Asbestos Surveys For First Time Buyers

Refurbishment and Demolition Asbestos Surveys For First Time Buyers

If you are planning on renovating your new home once you move in, or the property requires significant maintenance, these large-scale construction and remodelling works could disturb existing asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) potentially lying within the fabric of the building. Disturbing ACMs can lead to fibre release, which leads to exposure, which leads to serious health risks. 

This is one of the reasons we would highly recommend enlisting the help of our accredited asbestos surveyors in order to keep you safe. But that’s not the only reason. If your new home was built before the year 2000, and is due to undergo refurbishment or significant maintenance works, it is a legal requirement under the Control of Asbestos Regulations (2012) to have an R&D Survey (previously known as a Type 3 Asbestos Survey) carried out in England.

 An R&D survey requires a visual approach, which is why our team will adopt intrusive sampling methods in order to thoroughly search, identify and assess the presence, type and condition of any suspected ACMs present. These sampling methods can include: bulk asbestos sampling, surface sampling, air sampling, and destructive inspection (e.g. lifting floorboards, removing claddings, breaking through walls, etc.).  

Due to these invasive sampling methods, it is paramount to ensure the premises are vacant at all times during the survey in order to remain compliant with legislation and keep everyone safe. Our asbestos surveyors will only ever take samples in accordance with the HSG264 Asbestos: The Survey Guide. Once the samples have been sent for analysis to an independent UKAS-accredited laboratory, we will then be able to confirm whether asbestos is present and provide impartial advice on the next steps, should further action be necessary.

Asbestos Management Plans For First Time Buyers

Once you move into your new property, you will become what’s known as a dutyholder. This means you will have certain responsibilities to fulfill. For example, if the presence of asbestos has been confirmed after one of our asbestos surveys has taken place at your property, you can choose to either set out an Asbestos Management Plan (AMP) to control potential exposure to the materials, or enlist asbestos removal specialists to get rid of the asbestos (removal is not always needed, this will depend on the level of risk the ACMs pose).

An AMP sets out the steps you should take as a dutyholder, in order to manage the risk of asbestos within your new home. This includes:

• Producing a history of the materials on-site and ensuring they have been maintained, labelled or removed.
• Outlining required actions to safely manage the asbestos and timeframes for completion (based on a priority and risk assessment scale).
• Confirming who is responsible for managing asbestos.
• Producing an asbestos register and providing details of any previous asbestos works undertaken at the property.
• Stating the level of communication required to effectively manage the risk of asbestos.
• Undergoing any asbestos training required to ensure the risk remains low.

We can handle all of the above for you via our Asbestos Management Plan services.

Asbestos Re-Inspection Surveys For First Time Buyers

Depending on the condition of the confirmed ACMs within the property, our asbestos consultants may advise you that it’s safer to leave them in situ, while having regular compliance checks carried out to ensure the materials do not deteriorate.

This is where our Asbestos Re-Inspections come in. These services are usually advised as part of an Asbestos Management Plan, so we can assess any ACMs that have been left in situ within the building. This is extremely important for homes that pre-date the year 2000, as older structures can pose a higher risk of containing ACMs with deteriorated conditions, or inspection reports that have passed their expiry date.