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Asbestos Surveys

Asbestos Surveys – do you and your clients know the rules and legal requirements?

 

 

 

 

The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations enacted in 2004 places an explicit duty on those responsible for workplace safety in relation to asbestos, this includes employers, occupiers, managing agents, tenants and landlords.
The regulations require those responsible to:

• take reasonable steps to find asbestos in the premises and assess the condition of these materials;
• presume that materials do contain asbestos unless there is strong evidence that they do not;
• prepare a record of the location and condition of asbestos containing materials (ACMs) and assess the risk from them;
• prepare and implement a plan to manage those risks;
• ensure that ACMs are managed in-situ by controlling maintenance work;
• prioritise work for those ACMs that require to be sealed, encapsulated or repaired;
• remove ACMs that cannot be managed in-situ;
• provide information on the location and condition of the material to anyone who is liable to disturb it;
• regularly review the condition of ACMs in order to ensure that the plan remains up to date.

Failure for non compliance can result in prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The regulations are principally aimed at commercial properties but also apply to residential properties, in particular where there are shared common internal or external areas, even where this is not the case arguably there is still an implied duty on householders to prevent anyone entering the property being exposed to an asbestos risk.

What is asbestos and why is it a problem?

Asbestos is a term used to describe a group of naturally occurring fibrous silicates. There are six types of asbestos, three were commonly used in this country in construction products up until the late 1990's they are:

• Chrysotile (white asbestos)
• Amosite (brown asbestos)
• Crocidolite (blue asbestos)

All types are dangerous but Crocidolite and Amosite asbestos are known to be significantly more dangerous than Chrysotile.

Once free from a matrix and allowed to become airborne, asbestos fibres can split down reducing in size until they are small enough to travel deep into the body where they can affect the lungs. There are four diseases linked with asbestos, two benign and two malignant.

Asbestosis is caused when asbestos has damaged the lung tissue and causes scaring, the scars cause problems with breathing and breathlessness. Pleural plaques are also scars but on the outside of the lungs and are normally harmless. Mesothelioma is a cancer of the pleural, the outer covering of the lungs and invariably fatal.

How can MHP Surveyors help?

As in independent practice MHP’s aim is to help you comply with the legislation in a sensible and responsible way and not to promote unnecessary and expensive removal of asbestos. This is different to a number of surveyors who have alliances with specialist asbestos removal contractors.

There are three types of Asbestos Surveys/Assessments of domestic and non-domestic properties:

• Type 1 Survey - Location and Risk Assessments – a non invasive survey designed as a first step in identifying those materials presumed to contain asbestos;
• Type 2 Survey - Bulk Sampling and Analysis – in addition to locating those materials containing asbestos samples of those materials are gathered and then analysed by an accredited laboratory. The results are then used to provide a report of ACMs contained within the premises and their condition, which must be provided to any parties who may disturb the materials, such as building contractors.
• Type 3 Survey - Full Sampling and Identification – an access to all areas survey usually commissioned to provide a definitive analysis for asbestos removal contractors.

Our surveys are conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Health and Safety Executive guidance document MDHS -100.

Am I likely to have asbestos within my property?

Asbestos was widely used in building products in the UK in the second half of the 20th century. As a result ACMs are common in buildings constructed in the 1950's 60's and 70's. Blue and brown asbestos was banned in 1985 and white was finally banned in 1999.Some of the most common types of ACMs are found in the following products:

• SPRAYED COATING -Thermal and acoustic insulation, fire and condensation protection products.
• LAGGING -Thermal insulation of pipes, boilers, pressure vessels, preformed pipe sections, slabs, tape, rope, corrugated paper, quilts, felts.
• INSULATING BOARDS -Fire protection, thermal and acoustic insulation.
• ROPES, YARNS - Lagging, jointing and packing materials, heat/fire-resistant gaskets and seals, caulking in brickwork, boiler and flue sealing, and plaited tubing for electric cable.
• MILLBOARD, PAPER AND PAPER PRODUCTS -General heat insulation and fire protection, electrical and heat insulation of electrical equipment, steel composite wall cladding and roofing, paper backing to vinyl flooring, facing to combustible boards, flame-resistant laminate and corrugated pipe insulation.
• ASBESTOS CEMENT PRODUCTS - Roofing, wall cladding and weather-boarding, partitioning in farm buildings and housing, shuttering in industrial buildings, decorative panels, bath panels, soffits, linings to walls and ceilings, portable buildings, propagation beds in horticulture, fire surrounds, and composite panels for fire protection, cisterns and tanks, drains, sewer pipes, rainwater goods, flue pipes, fencing, roofing components, cable troughs and conduits, ventilators and ducts, and window boxes.
• ASBESTOS BITUMEN PRODUCTS Roofing felts, damp proof courses, semi-rigid roofing, gutter linings.
• FLOORING MATERIALS Floor tiles and backing for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) flooring and Linoleum.
• TEXTURED COATINGS AND PAINTS- Coatings on walls and ceilings e.g. 'Artex'.