Ethos Environmental

Management and Refurbishment/Demolition Asbestos Surveys (HSG264)

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 place a duty on employers before carrying out any work on asbestos to make an adequate assessment of the exposure of his employees and to prepare a written plan of work detailing the method by which the work is to be undertaken.

The new duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic properties will require the employer to make an assessment as to whether asbestos is or is liable to be present. The risks will vary with circumstances, ranging from normal occupation of a premises, to the repair or removal of the asbestos.

Employers and building owners are required to:

Take suitable and sufficient steps to determine the location of materials likely to contain asbestos;
Make and maintain a written record of the location of the asbestos and presumed asbestos materials;
Monitor the condition of the materials at regular intervals;
Assess the risk of exposure from the asbestos and presumed asbestos materials and document the actions to manage the risk;
Take steps to see that the actions above have been carried out.

Finding asbestos in buildings is not easy however: over 3000 building products have contained asbestos at some time. If you are responsible for a building, or for its maintenance then you need to ensure that you have a good handle on where the asbestos is in your premises.

Do you know if your surveying organisation is competent? Do you know if your surveying organisation carries adequate insurance?

There is currently only one quality assurance scheme in operation for asbestos surveying organisations: UKAS accreditation to ISO17020

Ethos Environmental Ltd is accredited to ISO17020 for all survey types (Management and Refurbishment/Demolition to HSG264) by UKAS (the United Kingdom Accreditation Service).

Ethos Environmental Ltd has provided an asbestos surveying, testing and consultancy service since its inception in 1996. Examples of clients of our asbestos surveying services include: