Asbestos survey in progress
Surveys
What type of survey do you need?
Here at London Laboratories, we have an in-house team of experienced asbestos surveyors who can carry out both Management and Refurbishment & Demolition Surveys from a garden outbuilding to a palace.
We are accredited by UKAS for asbestos surveying and re-inspections (no. 9681) in Domestic and Commercial property sectors. We are used to carrying out asbestos surveys in a wide variety of properties including schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, churches, offices, museums, and galleries.
The HSE recommends that you arrange a survey if you suspect there are asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) in your premises. You may need to consider having a survey carried out especially if you are a ‘duty-holder’ under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. London Laboratories can give you impartial advice on surveying regimes and legal compliance.
Alternatively, you may choose to presume there is asbestos in your premises and would then need to take all appropriate precautions for any work that takes place. However, it is good practice to have an asbestos survey carried out so you can be absolutely sure whether asbestos is present or not.
The asbestos survey can help to provide enough information so that an asbestos register, a risk assessment and a management plan can then be prepared. The survey will usually involve sampling and analysis to determine the presence of asbestos so asbestos surveys should only be carried out by competent surveyors who, like London Laboratories’ asbestos surveyors, can clearly demonstrate they have the necessary skills, experience and qualifications.
So an asbestos survey is an effective way to help you manage asbestos in your premises by giving you accurate and up-to-date information about the location, amount, condition and type of any ACMs. You need to decide how you act on this information to keep occupants and other building users and contractors safe and decide on your management processes, such as carrying out remedial work, sharing information and re-inspecting known ACMs.
The duty-holder, building owner, employer and surveyor need to be clear on the type of survey needed, where the survey is needed, and what records should result.
There are two types of survey for ACMs, please click on any of the below to see more information about them.
Management survey
The Management Survey is required to manage ACMs during the normal occupation and use of premises. Whilst the duty-holder can in theory make a Management Survey where the premises are very simple, built post 2000 and straightforward, the complications and potential liabilities inherent in asbestos surveys are such that it is probably best left to a specialist surveyor.
A Management Survey aims to ensure that:
1. Nobody is harmed by the continuing presence of ACMs in the premises or equipment
2. That the ACMs remain in good condition
3. That nobody disturbs the ACMs accidentally
The Survey must locate ACMs that could be damaged or disturbed by normal activities, by foreseeable maintenance, or by installing new equipment. It involves minor intrusion and minor asbestos disturbance to make a Materials Assessment. This shows the ability of ACMs, if disturbed, to release fibres into the air. It guides the client, e.g.. in prioritising any remedial work.
Refurbishment & Demolition Surveys
The Refurbishment or Demolition Survey is required where the premises, or part of it, needs upgrading, refurbishment or demolition. The Survey does not need a record of the ACM condition though this can be included. Normally, a surveyor is needed for Refurbishment or Demolition Surveys.
A Refurbishment or Demolition Survey aims to ensure that:
1. Nobody will be harmed by work on ACMs in the premises or equipment
2. Such work will be done by the right contractor in the right way
The Survey needs to locate and identify all ACMs before any structural work begins at a stated location or on stated equipment at the premises. It involves destructive inspection and asbestos disturbance.
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