Asbestos Surveying

Welcome to Tees Insulation International Ltd. We provide specialist asbestos surveys which identify and detail the extent and location of asbestos containing materials within your premises.

Asbestos Survey Types in compliance with HSG264

• Asbestos Management Survey
• Refurbishment or Demolition Asbestos Surveys
• Asbestos testing on request of individual samples
• Asbestos Management Services- Experienced assistance to duty holders

The legislation regarding asbestos is clear. Every commercial property in the UK should by now have been subject to an asbestos survey report and measures taken to manage any materials containing asbestos. Any failure to have this information and a management plan in place could put your employees at serious risk and may in extreme cases result in prosecution by the HSE.

All of our surveyors have many years experience working within the asbestos industry and are typically qualified to BIOH P402 Building Surveys and Bulk Sampling. Our surveyors work in compliance with our quality management system and HSG264

If you’d like to organise an asbestos survey, for any premises within the UK, or to discuss your requirements further, then please contact us at anytime. You can email on paul.moore@teesgroup.com or call our enquiry line on free phone 0808 1448191

Asbestos Survey Reports

The HSE publication HSG264 sets out the methodology for asbestos surveying any premises for asbestos containing materials (ACMs). It defines two types of asbestos survey;

The type of survey will vary during the lifespan of the premises and several may be needed over time. A management survey will be required during the normal occupation and use of the building to ensure continued management of the ACMs in situ. A refurbishment or demolition survey will be necessary when the building (or part of it) is to be upgraded, refurbished or demolished. It is probable that at larger premises a mixture of survey types will be appropriate, eg a boiler house due for demolition will require a refurbishment/demolition survey, while offices at the same site would have a management survey. In later years refurbishment surveys may be required in rooms or floors which are being upgraded. In sectors where there are large numbers of properties (eg domestic houses) or internal units (eg hotels), only particular rooms may be specified for upgrading, eg kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms. Refurbishment surveys would only be necessary in these locations.

It is important that the client and the surveyor know exactly what type of survey is to be carried out and where, and what the specification will be. So there should be a clear statement and record of the type of survey that is to be carried out, including the reasons for selecting that type of survey, and where it is to be carried out.

Asbestos Management Survey:

A management survey is the standard survey. Its purpose is to locate, as far as reasonably practicable, the presence and extent of any suspect ACMs in the building which could be damaged or disturbed during normal occupancy, including foreseeable maintenance and installation, and to assess their condition. Management surveys will often involve minor intrusive work and some disturbance. The extent of intrusion will vary between premises and depend on what is reasonably practicable for individual properties, ie it will depend on factors such as the type of building, the nature of construction, accessibility etc. A management survey should include an assessment of the condition of the various asbestos containing materials and their ability to release fibres into the air if they are disturbed in some way. This ‘material assessment’ will give a good initial guide to the priority for managing asbestos containing materials as it will identify the materials which will most readily release airborne fibres if they are disturbed.

Refurbishment or Demolition survey:

A refurbishment and demolition survey is needed before any refurbishment or demolition work is carried out. This type of survey is used to locate and describe, as far as reasonably practicable, all asbestos containing materials in the area where the refurbishment work will take place or in the whole building if demolition is planned. The survey will be fully intrusive and involve destructive inspection, as necessary, to gain access to all areas, including those that may be difficult to reach. A refurbishment and demolition survey may also be required in other circumstances, eg when more intrusive maintenance and repair work will be carried out or for plant removal or dismantling.

There is a specific requirement in CAR 2006 (regulation 7) for all ACMs to be removed as far as reasonably practicable before major refurbishment or final demolition. Removing ACMs is also appropriate in other smaller refurbishment situations which involve structural or layout changes to buildings (eg removal of partitions, walls, units etc). Under CDM, the survey information should be used to help in the tendering process for removal of ACMs from the building before work starts. The survey report should be supplied by the client to designers and contractors who may be bidding for the work, so that the asbestos risks can be addressed. In this type of survey, where the asbestos is identified so that it can be removed (rather than to ‘manage’ it), the survey does not normally assess the condition of the asbestos, other than to indicate areas of damage or where additional asbestos debris may be present. However, where the asbestos removal may not take place for some time, the ACMs’ condition will need to be assessed and the materials managed

Each Tees Insulation International Ltd. Survey Report Pack includes;

• An asbestos register of asbestos containing materials
• Colour photographs of sampling points
• Site plans indicating each sampling point
• A certificate of analysis from a UKAS accredited laboratory
• Recommendations (if applicable)

Please contact us to discuss you requirements further