Asbestos refurbishment surveys: why they’re important

Asbestos refurbishment surveys: why they’re important

Asbestos-related health conditions are ‘silent killers’ which take the lives of more people than road accidents do. Indeed, there are no asbestos fibres which can be classed as safe – all can lead to the same diseases and so are treated equally under UK legislation and guidance.

At the turn of the millennium, this carcinogenic substance was outlawed for new builds, but because anything built before then could contain it, asbestos refurbishment surveys must be done on structures built Pre 2000. This also keeps contractors, builders and anyone else working on or visiting a property safe.

What does a Management and a Refurbishment Survey do?

An asbestos survey will highlight whether a property has any asbestos material, as far as reasonably practicable. And, if you own a non-domestic building, you’re legally obliged to make sure it’s handled properly and not disturbed. Safe handling of asbestos is vital to keep the risk of exposing occupants to fibres as low as possible.

Management asbestos surveys are non-intrusive, visual inspections at which samples of relevant materials are taken for testing at an accredited lab. Core Surveys have their own in-house asbestos testing laboratory, accredited to UKAS ISO17025.

In contrast, refurbishment surveys are described as ‘intrusive and destructive’, and locate all asbestos-containing materials before a place is refurbished, whether that’s a whole building or part of a structure.

One is needed even if you have already identified where you have asbestos in a particular structure and will examine relevant material, and the surrounding areas which could also have asbestos, including walls and ceilings.

Where a building is to be completely demolished, a different kind of survey, again clearly a destructive one, is carried out known as a demolition survey.

Whatever kind of survey your property needs, it’s vital that this work is carried out by a professional, experienced asbestos surveyor able to identify asbestos-containing materials safely.

Finally, it’s clearly also important that your asbestos survey is done early on before any refurbishment work starts.

At Core Surveys, we’re specialist consultants in management, refurbishment, and demolition surveys. We’re UKAS accredited (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) to ISO17020 for undertaking asbestos surveys, and all samples are analysed at our in-house laboratory, UKAS accredited to ISO17025.

We’re also UKAS accredited for asbestos air monitoring during and following asbestos removal, which means we are perfectly placed to offer a full asbestos consultancy package from survey through to project management and sign-off of asbestos removal, ensuring that you comply with the law at all times. Get in touch now.