Asbestos Management: Things you might not know

There are key regulations that all organisations should be following when it comes to asbestos management. To help you navigate these regulations and ensure safety within your buildings, our latest webinar, ‘Asbestos Management: Things you might not know’, highlighted all the necessary information for implementing a pragmatic approach to managing asbestos. Our panel of experts discussed everything from asset management systems and calculating material and priority assessment scores, to how often you should be having an asbestos survey. Watch the webinar on-demand now.

Our webinar attendees asked a variety of valuable questions during the session, all of which have been answered by our asbestos experts and compiled below.  

Q1. How many common types of asbestos are there?  

It is important to be clear on the types and condition of the asbestos that you’re managing to ensure the best protocol is used and the risk is minimised. The three types of asbestos that you will see in your surveys most frequently are chrysotile, amosite, and crocidolite. Each type of asbestos ranges in friability, meaning the likelihood of the fibres becoming free from a matrix and beginning to crumble. This level of friability will determine the level of risk posed by the asbestos, so it is crucial that you can identify which type you’re dealing with to be clear on how severe that risk is and how that could impact your survey.  

Q2. How often is an asbestos survey required? 

We recommend that re-inspection surveys are carried out annually where possible to review the condition of asbestos items. However, we acknowledge that some low-risk asbestos may be covered such as floor tiles overlaid with laminate flooring, therefore it would be impracticable to rip up laminate floor annually to check the condition of the asbestos. As a result, you may decide to stretch the time frame or agree to reinspect when the laminate flooring is removed or replaced. In such cases, always ensure that your asbestos register is up to date so that anyone working within the property is clear that there is asbestos in that area. 

Whilst the frequency can be reviewed depending on the situation, consider managing a routine re-inspection programme. For large portfolios with varied Asbestos-Containing Materials (ACM), it is often easier to maintain a routine re-inspection programme that includes all materials every year, rather than make it bespoke year on year. Our advice? Have a routine and keep it simple. 

Re-inspection frequencies can also be set at timelines that reflect the material in question. A key factor is the material’s likelihood to be disturbed during normal use or its susceptibility to degrade. A positive DPC is an example of a material which is very unlikely to be disturbed or degrade to the point where asbestos exposure is to be expected. Soffits are more likely to become weathered and degrade and would warrant a more regular re-inspection until they are removed. 

Q3. Is it possible to complete an asbestos survey without taking any samples, for example, if there are no ACMs or it’s too difficult to access a sample?  

During an asbestos survey, if the surveyor does not encounter anything that they consider to be a suspect ACM, then it is possible that the asbestos survey report will have no samples taken. This does not mean it is incomplete or incorrect. The survey should still include room notes detailing what the floors, walls, and ceilings are made of and should have some notes of their observations. 

If you’re having trouble collecting samples because the material is non-harmonious, it may be worth initially considering a block as a whole to establish if textured coatings were applied uniformly when the buildings were constructed. After this, you can consider the results and determine the likelihood of concealed textured coatings. Many positive textured coatings are uniformly applied in social housing settings. Textured coatings are more typically applied to ceilings, but the same challenge applies when over plastering has occurred. This problem is more challenging in streetside properties or ad-hoc dwellings, particularly where they have had decorative changes made by occupants over the years. In specific areas of proposed disturbance, a core sample of the ceiling/wall fabric in two or three areas is advisable.  

Q4. Should contractors be completing Priority Assessment (PA) scores as part of the management survey or the client following the survey?  

Material Assessment (MA) scores are completed as a matter of course during any survey conducted by an approved surveying organisation accredited by UKAS. However, UKAS requires a separate accreditation for surveying organisations to undertake PA scores on behalf of the client. If your contractor is accredited for undertaking PAs, then the duty holder can appoint them to undertake this on their behalf. However, this should be done 'in consultation' with the client and scores should be checked by the duty holder, particularly if a building or room has a change of use. 

Q5. What should we be looking for when auditing an asbestos contractor? Is it a legal requirement to be qualified? 

You need to ensure that you are contracting a competent third party to complete the audits on your behalf. It is crucial that you are assured by your auditor that they are suitably qualified and accredited to do so. Qualifications such as P402 are a good indicator of a reliable contractor, in addition to experience within the field. We would also recommend that the organisation has suitable qualifications such as ISO and UKAS. 

