Frequently Asked Questions

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Why is the new duty to manage asbestos needed?
Who will be the duty-holder?
What does the duty-holder have to do to comply with the new duty?
Does the duty-holder have to remove all asbestos?
Does the duty-holder have to carry out a survey?
Who needs to know where asbestos is?
I have a corrugated asbestos cement roof on my shed or garage, can I remove it myself?
My property has external asbestos cement soffits and fascia panels, I would like to replace these with UPVC, can I do it myself?
My property has external asbestos insulating board soffits and fascia panels, I would like to replace these with UPVC, can I do it myself?
I need a new boiler but the plumber tells me that the old boiler might contain asbestos, what can I do?
I want to have new lighting fitted in my kitchen, but the ceiling has an Artex textured-coating finish, what should I do?
Our maintenance staff have found fibrous debris on and around pipes in the boiler room/in ducts, what should I do?
How do I take a sample of a material for asbestos analysis?

Why is the new duty to manage asbestos needed?

Much has been done to control the risk from asbestos. There are many regulations explaining how to deal with asbestos, but these regulations only protect people when the presence of asbestos is known.

At least a quarter of those dying from asbestos-related diseases have worked in the maintenance or building trades.

It is those people who may be unknowingly exposed to asbestos fibres during their day-to-day work, those such as plumbers, electricians, cable layers, gas fitters, painters and decorators, that the duty to manage has been introduced to protect.

Who will be the duty-holder?

All those who have responsibility for the maintenance and/or repair of non-domestic premises have duties under this regulation. The extent of the legal duty is determined by the terms of any tenancy agreement or contract that applies, and in the absence of any such agreement, on the degree of control the party has over the premises.

The duty-holder may well be the landlord, tenant or a managing agent, depending on the circumstances of the case. In some situations, responsibility could be shared between two or more parties.

The regulation also includes a duty to cooperate, which applies widely. This will, e.g. require a tenant to allow a landlord to gain access to a building, to carry out a survey. Also a building surveyor or architect who has plans, which show information on the whereabouts of asbestos, would be expected to make these available to the duty-holder at a reasonable cost.

What does the duty-holder have to do to comply with the new duty?

The new duty to manage will require the duty-holder to:

take reasonable steps to find asbestos in the premises and assess the condition of these materials;
presume that materials do contain asbestos unless there is strong evidence that they do not;
prepare a record of the location and condition of these materials and assess the risk from them;
prepare and implement a plan to manage those risks; and
provide information on the location and condition of the material to anyone who is liable to disturb it.

Does the duty-holder have to remove all asbestos?

No, asbestos is only a risk to health when in a poor condition or it is disturbed so that it releases fibres.

Asbestos that is in a good condition and in a location where it will not be disturbed should be left in place and correctly managed. Anyone who would be likely to come into contact with the material must be notified of its presence.

It should be remembered that removal of asbestos in good condition that is not going to be disturbed would cause unnecessary risk and expense.

Does the duty-holder have to carry out a survey?

Not necessarily. The regulation requires you to take 'reasonable steps' to find asbestos in your premises. There are different types of inspection/survey that could be undertaken.

The regulation calls for a proportionate approach and will only require a substantial survey where the risk warrants it. In many cases, for example a small shop where there is very little maintenance work, a simple walk-through inspection will be suitable.

In other situations a full survey may be more suitable, testing any suspect materials and then managing the risk as required.

The regulation is not a duty to survey. Any survey will only be a step towards managing any asbestos, and a poor or inappropriate survey could prove to be worse than no survey at all.

Who needs to know where asbestos is?

The duty requires that you make information on the location and condition of the asbestos available to anyone liable to work on it or disturb it. Any employees involved in building maintenance work and any contractors working on the premises should know if the building contains or may contain asbestos. They should also be told where it is and that there are potential risks to their health if they disturb it.

It may be necessary to inform anyone installing cables, computer equipment, telephones etc as they could disturb asbestos during their work. They should also be informed of the possibility of coming across any hidden asbestos-containing materials which might not have been recorded.

The regulation also requires that information should be passed on to the new owners of a premises, or if the duty-holder changes. These parties would be likely to disturb asbestos and should be informed where it is.

I have a corrugated asbestos cement roof on my shed or garage, can I remove it myself?

Yes you can, although you have a duty to notify the relevant enforcing authority when you are planning to work with asbestos cement and when exposure is likely to exceed an action level.

You should only carry out the work if you feel you have received enough information, instruction and training to carry out the task.

You should wear the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including disposable overalls fitted with a hood, boots without laces and a disposable particulate respirator that conforms to the code FF P3.

If the work is being carried out at height, the appropriate precautions to prevent the risk of falls, must be taken. Also, you should never stand or walk on an asbestos cement roof as you will likely fall through it.

The work area must be prepared by ensuring the minimum number of people possible are present and by restricting access to the work area. In addition, any surface in the work area that could become contaminated should be sealed with 500-gauge polythene and duct tape. Finally, adequate lighting must be in place.

