accredited asbestos laboratory. Whether it applies and can be used rests with the current licensed or credentialed asbestos professional, or with HUD (MAP Guide, 9.6.2.I).

Response:

Response action. If ACM or suspected ACM is identified, HUD requires a response action, such as complete removal, limited removal or repair, encapsulation, enclosure, management under an O&M program, or a combination, as an accredited asbestos professional recommends (MAP Guide, 9.6.2.J).
O&M program. If ACM or suspected ACM remains after identification and any response action, the property shall have an asbestos O&M program (MAP Guide, 9.6.2.J). Where the abatement is permanent enclosure or encapsulation, or ongoing monitoring, with no removal, a qualified consultant or abatement contractor must prepare a separate O&M plan describing the maintenance procedures to follow while the hazard remains. A condition of the Firm Commitment shall require the borrower to follow it for as long as the mortgage is insured (MAP Guide, 9.6.21.A).
Abatement. All of it shall follow EPA's requirements at 40 CFR Part 61, subpart M, 40 CFR 61.145 in particular, OSHA's at 29 CFR 1926.1101, and any local, state, tribal or federal (LSTF) abatement and worker protection rules (MAP Guide, 9.6.2.M).
Cost. Abatement cost may go into the proposed mortgage loan, except where the structure is to be completely demolished (MAP Guide, 9.6.2.L).

Submission:

What is submitted. The surveys must be submitted with the application, in the environmental report. Where a survey finds asbestos, or its presence is assumed, an accredited asbestos professional's remediation plan must reach HUD, combining abatement and an O&M plan as appropriate, under EPA's web guidance on building asbestos O&M programs or a more protective LSTF requirement (MAP Guide, 9.6.2.K).
Records. The operator and owners should keep the survey reports, the O&M plans and updated records when material is later removed or identified (MAP Guide, 9.6.2.K).

What it means for the Phase I and the consultant

The regulation. HUD's policy sentence, quoted below, does not name asbestos. The 1989 line, the survey practice and the response actions are the guide's.
Outside the Phase I's scope. The standard lists asbestos-containing building materials, where unrelated to a release into the environment, among its non-scope considerations. It requires no assessment of them and lets user and environmental professional contract for additional services (E1527-21, 4.4, 13.1.2, 13.1.5.1).
What stays in. By the standard's appendix, asbestos-containing material buried in soil after demolition can lose the exclusion from the federal Superfund law that it had inside a standing structure (E1527-21, Appendix X6).
What the guide's Phase I section leaves here. The guide's contamination section, which holds its Phase I requirements, excludes contamination from building components that are in place, ACM among them, and points to section 9.6.2 (MAP Guide, 9.4.A).
The date. The guide's line is construction before 1989; the standard's site reconnaissance has the report describe structures, approximate age of buildings among its examples (E1527-21, 9.4, 9.4.7).

What the rule says

It is HUD policy that all property proposed for use in HUD programs be free of hazardous materials, contamination, toxic chemicals and gasses, and radioactive substances, where a hazard could affect the health and safety of occupants or conflict with the intended utilization of the property.

24 CFR 50.3(i)(1), edition revised as of April 1, 2025

This page is general reference for environmental professionals. It does not review any project. The regulation is the authority, and the determinations of HUD or of the entity responsible for the review govern.