Asbestos Regulations

In November 2002 the Health and Safety Executive introduced the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002.

Regulation 4 came into effect 21st May 2004 and imposes a duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises.

The duty to manage requires the duty holder to:

Take reasonable steps to find asbestos in the premises and assess the condition of these materials.

Presume that materials 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

Provide information on the location and condition of the material to anyone who is liable to disturb it.

The duty holder in most cases will be the commercial tenant /occupier if they have an obligation for repair or maintenance of the premises. In cases where the premises are shared or have common parts there may be a shared duty and you should seek the co-operation of the other parties in complying with the regulations.

The Regulations will be enforced by the Health and Safety Executive who can prosecute for non-compliance under Health and Safety laws.

Residential Properties

The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 is principally aimed at commercial properties but also applies to residential properties where there are shared common internal or external areas such as lobbies and plant rooms.

The legislation only applies to the common areas with the duty holder being the person or people responsible for the maintenance and repair of these areas.

Private residential properties are not covered by CAWR 2002, although there is still an implied duty on householders to prevent anyone entering their property being exposed to an asbestos risk. Asbestos is commonly identified during pre-purchase surveys and can scare off possible buyers if they do not know the nature and extent of the product identified. As a result we are carrying out an increasing number of asbestos surveys on residential properties.

Asbestos was widely used in residential properties until the end of the 1990's and is commonly found in such products as roofing, flooring, decorative finishes such as artex, bath panels, loft insulation, rainware, water tanks, boilers, flues, soffits, and fire surrounds to name but a few.