During the actual removal process you must ensure that you do not break the asbestos cement sheets. If the sheets are held in place with fasteners, dampen the whole roof and remove the fasteners and the sheets. If the sheets are bolted in place, crop the bolts as close to the sheets as possible, without damaging the sheets, and then lower the individual sheets to the ground. Do not drop the sheets and do not use rubble chutes. Check for debris on the fasteners or in the bolt holes and clean with a wet cloth as necessary.

If you have a lockable skip on site, place the cement sheets directly in to the skip. If you do not have a skip, the sheets should be wrapped in 1000-gauge polythene, labelled with asbestos warning stickers and taken to the closest council waste disposal site with an asbestos cement skip on site.

At the end of the work, after you have visually inspected the area for debris and cleaned up anything you find with wet cloths, you must carry out personal decontamination. This is done washing by your hands and washing down your boots with wet cloths. The coverall is then removed by turning it inside out and putting it in a bag for disposal. The disposable respirator is removed last and is also placed in to a bag for disposal. Wash your hands once again and place all any cloths you used in the process in a bag for disposal. Take a shower.

All potentially contaminated items such as the wet cloths used for cleaning, the coveralls and the disposable respirator should be disposed of at the same time and in the same location as the cement sheets themselves.

For further details, please refer to the Asbestos Essentials Task Manual (Code HSG210) and the Introduction to Asbestos Essentials (Code HSG213), both of which are available from HSE Books

Alternatively, please contact us to discuss the matter further.

My property has external asbestos cement soffits and fascia panels, I would like to replace these with UPVC, can I do it myself?

Simply put: no.

Under the Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations and the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations, it was permissible to work on otherwise licensable asbestos-containing materials ‘in premises which you occupy, using your own employees. Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006, this is no longer the case – you may not work on licensable asbestos-containing materials, simply because the work is on your own home, without the appropriate license.

There is an exemption from licensing on otherwise licensable asbestos-containing materials but this only applies to ‘short duration work where the risk assessment shows that the work will only produce sporadic and low intensity exposure as defined, and will not exceed the control limit. The work can only be considered as short duration if any one person carries out work with these materials for less than one hour in a seven-day period.’ (L143).

G & L Consultancy strongly recommend against attempting to remove AIB, or any other licensable material yourself, and suggest you approach a licensed removal contractor to do the work safely.

Should you wish to discuss this further or obtain a list of suitable licensed removal contractors in your area, please contact one of our offices.

My property has external asbestos insulating board (AIB) soffits and fascia panels, I would like to replace these with UPVC, can I do it myself?

AIB is a licensable material and, according to the Guide to Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations (L11), you do not need a license to work on AIB 'in premises which you occupy, using your own employees. But you must give formal notification to the relevant enforcing authorities.' As well as this, as you are working with asbestos, you must fully comply with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.

Although it is theoretically possible to remove AIB panels from your own property yourself, G & L Consultancy strongly recommend against this course of action and suggest you approach a licensed removal contractor to do the work safely.

Should you wish to discuss this further or obtain a list of suitable licensed removal contractors in your area, please contact one of our offices.

I need a new boiler but the plumber tells me that the old boiler might contain asbestos, what can I do?

It is often very difficult to tell whether a boiler contains asbestos without actually taking it apart. Taking the boiler apart, of course, could potentially release the asbestos fibres and should be avoided.

The Health and Safety Executive has a list of all boilers that contain asbestos, so the best thing to do is call the HSE Infoline on 0845 345 0055, with the make and model of your boiler, and ask them to check.

I want to have new lighting fitted in my kitchen, but the ceiling has an Artex textured-coating finish, what should I do?

Under the Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations and the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations, asbestos-containing Artex and other textured coatings were classed as licensable materials. Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006, this is no longer the case.

Many Artex and textured coating finishes made before 1984 contained a small percentage (3-5%) of Chrysotile, White asbestos. And while asbestos-containing Artex and other textured coatings are no longer ‘licensable materials’, they remain ‘asbestos-containing materials’ and must be dealt with accordingly.

The first thing you need to do is establish whether the Artex contains asbestos. You can either take a sample yourself and send it to the Lab for analysis or call out a consultant to take it for you. For information on sampling procedures, click here.

Once you have established that the Artex contains asbestos you must decide whether you wish an appropriately trained and equipped contractor to come in and drill the holes in the places you indicate, or drill the holes yourself. Should you wish to obtain a list of suitable trained and equipped contractors in your area, please contact one of our offices.

Should you wish to carry out the work yourself, you should only do so if you feel you have received enough information, instruction and training to carry out the task.

If the work is being carried out at height, the appropriate precautions to prevent the risk of falls, must be taken.

Cover the point to be drilled and the rear of that point if accessible, with tape to prevent the edges crumbling. If a cable is to be passed through the hole, ensure that you use a drill bit slightly bigger that the cable, to prevent abrasion. Cover the entry and exit points with a generous amount of paste and drill through it using a manual drill or a power drill set at its lowest speed.

