asbestosinspectors.co.uk

Asbestos inspectors who show you what they found.

Management surveys, refurbishment and demolition surveys, sampling and re-inspections for workplaces, blocks of flats, schools and older homes. Every sample is logged with where it came from, what the lab found and what to do next, in plain English.

Book an inspection
Call 020 3386 1854
Fixed quote in writing before the visit  ·  No pressure to remove anything
What one line of your report looks like
Illustrative example, not a real building
Where
Ground floor, boiler cupboard

Ceiling panel above the boiler

Material
Insulating board

About 1 m², unpainted, edge chipped and cracked

Sample S-04
Amosite found

Brown asbestos, identified by the lab

Material score
8
medium
What to do
Label it, leave it undisturbed, get the edge sealed

Checked at every re-inspection; nobody drills or fixes into it

HSE guide HSG264 scores each material from its type, damage, surface and asbestos type: 10 or more is high, 7–9 medium, 5–6 low, 4 or less very low.

No law says an asbestos inspector has to be accredited.

HSE strongly recommends one that is, and says the samples must go to an accredited laboratory. So who you book matters more than how quickly they can come. Ask before the visit, not after the report.

Check an inspector
Ask us: 020 3386 1854
The surveying company

Accredited to BS EN ISO/IEC 17020. UKAS lists them as Inspection Bodies on its website.

The laboratory

Accredited to ISO/IEC 17025. UKAS lists them as Testing laboratories.

If a surveyor isn't accredited

HSE says make reasonable enquiries: their qualifications, written procedures and recent similar work.

Source: HSE, Sourcing professional advice and services on asbestos issues.

What do you need an inspector for?

The right inspection depends on what happens to the building next. Pick the one closest to you.

Management survey

The standard inspection for a building in normal use. The inspector finds, as far as reasonably practicable, any material that could be damaged or disturbed by everyday use, maintenance or small jobs, and samples what they suspect.

How invasive

Minor: small samples, accessible voids lifted

Building occupied?

Yes, people can carry on working or living there

You get

A register with locations, results, scores and actions

Book a management survey

HSG264 paragraphs 43–50

Refurbishment and demolition survey

Needed before any work that disturbs the fabric of the building. It covers only the area being worked on, but fully: floors lifted, walls and ceilings opened. Employers must not start work that could expose people until they know whether asbestos is there, or assume it is.

How invasive

Fully intrusive in the work area

Building occupied?

The work area must be empty during the survey

You get

What must be removed before work, and where

Book a refurbishment survey

HSG264 paragraphs 51–53; Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, regulations 5 and 7

Re-inspection

The inspector goes back to every material in your register, checks whether its condition has changed, rescores it and updates the actions. No new sampling unless something new turns up or the scope changes.

How invasive

Visual check of known items

Building occupied?

Yes

You get

An updated register and a list of what changed

Book a re-inspection
How often?

Sampling one material

You can’t tell asbestos by looking. If one thing worries you, a textured ceiling, an old floor tile, a panel behind a radiator, the inspector takes a small sample, seals the spot and sends it to the lab for identification.

How invasive

One small sample, the spot sealed

Building occupied?

Yes, keep people clear of that spot for a few minutes

You get

The lab result and what it means for your plans

Book a sample

Fine for one item; it isn’t a survey of the building

Your own home

The duty to manage asbestos doesn’t cover the inside of a private house or flat. But builders, plumbers and electricians still need to know what’s there before they start, so a survey of the work area before a refit saves arguments and delays. Homes built before 2000 are the ones to check.

Usually

A refurbishment survey of the rooms being worked on

Or

A sample of one material you’re unsure about

You get

A report you can hand to your builder

Ask which you need

HSG264 paragraph 10

Check an inspector before you book.

Six things HSE guidance expects from a survey provider. Tick what the company you’re talking to has already shown you. Use it on us too: we’ll answer all six on the phone.

They told you whether they're accredited, and the number checks out

Look the company up on the UKAS list of Inspection Bodies. If they aren’t accredited, ask for the evidence in the next ticks.

They named the lab, and it's accredited to ISO/IEC 17025

HSE says anyone commissioning analysis must make sure of this.

The person visiting holds an asbestos surveying qualification

For example the BOHS P402. Ask to see the certificate and their recent similar jobs.

The survey type and areas are agreed in writing first

Which rooms, roof spaces and plant areas are in, and what’s left out.

They're independent of whoever would remove it

Or they’ve told you plainly about any link. HSE asks for independence and impartiality.

The report follows HSG264, with a score for each material

And a list of every area they couldn’t get into, with the reason.

From the first call to the register in your hands.

What happens on a management survey. A refurbishment survey follows the same path, with the work area emptied and opened up.

1
Before the visit

Scope agreed

Survey type, rooms, roof spaces and plant areas, access and keys. The quote is fixed in writing.

2
On the day

Walk-through

Every area in scope, including risers, ceiling voids and boxing. Occupants are told what’s happening.

