Asbestos kills - get your surveys done now!

Do you have asbestos in your property? How do you know for certain?

The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 imposes a legal duty for each commercial property have a comprehensive asbestos register from May 2004, and for that register to be accurately maintained thereafter.

It further imposes a legal duty for each person or company 'responsible' for that non-domestic property to have a management plan in place to manage any asbestos within the premises. To do this requires a knowledge of what materials contain asbestos, where they may be located, what type of asbestos may be present, and how dangerous each product is. Additionally asbestos located must be assessed to consider the risk of fibre release.

The duty falls upon the 'Duty Holder' of the premises. The regulations state that the duty holder is the person or company maintaining and repairing all or part of the property, or who has control of the building. In most commercial properties that is the tenant as a condition of the lease, or the owner if working from that site. The landlord may be liable for any common parts of a multi-tenanted property, but usually the responsibility falls on the tenant company. Is that you? If so what have you done to comply with the regulations that became law in May 2004?

In my work as a independant qualified asbestos surveyor I am often told 'we don't have any asbestos'; said with belief I'm sure, but often completely wrong! To make that assumption with such a killer material is at best foolish, and possibly even criminal in the eyes of the enforcing authorities. Be very careful what you presume - you could be putting people's lives at risk.

Do you have any of these for example? Cement; Resins; Tiles; Lagging? If so you probably have an asbestos management issue to contend with.

Commercial insurers are now getting very strict on seeing evidence that the necessary duties under these new regulations have been carried out, the risk assessment and register produced, and that there is an active management plan to deal with any resulting asbestos found. Without it they may well refuse to insure you because they don't want to be liable for a large payout should someone you employ contract one of the killer asbestos diseases. How seriously would the refusal to renew your insurance affect your business? You may now also be refused commercial finance if you cannot produce the documentation, and you certainly won't be ale to let or sell your premises without a register.

For the first time in UK legislation there is now a requirement to 'prove a negative'. The regulations state that any material that cannot be confirmed not to be asbestos, must be presumed to contain it. This means that without a proper survey you may have to presume (and plan to manage) virtually all of your interior stud walls, ceilings, vinyl floor coverings etc, as well as any external sheeting, old guttering, and roofing materials. And that list is by no means exhaustive... That is a lot of work for someone. I can probably reduce that considerably by conducting a proper survey which should only cost a couple of hundred pounds in most cases, and even less for a smaller property. It will also produce the necessary paperwork for your insurers. What do you have to lose compared to what you will gain?

I will carry out a completely independent survey of your premises. I mention that simply as many surveyors also work for asbestos removal companies; the outcome of such surveys may therefore be less inclined to leave material in situ perhaps? I work for no-one except myself, and do not undertake asbestos removal work only surveying, so I will tell you as I see it rather than with any future work in mind. I am fully qualified to HSE standards, and a holder of the necessary P402 accreditation for bulk surveying techniques.

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.