It is a legal requirement to have someone who is a duty holder or appointed person, and we would not recommend carrying out a job without the relevant qualifications. Carrying out a training course is worthwhile as they are reasonably priced, very interesting, and will give you the assurance that if something were to go wrong, you wouldn’t be responsible for doing a job without being qualified. Even with relevant experience, we would strongly recommend gaining an appropriate qualification as being qualified provides you with confidence which is essential when dealing with asbestos. 

To find out more about how you can deliver your asbestos projects on time and on budget, download your free guide to appointing a reliable asbestos contractor here.

Q6. What is an asbestos asset management system? 

Regarding your asbestos management system, you need something that is intuitive, keeps you safe, and does a lot of the work for you. It would be beneficial for your system to list all the asbestos items in the building with the exact location and photographs, ensuring it is accessible for anyone visiting the building. An ideal system would also highlight when re-inspection dates are so you don’t have to manually troll through data. Having a system that clearly lists the risk and highlights any warnings is crucial - if there’s a plant room that has asbestos of a high risk, for example, you would want there to be an appropriate flag in the system to let you know whether a permit to work is required or a suitable licenced contractor is needed. Researching will provide you with many asset management system options, as long as you meet with the company and gain assurance that they are clear with their regulations and duties so you can work together collaboratively.  

Q7. Who should have access to an asbestos survey and register?  

Landlords have a duty to share an asbestos register and other related information with those who are at risk of asbestos exposure. Informing the tenant of ACMs to avoid disturbance can be a good method of mitigating the risk of asbestos exposure. Tenant communications need to be carried out in a considered manner to prevent raising undue alarm and to provide reassurance. A good asbestos consultant should be able to advise on how best to communicate with your tenants. 

If you have an asbestos contractor who has an online portal, they can grant access to your data to third party contractors with your authority. This is useful for a client as it tracks who has reviewed the information and can ensure your contractors have done their due diligence in sharing all asbestos information before commencing works. 

Q8. Do you need to remove all ACMs identified in a refurbishment survey? 

No, you should only remove asbestos that is in poor condition, a high risk, or likely to be disturbed as part of refurbishment works. If the asbestos is in good condition and managed appropriately, it is not required to be removed. 

We always recommend the use of a Licensed Asbestos Removal Contractor for any asbestos removal works as they will have the necessary experience, equipment, and insurances to undertake the works safely. There is the exception of removing certain non-licensed materials like mastics where it would be permissible to use non-licenced/cat B trained operatives. 

Q9. Would a contamination air test be required in all instances? 

Where asbestos contamination is suspected, reassurance air monitoring is a good method of determining the airborne fibre levels at a given time and can often provide some documented reassurance that asbestos exposure has been minimal or unlikely. There will often be some concerns over the safety of a space post disturbance. An air test certificate is very useful in demonstrating a space is safe to occupy. 

Q10. In domestic stock, how many dwellings should be surveyed as there is a risk of deviations in other properties?  

The more properties that are surveyed, the better detail you will have to manage asbestos effectively. In the case of proposed works likely to disturb the building fabric, for example, a programme of kitchen and bathroom replacements, we would recommend an inspection of all elements of the building fabric likely to be disturbed by the works in all dwellings.  

There are instances where a percentage of dwellings can be surveyed and presumptions made in the remaining properties based on uniform applications. However, this should only be applied in uniformly constructed blocks, meaning the dwelling ‘variant types’ (1 bed, 2 bed etc.) also need to be considered. This can be a useful approach but poses the risk of overlooking ad-hoc ACM applications. Remember to ask yourself, are the surveys suitable and sufficient for the task intended? 

Q11. What training courses do you recommend for a duty holder to be qualified in managing asbestos within a local authority? 

The ideal course for duty holders managing a portfolio of buildings would be P405 – Management of Asbestos in Buildings.  

To gain a more comprehensive understanding of the key asbestos regulations and how to manage asbestos within your buildings, secure your spot on one of our Asbestos Awareness and Managing Asbestos training courses which are available to sign up for now. For more information on asbestos training, head over to our training course page and find a course tailored for your needs. 

In the meantime, you can listen to our asbestos experts delve into all things asbestos management in our on-demand webinar available here. 

If you have any questions about managing asbestos within your building or want to chat with one of our experts to find the best asbestos management solution for you, we’d love to hear from you!