Established 1986 - P402 Qualified Surveyors - HSE Licensed

 47A Strand St, Sandwich, Kent CT139EU -  - 29 St Lawrence Ave Ramsgate CT110HZ

Offices: 01304 614647 / 614453 (24hr) 01843 592243 - For a Prompt Service First Call Direct - 07712068424

Email for quote or specific help: asbestossurveys-kent@yahoo.co.uk

Asbestos Surveys - Asbestos Management

"I suppose, I had better get one then"

What Is A Survey?

An asbestos survey (type 2) is a visual check of a building (together with sampling) for asbestos containing materials to establish asbestos material content and risk within a property.

This enables the building 'duty holder' to prevent asbestos exposure by ensuring people don't disturb the asbestos materials and by making sure they stay in a safe condition.

It is not a requirement to remove any asbestos (only in extremely rare cases) and it is not a reason to panic, it is the process of gathering the correct information in order to reduce the risks of asbestos exposure from the material based on a detailed report.

Asbestos materials are not as easy to spot as some people might think, it is not just the common well known asbestos materials that may be present.

Asbestos materials were still being used in buildings as late as the mid 1990's any property built before that date should still have an asbestos survey, even if its a 'no suspect materials found' survey.

Reasons for Surveys

The main reason for asbestos surveys is to prevent unnecessary exposure, not to make money and not to inconvenience employers and building/house owners. With over 3000 deaths each years from asbestos exposure the requirement for a survey is aimed at reducing the number of deaths from preventable exposure, knowing where it is in your building's and knowing what condition its in is a good start. It's actually a fairly logical development of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Both of these require employers, landlords etc  to provide a safe place of work for their staff, visitors or tenants, in order for them to comply with that requirement they need to assess the risks and hazards that exist in the workplace/building and use all practical methods to reduce the risk of harm to its lowest practical level.

How a survey works

The way you reduce the risk of asbestos exposure from the asbestos hazard is to know where it is and to manage it (sealing, labels, damage prevention, inspections), the best way to find it is in an accurate asbestos survey, thereby make it much easier to avoid disturbance and exposure. Before you carry out any work to the property you refer to the survey/register to make sure the material you are going to disturb is not asbestos, if it is asbestos then you either work around it, change the scope or have it safely removed by licensed contractors.

History of Exposure

The first 'wave' of asbestos related deaths from exposure was mainly the people who mined it and made materials with it, this also includes the people who installed it in factories and ships etc.

The second 'wave' of asbestos related deaths are expected to be the tradesmen who disturb it on a regular basis, mainly without knowing the nature of the material. Plumbers, electricians, shop fitters, carpenters, builders, maintenance engineers, pipe fitters, roofers, caretakers, laggers, in fact anyone who disturbs building materials on a regular basis, the more exposure the higher the risk of asbestos related health problems.

What is involved in a survey

The most common type 2 survey involves a walk around to estimate samples and access problems (high level, locked doors etc), the survey is scheduled for a certain date when the most practical access is available. I usually work top to bottom and access the loft or roof space first, using a powerful torch to seek materials that are historically known to contain asbestos, corrugated cement roofs can be strongly assumed to contain asbestos if access is a problem (98%) are proven positive for asbestos content when sampled.

Discretion is an important part of surveying and if questioned by staff etc a 'general building condition survey' is given as a reason for nosing around and if challenged openly about asbestos materials we usually explain the real risks from materials that are in good condition are actually very low.

Any suspect materials found are sampled using approved techniques to reduce the risk to the surveyor and staff etc. Where necessary a small sheet of PVC is placed under the sample point, you don't take huge chunks of anything, just a small sample about the size of a thumbnail or smaller, the material can be sprayed with a PVA solution to suppress any fibres or use a surfactant (my choice) which a liquid designed to maximize moisture penetration into the material also as a fibre suppressant, when the material has been sprayed etc a small sample is carefully broken from the material.

For pipework insulation I have a core sampler (metal tube) that is used together with moist cloths (baby wipes) acting as plugs in the tube and insulation material. All sample points are made good with tape and resealed. I used the same tubes for textured ceilings (after cleaning it of course), the open end of the tube is sealed with the sample bag, the sharp end of the tube is pressed against the ceiling and rolled from side to side to release small amount of material, all the material travels down the tube into the sample bag and not everywhere else. 

Cement based and composite (plastics, resins, bitumen etc) are low risk because of their low friability and can be sampled using a pair of pliers (with the teeth ground off to avoid contamination)  or sharp tool, cement based materials are usually sprayed anyway by default.

The samples descriptions are written on the sample bags which have writable panels on them, the sample bag is then placed in another sample bag (double bagged) for sending to the UKAS lab.

A photo or several photos are taken of each sample location and the photo number is used to match the sample on written on the sample bag.

A sketch is made of each floor and sample locations marked for including in the final report

A check list is used after taking each sample to assess the material based on various parameters (see sample survey) and this information is entered into the Envacs survey software complete with the analysis results, the surveyors comments and recommendations for each material. The report is then double checked by another of our surveyors before being sent to the client.

A helpline and email assistance is available for all questions or concerns regarding the reports and the findings within it. Further copies of the report can be produced FOC for any other interested parties like landlords, owners, insurance companies, mortgage/finance companies, a PDF version is also emailed to clients and their requested recipients.

Domestic properties (houses, flats etc)

Domestic properties are not strictly controlled as much as industrial and commercial buildings, the risks are still there, but there is not the same compulsion to assess the risks from asbestos when the regulations do not apply. It is usually down to the individual to manage any risks.

Some forward thinking insurance companies and mortgage companies are asking for more domestic asbestos surveys, considering the amount of asbestos still out there in all types of properties I think its a good idea. If you buy a house that contains a significant amount of asbestos the cost of removal may be high and the known risk from the material may spoil your enjoyment of owning the property, the 'problem' should be addressed at an early stage of the purchase.

HIP

I think its very strange that asbestos is not mentioned in the Home Information Pack and yet its still in many houses? We carry out asbestos inspections to be inserted into the HIP reports for a complete risk assessment of the property.

Sometimes in large amounts and sometimes in very bad condition, blue/brown asbestos pipe insulation is still being discovered in large houses, flats etc under the floors, AIB fire protection is still in ceilings, cupboards, kitchens, garages etc, AIB soffit panels and facias are found in houses not considered very old, everything from basement panelling to roof tiles, if it was me I'd like to know.

Communal areas

Communal areas of flats do actually come under the new regulations because the area is shared by more than one person and therefore requires an asbestos survey. These are simple, cheap and straightforward.

What is a legal asbestos survey?

What is a legal survey? A survey must include various details about the materials: material type, asbestos type, amount of material, location in building, condition, surface treatment (sealed etc), location assessment (number of people, how long occupied, how often occupied, likely disturbance by main activity) disturbance assessment (likely disturbed by maintenance, air volume of location, accessibility).

The above parameters need to be assigned a weighted score based on the risk factors so that the total risk from each material can be calculated and used to provide a priority assessment. The priority assessment is just that, a list of materials that need to be dealt with in order of priority based on the scoring, most materials will be low scoring (in my experience) and will simply require an annual inspection.

If you have materials that produce a high score then the required action will be obvious and stated in the surveyors comments e.g.: "Encapsulate and label, prevent further damage, install mechanical protection" etc, once these measures are implemented then the scoring will be reduced accordingly.

The survey should also include a photo with description and the surveyor's comments and/or recommendations for ensuring continued safety of the material and any remedial measures required.

If samples are taken then the certificate of analysis should be included with a clear written description of where the samples were taken from and correspond with the sample numbers in the survey.

The drawings should also clearly show the extent of the asbestos materials and where the samples were taken from, showing sample numbers.

That is a legal asbestos survey, don't except anything less

When it goes wrong

If you consider the real risks from asbestos in your premises you will have some idea of how, failing to follow the right course, could have a significant impact on your business/property.

If you do nothing, nothing may happen for a while, then perhaps one day an accident, incident, exposure, or death happens involving asbestos. The resulting investigation will be thorough and all your steps to reduce the risks will be considered ( a cheap and inferior asbestos survey will not help you here), if there are no recognised (asbestos related) control measures or they are inadequate then you must expect the full weight of the law to be employed against you.

If you have 'suitable and sufficient' control measures in place and can show you took 'all reasonable practical steps to prevent the incident occurring' (the ONLY allowable defence in HSE prosecutions) then you will fair much better in the outcome.

asbestos surveys kent - asbestos surveyors kent