Asbestos consultant
An asbestos consultant will provide you with advice about your property, the likelihood that it may have asbestos containing materials and how to manage them if you have any. In any non-domestic property this will include guidance on complying with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 which applies to any premises not exclusively used for domestic purposes.
When appointing an asbestos consultant you should check his qualifications and his company’s insurance details. The company should have appropriate Public Liability insurance which provides cover for accidents while the asbestos consultant or asbestos surveyor is working within your premises and Professional Indemnity insurance which will protect you in the event that you are provided with inaccurate information or advice, and this result in additional expenditure for you. You would expect the asbestos consultant to have a BOHS P402 (Buildings Surveys and Bulk Sampling) and P405 (Management of Asbestos in Buildings) qualifications, and these enable him to advise on a range of asbestos related issues.
Once appointed, the asbestos consultant may start gathering information about the property in question, and such details will include its age, history of alterations and modifications, size and usage. This will help him prepare to undertake an asbestos risk assessment of the premises (asbestos survey) which when complete will inform those responsible for management of the building (duty-holders) how to record and manage the asbestos containing materials within the property. Guidance will normally be provided about this management process, and asbestos consultants will frequently be asked to prepare management plans.
An asbestos consultant may also be called on to undertake site monitoring and air sampling, usually during and following the removal of asbestos containing materials by a licensed contractor.
There is extensive advice available about the effects of inhaling asbestos, both from a medical and a legal point of view. Specialist asbestos consultants exist who can cover both of these fields.
