Asbestos Survey & Inspection

Legislation

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 require the Dutyholder (see below) of all commercial (non-domestic) properties to identify and record the presence of asbestos containing materials (ACMs). These records should then be stored in an asbestos register and made available to staff and contractors where there is the potential for them to come into contact with the materals. In some instances, for example, the ACMs will be present in a boiler room, so, any staff that go in there must know of and have access to the asbestos register. Alternatively, ACMs may be present on the roof so you must show anyone the register before they start work in that area.

Who is responsible?

The legislation refers to the dutyholder as being responsible. Essentially, the dutyholder is the person or organisation that is responsible for staff (or contractors) that work in the building. In many instances there will be a number of dutyholders when, for example, a building is split into several tenanted areas. In this example each tenant will normally be responsible for their own area. The landlord will be responsible for the common areas such as the stairs, reception, toilets and lifts. This also applies to domestic buildings where the freeholder employs contractors to work in common areas such as lobbies, roofs and stairways.

Identification of asbestos

The most common (and safest) way to identify asbestos is to use a specialised asbestos survey organisation such as AMS. The alternative is to do it yourself but there are obvious dangers, not least that you may expose yourself to asbestos! Some asbestos survey companies (such as AMS) have been accredited by UKAS. This means that they follow a set international standard (ISO17020) and are regularly audited to ensure that their work meets the required quality.

AMS undertake Type 1,2 or 3 asbestos surveys to identify asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) at your property. The process involves taking small samples for analysis, photographing suspect materials, recording the condition and location of the materials and making notes about areas that were inaccessible. Our findings are published in a comprehensive report that will detail;

• The condition and location of asbestos containing materials
• Material risk assessments
• Recommended management actions
• Inaccessible areas

The type of asbestos survey dictates how intrusive the sampling will be i.e how much damage there will be. A type 1 asbestos survey is not destructive at all and the asbestos is identified visually. The risks of this are obvious and this type of survey is only usually sufficient where the building or area was built or refurbished after 1999 when asbestos was banned.

A type 2 asbestos survey involves taking samples of materials that are readily accessible without the need for destruction. This is the most common type of survey and the damage is  kept to a minimum

Finally, the type 3 survey is the most destructive and instrusive because all areas of the building (where practicable) are accessed even where there is a need to make holes or remove materials. This type of asbestos survey is typically carried out before demolition or refurbishment.

Management

• Preparation of asbestos registers
• Asbestos awareness training
• Planning and co-ordination of risk abatement works
• Periodical reinspection of materials

AMS can help you with all of these tasks and we provide a number of services and tools that will take away the associated headaches and help you to get on with managing your business. Why not contact us today?

See also; Asbestos awareness training , asbestos management software