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Are you a Duty Holder for your premises?
The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 (for which there is a legal requirement to comply fully with since May 2004!) lays down a legal duty for each commercial (non-domestic) property to have an asbestos register compiled and maintained, and for any resulting asbestos found (or presumed) to be properly managed. A comprehensive risk analysis must also be carried out to understand and control the possible release of asbestos fibres.
The duty falls upon the 'Duty Holder' of the premises. In very few cases is that the landlord! Too many companies are making the mistake of presuming the landlord will come along and remove asbestos from their properties - that is highly unlikely to happen..
The regulations state that the duty holder is the person or company liable for the upkeep and repair to the property, and in most commercial leases that is the tenant. If you own your own commercial property and are trading from there it is definitely you.
You can offset some of the responsibility for managing the problem to a third party company (such as PJ Facilities), but you are never legally discharged from being the duty holder unless you sell or vacate the premises. When employing an asbestos surveyor, it is essential you make sure they hold the necessary certification for this work which is a P402 qualification.
As a duty holder it is your responsibility to provide the necessary documentation to satisfy the enforcing authorities (or risk prosecution). You will also have to provide evidence of a management program to your commercial insurer (probably on your next renewal), and also to any finance company if you have a commercial loan or mortgage. Have you done this yet?
I can produce all the necessary paperwork for you, and assist you to prepare a management plan, at a very reasonable cost. A likely expense of a couple of hundred pounds for a medium size business premises for complete peace of mind, compared to a fine in the thousands potentially for doing nothing?
If I can be of assistance with your asbestos inspections or surveys, please call me on 0870 4422 037, or email to asbestos@pjfacilities.co.uk.
Related asbestos issues:
What is asbestos?
What do I have to do?
What are the risks?
What products contain asbestos?
