If parts of your building - for example the ceilings - have asbestos components and you want to change, upgrade or demolish them, you are obliged by law to employ a qualified asbestos removal contractor.

The owners of the two-storey building at 83 Bree Street have recently taken the step of converting it from storage and warehousing premises into a studio for film work.

They have had to arrange for the removal of about 100m2 of 20mm-thick asbestos ceiling insulation, most of it old and friable, so it is a health hazard when it is disturbed. 

Renovation experts Gordon Verhoef & Krause had to take precautionary measures prescribed by law. These included the submission of a work plan to the department of labour and isolating the work area. 

The company also had to use specialised site safety and disposal methods and work only with trained asbestos removal staff. 

Gordon Verhoef & Krause's quantity surveyor, Frans Bester, said the work had gone well.