Why Survey Houses
Some of the asbestos materials
commonly found in houses are, basement pipework, basement ceilings,
basement fire doors, fire protection of basement stairwell, fire door to
basement, bitumen damp course, vent
lining in walls, asbestos cement outer walls, cement downpipes, cement
tiles on canopy, AIB entrance soffit, AIB main soffit, asbestos cement
guttering, asbestos floor tiles and bitumen adhesive, asbestos paper
carpet backing, AIB fire doors, Artex and textured coatings, AIB door
surrounds, AIB ceiling boarding, asbestos cement ceiling boarding, AIB
ceiling tiles, asbestos cement boiler flue, AIB electric fire plinth and
rear panel, AIB fireplace infill panel, asbestos cement inner walls, AIB
garage ceiling, AIB garage walls, AIB lining of under stair cupboard
including door, heating system pipe insulation throughout, asbestos
cement roof tiles and shingles, asbestos cement guttering, asbestos
cement loft tanks, asbestos cement loft flues, bitumen roof felt, etc
etc.
Domestic surveys/sampling are usually requested by people buying a house who
note that asbestos was mentioned in the building survey and are concerned that
it is either dangerous or will cost a lot of money to remove. Mortgage and
insurance companies have also requested asbestos surveys for similar reasons.
Most asbestos materials in domestic properties are quite safe and should be left
alone unless the material is likely to be disturbed by refurbishment work to the
property.
Domestic surveys and sampling are not yet a legal requirement of the
asbestos regulations, although you do have a legal duty to warn contractors
about any asbestos in your property (hence the need for a survey) or unless it is the communal areas of rented accommodation.
What not to do!
Don't take the word of a 'helpful' builder, plumber, friends
mate, neighbours cat etc, asbestos is such a huge subject and the risk of
exposure is not worth relying on the word of someone with very limited knowledge
of it.
Don't let anyone tell you its the 'safe' sort when its not,
AIB is AIB and Cement is Cement, if disturbed, one (AIB) will give you heavy
dose of lethal fibres the other (cement) will not. If the material is in the way
of building or refurbishment work there is more chance of you being told it's
ok, just so the work can continue. Stand your ground and get it checked out by
someone who knows what they are talking about, it usually doesn't cost anything
and you could save yourself a lot of grief later!.
Finding Out
We carry out single asbestos sampling and full domestic
asbestos surveys, giving the full material risk assessments based on the same
parameters (material information) as the commercial and industrial surveys,
explaining the risk for each material and recommendations for management and
risk reduction. If asbestos removal is required we can provide an
honest and accurate cost for removal based on the current regulations.
Many
domestic asbestos materials can be removed with modest control measures because
of the nature of the material (low friability), honesty is the key here,
as a rough guide, cost can be associated with friability (ability to
release fibres) low friability (not many fibres released) = low cost, high
friability (many fibres released) = higher cost.
What To Do
Having asbestos removed from a property, just because it is
asbestos, is fairly common and quiet understandable because asbestos is an
emotive subject and because of the common knowledge as to the health risks
associated with the material. It is difficult to explain to people that removing
the material actually creates more risk than is necessary, because it is planned
disturbance and unless the very strict control measures are in place to contain
the airborne fibres, exposure and invisible contamination could result.
The Real Risks
It is sometimes difficult to convey to people that
most asbestos
materials in houses are extremely low risk, like floor tiles and cement
sheeting, the fibres are so tightly trapped in the material than even when
broken the material is not going to release much.
On the other side of the coin
we have AIB and Artex (textured ceilings etc) although Artex has a low asbestos
content the most common method of removal is scraping which is very bad for
asbestos materials because the act of removing thin layers of dry asbestos
material increases the amount of fibres released with each scrape.
There are
many other methods for removal that would reduce the risk to a more acceptable
level or we would recommend over-boarding, skimming or removal of the whole
ceiling rather than just the surface coating. AIB contains 30-40% Brown
(Amosite) asbestos and when broken can release a huge amount of asbestos fibres,
we always recommend that it is left alone wherever possible and should only be
removed under strictly controlled conditions, this is where an honest
appraisal will be of great benefit if a confirmation sample is required.
Domestic asbestos materials are not strictly governed by the
regulations, its down to the individual to determine, which 'expert' to use, how
safe they want to be and how much they want to spend on being safe.