Asbestos Surveys
The legislation regarding asbestos is clear. Every commercial premises in the UK should by now have been subject to an asbestos survey report and measures taken to manage any materials containing asbestos. Your failure to have this information and a management plan in place could result in prosecution by the HSE.
UK Building Compliance provide the two most common types of surveys.
- Type 1: Location and assessment survey (presumptive survey)
The purpose of the survey is to locate, as far as reasonably practicable, the presence and extent of any suspect asbestos containing materials in the building and assess their condition. This survey essentially defers the need to sample and analyse for Asbestos until a later time. The duty holder bears potential additional costs, both financial and management in terms of time, for some non-asbestos containing materials. All areas should be accessed and inspected as far as is reasonably practicable, (e.g. above false ceilings and inside risers, service ducts, lift shafts, etc) Any suspected material must be presumed to contain Asbestos until proven different.
- Type 2: Standard sampling, identification and assessment survey (sampling survey)
The purpose and procedures used in this survey are the same for Type 1, except that representative samples are collected and analysed for the presence of Asbestos from suspected materials. Samples from each type of suspected ACM (Asbestos Contaminated Material) found are collected and analysed to confirm or refute the surveyors judgment. The number of samples should be sufficient for the surveyor to make an assessment of whether Asbestos is or is not present. Sampling is normally carried out simultaneously with the survey, or can be carried out as part of a separate exercise after a Type 1 survey has been carried out.
We can also provide Asbestos Registers
An asbestos register is a document that contains information about asbestos identified within an organisation or building. It differs from an asbestos survey in that it is a working document that changes as and when the status of your asbestos containing materials changes. For example, if you remove or repair a material then the asbestos register should reflect this. Typically an asbestos register will be an electronic document such as a spreadsheet but there are numerous asbestos register software packages available to manage larger registers.
It is important that the information held within your asbestos register is made available to anyone likely to come into contact with asbestos within your property. This may be your own staff or it may be a contractor carrying out works on your behalf. This is why it is important to maintain the document and keep it up-to-date.
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