Asbestos Regulations
The asbestos regulations (Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations) were originally introduced in 2002, became mandatory in May 2004 and were revised in 2006, then re-named as the Control of Asbestos Regulations.
They cover all non-domestic properties including industrial and commercial premises, hotels and shops, but of course there are some interesting grey areas! Social housing and private flats do not come under the asbestos regulations, but the common areas of flats (eg: corridors, stairwells, bin stores etc) are covered, and generally the building infrastructure (walls, decorative panels, roof etc) is taken to be included. Some of the common areas in sheltered housing developments such as dining rooms and lounges have been said to be outside of the scope of the asbestos regulations, but other areas (eg: corridors) would be included. To further complicate the issue for such premises, a maintenance worker is often employed by a management company or by a residents’ association, and the organisation owes this person a "duty of care". This is a common law duty, rather than a requirement of the asbestos regulations, but as this employee will often be required to carry out tasks within the individual domestic apartments, the employer, who is usually also the “duty-holder” in the context of the asbestos regulations, is wise to include a sample of apartments in the assessment of risk from asbestos materials (asbestos survey) undertaken on the rest of the premises.
It is worth noting that the "duty-holder" mentioned above, and referred to widely in the regulations may be the building owner or in the case of a rented or leased property, it could be the tenant. If the lease or rental contract places a responsibility on the lessee or tenant for repairing the property, then the lessee or tenant is probably the "duty-holder".
The first stage in complying with the asbestos regulations involves assessing the premises to establish where asbestos containing materials are located, and then carrying out a quantitative assessment of risk from those materials so that an action plan can be formulated, and individual actions prioritised according to their effectiveness in controlling risk. This process is normally known as a “survey” and is most commonly undertaken by a qualified asbestos surveyor. However, it may be carried out by an employee of the company occupying the premises, as long as the person in question possesses appropriate skills.
There are three types of asbestos survey: Type 1, Type 2 and Type 3. Starting at the end, a Type 3 survey is the most thorough and intrusive, requiring access to all parts of a building’s structure. It therefore involves damaging the fabric of the building and is only appropriate prior to demolition or a major refurbishment. A Type 1 Survey involves a thorough visual examination of the premises, and making a presumption that a material contains asbestos unless it is one of a small number of common materials know not to contain it (eg: glass, metal, wood). This can result in a large portfolio of materials which will need to be managed as if they were asbestos containing materials. A Type 2 Survey therefore, elaborates on the Type 1 Survey by including a sampling process. Small samples of suspect materials are removed in a controlled manner by a qualified person (eg: surveyor) and analysed by an accredited laboratory. This will normally eliminate many materials, leaving only those that contain asbestos to manage.
However, the main implication of the asbestos regulations for those involved with managing premises is not that they need to undertake a survey, although this risk assessment process will normally be necessary. The principal requirement is that the "duty-holder" for the premises manages the property’s portfolio of asbestos materials, controlling the risk to ensure that exposure of staff, contractors and the public to asbestos fibres is reduced to a minimum and maintained within certain limits. This will involve the preparation of a management plan following the initial survey, or risk assessment process.