Use wet cloths to clean off the paste and debris, including the difficult to reach areas to the rear, and dispose of the cloths and debris as asbestos waste. Seal the edges of the holes with an alkali resistant, vapour permeable, low risk sealant. If possible, fit a sleeve in the hole to protect the edges and form a better seal.

At the end of the work, after you have visually inspected the area for debris and cleaned up anything you find with wet cloths, you must carry out personal decontamination. This is done washing by your hands and washing down your boots with wet cloths. The coverall is then removed by turning it inside out and putting it in a bag for disposal. The disposable respirator is removed last and is also placed in to a bag for disposal. Wash your hands once again and place any cloths you used in the process in a bag for disposal. Take a shower.

All potentially contaminated items such as the wet cloths used for cleaning, the coveralls and the disposable respirator should be placed in a suitable asbestos waste container such as a labelled polythene sack.

This sack of waste will need to be disposed of. Start by calling the local council to see if they will accept it, many will not. If you are unable to dispose of the waste yourself, you will need to contact someone with the appropriate licenses. Should you wish to obtain a list of appropriately licensed companies in your area, please contact one of our offices.

For further details, please refer to the Asbestos Essentials Task Manual (Code HSG210) and the Introduction to Asbestos Essentials (Code HSG213), both of which are available from HSE Books.

Alternatively, please contact us to discuss the matter further.

Our maintenance staff have found fibrous debris on and around pipes in the boiler room/in ducts, what should I do?

If you suspect that there is fibrous asbestos debris in an area, the first thing you need to do is clear the area of all personnel and mark it out of bounds. All entires in to the potentially contaminated area should be locked, warning signs placed on the doors and the seals of the doors and any other means of airflow out of the area taped over.

You should then contact us at the appropriate office and we will advise you further. Most likely, samples will need to be taken of the suspect material for bulk sample analysis and, if the material is asbestos, air monitoring will need to be carried out.

Following the results of the air monitoring, a limit of the spread of the contamination will have been established. This information can then be passed on to suitable asbestos removal contractors who can carry out the environmental clean of the contaminated area and either make safe or remove the source material.

How do I take a sample of a material for asbestos analysis?

You should wear the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including disposable overalls fitted with a hood, disposable gloves, boots without laces and a disposable particulate respirator that conforms to the code FF P3.

The sampling area must be prepared by ensuring the minimum number of people possible are present and by restricting access. In addition, any surface in the sampling area that could become contaminated should be sealed with 500-gauge polythene and duct tape. Finally, adequate lighting must be in place.

It is important not to sample unnecessarily; therefore sampling can be avoided if you decide to treat a group of suspect materials as one sample. Samples need to be representative of a given material, this is important if the material is non homogenous with different layers or variable asbestos content.

When you choose a sampling point, it should be in a discreet position such as the end, edge or corner of a material. The sampling point should be damped down with water, using a hand held sprayer, particularly if the material to be sampled has no surface treatment, to prevent dust from being released during the sampling process.

Typically you should use a retractable blade knife or a pair of pliers to take the sample; whichever will cause the least amount of fibre release. Hold a wet wipe under the sampling point to catch any debris and carefully slice or break a small piece of the material away. The sample should be roughly 1 cm².

Place the sample directly in to a self-seal polythene bag and seal it. Using wet wipes, clean your hands, the sampling tool and the area surrounding the sampling point; place these wet wipes into a separate self-seal polythene bag and seal for disposal.

Place the polythene bag containing the sample into a second self-seal polythene bag and seal it. The sample is now 'double-bagged' and is deemed safe to pass on for bulk sample analysis. Label the outside of the bag containing the sample with whatever information you want to appear on the bulk sample analysis report you will receive following the completion of the analysis. In general, and particularly if you are sending in more than one sample for analysis, you must put enough information on the bag to ensure you can identify where the sample came from when you get the results back from the lab.

The sampling point must be sealed over using self-adhesive tape, a liberal coating of PVA glue, or a combination of both. All debris and dust must be cleaned up using wet wipes and the polythene sheeting placed around the sampling point wiped down. The debris and wet wipes should be placed on the polythene sheeting, which should then be carefully folded inwards, placed into a self-seal polythene bag, sealed and double-bagged, as above, for disposal as asbestos waste.

Once you have completed the sampling, you must carry out personal decontamination. This is done by wiping down the disposable gloves and boots with wet wipes. The coverall is then removed by turning it inside out and putting it in a bag for disposal. The disposable gloves are then removed, by turning them inside out, and are placed in the same bag as the coveralls. The disposable respirator is removed last and is also placed in to a bag for disposal. Place all wet wipes used in the personal decontamination process in the bag, seal it and double-bag it, as described above and then wash your hands.

If you are taking more than one sample, you must ensure that all tools used in the sampling process are thoroughly cleaned after each sample is taken. This is extremely important to prevent any cross-contamination between samples. Use clean wet wipes to wipe off all surfaces of the tools paying particular attention to serrated edges where fibres may become trapped.

Should you wish further advice on the sampling process, please contact us to discuss the matter further.

If you can't find what you're looking for either click on the email link, below, or go to our contacts page to find the person best suited to phone or write to. You could also email us.