Do I need an asbestos survey?
If you own or manage a building, or you're about to carry out work on one, the answer is usually yes — the type of survey depends on what you're doing.
When you need a management survey
If you're responsible for a non-domestic building in normal use, you have a legal duty to manage its asbestos. A management survey locates the material, assesses its condition and records it, so it can be managed and left safely in place. This is the everyday compliance survey.
When you need a refurbishment & demolition survey
Before any refurbishment, renovation or demolition — in any building, including homes — a refurbishment and demolition survey is required. It's fully intrusive, because the work will disturb materials a management survey deliberately leaves alone. Get this done before the tools come out.
When a sample test is enough
If you just need to know whether one material — a bit of artex, a floor tile, a garage roof — contains asbestos, a single sample test is the fastest, cheapest answer.
Which survey do I need — questions
Do I need an asbestos survey?
If you manage or own a non-domestic building, you have a legal duty to manage the asbestos in it, which normally means a management survey. Before any refurbishment or demolition — in any building, including homes — a refurbishment and demolition survey is required so asbestos is found and removed first. If you are simply unsure whether a material contains asbestos, testing a sample is the quick answer.
Do I need a management or a refurbishment survey?
A management survey is for a building in normal use — it locates asbestos so it can be managed and left safely in place. A refurbishment and demolition survey is fully intrusive and is needed before building work, because the work will disturb materials a management survey deliberately leaves alone. If you are planning renovations or a knock-down, you need the refurbishment and demolition survey.
Should asbestos be removed or encapsulated?
Asbestos that is in good condition and won't be disturbed is often safest left in place and managed, or sealed with encapsulation. Removal is the right call when the material is damaged, deteriorating, or in the way of planned work. A survey tells you which applies to your material, and we advise honestly rather than removing more than you need.
Is it safe to leave asbestos in place?
Asbestos that is undamaged, sealed and won't be disturbed generally poses a low risk and can be safely managed where it is. The danger comes when fibres are released — by damage, drilling, sanding or demolition. If the material is in good condition we'll tell you it can stay, with a plan to monitor it; if it's damaged or in the way of works, removal is safer.