CertainTeed Corporation

CertainTeed’s History With Asbestos

From the 1930s through 1993, CertainTeed produced many products that incorporated asbestos, including cement pipes, roof coatings and other construction materials. During this time, asbestos was an affordable mineral that was added to many construction materials to make them stronger and resistant to heat.

CertainTeed’s asbestos-containing products were used in a variety of industries beyond construction, including shipbuilding and water utilities. Many workers in these industries developed asbestos-related diseases, such as mesothelioma, and sued CertainTeed for compensation to cover lost wages and medical costs.

Since 2002, the company’s asbestos liabilities have cost it more than $2 billion. Until 2020, CertainTeed was handling its asbestos liabilities on an annual basis to avoid resorting to bankruptcy. Under the weight of 60,000 outstanding asbestos lawsuits, 3,200 of which were in active litigation, the company restructured and created a division that filed for bankruptcy.

Development of the CertainTeed Asbestos Trust

In October 2019, the company underwent a restructuring that established two business entities: DBMP LLC and CertainTeed LLC. The restructuring allocated all of CertainTeed’s asbestos liabilities to DBMP, which filed for bankruptcy on Jan. 23, 2020. 

This action allowed CertainTeed to continue operations without involvement in DBMP’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. DBMP’s filing listed debt and assets of as much as $1 billion. Bankruptcy proceedings will soon establish how much money will go into a trust fund to handle current and future asbestos claims.

Asbestos Litigation Involving CertainTeed

CertainTeed was listed as a defendant in tens of thousands of asbestos lawsuits in recent decades. In 2017, plaintiffs filed 3,100 asbestos claims against the company, and another 2,600 were filed in 2018. CertainTeed has paid out millions in settlements and verdict awards, including at least one nine-figure court loss.

Asbestos Lawsuits Filed Against CertainTeed

• $208.8 million: Rhonda Evans, the wife of a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power employee of 25 years, developed mesothelioma from washing her husband’s work clothes for 25 years. He had worked with CertainTeed’s asbestos-containing products.  A Central District Los Angeles Superior Court jury gave Evans this verdict amount in April 2010.
• $40 million: Central Wesleyan College (now Southern Wesleyan University) in Central, South Carolina, filed a lawsuit on behalf of a class of public and private colleges and universities in 1987 over property damage from asbestos in their facilities. Settlements in the case reached an aggregate of more than $40 million. At least 30 lawsuits went to trial, with results split between property owners and defendants, and about 14,000 claims were left pending against CertainTeed.
• $3.4 million: Ralph Pierce, a retired machine operator and supervisor, was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2003 after working with CertainTeed’s asbestos cement pipes. He worked at the West Contra Costa County Wastewater District from 1972 to 1997. A San Francisco jury gave him this award in May 2005.

CertainTeed’s Asbestos Products

CertainTeed’s asbestos products contained between 4% and 29% asbestos. The company used chrysotile asbestos and crocidolite asbestos. Crocidolite is considered even more carcinogenic than chrysotile.

CertainTeed Brand Asbestos Products

• Asbestos cement sheets
• Asbestos base flashing
• Asbestos cap sheet
• Asbestos roof coating
• Asbestos cement pipe
• Asphalt foundation coating
• Base sheet
• Blind nailing cement
• Cold process asphalt
• Cold process cement
• Flexible trainline
• Fluid-tite
• Joint treating compound
• Plastic cement
• Sealing cement
• Stabilized roof coating
• Wet seal plastic cement

CertainTeed employees and workers who used these products on the job were exposed when CertainTeed’s products were repaired, maintained, removed or disturbed in any way that released asbestos fibers into the air.

Occupational exposure is one of the leading causes of death associated with asbestos. A 2022 European Commission report noted that in 2019 alone, more than 70,000 workers died from past exposure to asbestos.

CertainTeed Occupations at Risk

Many workers were at risk of exposure to asbestos through their jobs involving CertainTeed’s products. These occupations often involved handling materials that contained asbestos, putting workers in direct contact with harmful fibers. 

Higher-Risk Occupations

• Construction workers
• Demolition workers
• Home repair workers
• Insulators
• Painters
• Pipefitters
• Plumbers
• Road workers
• Roofers
• U.S. Navy veterans

Employees at CertainTeed manufacturing plants faced higher levels of asbestos exposure. Several of these plants are now U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-managed Superfund sites. Notable locations include: Ambler, Pennsylvania; St. Louis, Missouri; and Alviso, California. Residents living near these plants have also been diagnosed with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases from environmental contamination.

CertainTeed’s History

George M. Brown originally founded the company in 1904 as the General Roofing Manufacturing Company. Taking inspiration from its slogan, “Quality made certain, satisfaction guaranteed,” it changed its name to CertainTeed in 1917. In 1988, CertainTeed became a wholly owned subsidiary of Saint-Gobain, which is one of the world’s largest building materials manufacturers.

Today, CertainTeed remains a leading construction materials company in the U.S., producing roofing, siding, trim, fencing, foundations, windows, insulation, pipes, ceilings and other related products. The company also invests in creating environmentally friendly building materials. It employs approximately 6,300 people across 60 facilities in the U.S. and Canada.

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