3
On the day

Samples

Small samples of suspect materials, each spot sealed, labelled and photographed for the report.

4
After the visit

Lab analysis

An ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory identifies whether each sample contains asbestos, and which type.

5
Report

Register and summary

A plain summary first, then the register: where, what, score, action. We talk you through it.

When was your building built?

Asbestos was used heavily in buildings from the 1930s to 1980 and banned in 1999. Each product stopped at a different year, so the build date tells the inspector what to look for. Move the slider to your building’s year, or the year it was last refurbished.

Built or refurbished in
1976
Sprayed coatings

Fire protection on steel beams, plant-room ceilings

1974
Insulating board

Ceiling tiles, partitions, fire doors, soffits, pipe boxing

1980
Textured coatings

Artex-type ceilings and walls; old stock was used later

1984
Floor tiles and bitumen

Vinyl and thermoplastic tiles, adhesives, roofing felt

1992
Asbestos cement

Garage roofs, gutters, flues, water tanks, cladding

1999
1930
1945
1960
1975
1990
2005

Built in 1976: 4 of these 5 materials could still be in the building.

Book an inspection

Last year each product was used, from HSE’s survey guide HSG264, Appendix 1. A building finished after 1999 is strong evidence asbestos isn’t there (paragraph 38), but later work can reuse older materials.

Built in {year}: all 5 of these materials could be in the building.

Built in {year}: {count} of these 5 materials could still be in the building.

Built in {year}: strong evidence asbestos isn’t there. Tell us the date; you may not need a survey.

Who has to arrange the inspection?

Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 is the duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises. It falls on whoever is responsible for maintenance and repair, by contract or tenancy, or on whoever controls the building.

Building
Duty to manage?
The inspection people usually book
Offices, shops, factories, warehouses
Duty to manage?
Yes

The owner, the tenant, or both, depending on the lease

Usually

Management survey, then regular re-inspections; a refurbishment survey before any fit-out

Common parts of blocks of flats
Duty to manage?
Yes

Halls, stairs, lift shafts, risers, roof spaces, boiler rooms, garages

Usually

Management survey of the common parts, kept up to date for contractors

Schools, churches, halls, surgeries
Duty to manage?
Yes

Whoever is responsible for maintaining the building

Usually

Management survey and register, re-inspected; caretakers need to see it

Inside a rented house or flat
Duty to manage?
No

Regulation 4 stops at the front door, but landlords keep general duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act

Usually

A survey of the rooms before repairs or a refit, so contractors know what’s there

Your own home
Duty to manage?
No

Anyone employing people to work on it must still check first

Usually

A refurbishment survey of the work area, or one sample

Sources: CAR 2012 regulation 4 and regulation 5; HSE, HSG264 paragraph 10. A managing agent can carry out the tasks, but the duty itself stays with the dutyholder.

What a good report gives you.

HSE’s guide HSG264 sets out what a survey report should contain. If one you’ve been sent is missing any of these, ask why.

1
A summary you can read in two minutes

What was found, what’s urgent, what can wait.

2
The scope

Survey type, areas covered, and anything agreed to be left out.

3
The register

Each material’s location, type, amount, condition, score and photo.

4
Lab results

The certificate for every sample, from an accredited laboratory.

5
Plans or sketches

Where each sample and material is, so contractors can find it.

6
Actions

Leave and manage, repair, seal or enclose, or remove, item by item.

7
Areas not inspected

Every room or void they couldn’t reach, and why.

HSG264 paragraph 132.

12
months at most

between updates of your asbestos register, as part of your yearly asbestos management review, or sooner if the risk changes.

Asbestos left in place has to be checked again.

Every material in good condition is re-inspected

HSE: all asbestos-containing materials in good condition must be regularly inspected to check they stay that way.

The register is updated at least once a year

As part of your asbestos management review, and before any change that affects the risk from a material.

Sooner after work, damage or a change of staff

Any job that touched a material, any accidental damage, or a new person responsible for the building.

Book a re-inspection
020 3386 1854

Sources: HSE, Write your asbestos management plan and monitor it and Make a register and assess the risk.

Questions people ask an inspector.

Something not covered here? Call and ask. You’ll speak to someone who can answer it.

Call 020 3386 1854

They visit the building, look for materials that could contain asbestos, take small samples of anything suspect and send them to a laboratory. Then they write a report: where each material is, what the lab found, how likely it is to release fibres, and what you should do about it.

Yes, people use both words for the same job. An asbestos analyst is different: analysts work for accredited laboratories, identify samples and carry out air testing, including the checks after asbestos has been removed.

There’s no legal requirement. HSE strongly recommends using surveyors accredited to BS EN ISO/IEC 17020, and says that if you use one who isn’t, you should check their qualifications, written procedures and recent similar work. Laboratories analysing samples must be accredited to ISO/IEC 17025.

Ask for their accreditation number and look them up on the UKAS website, where accredited survey companies are listed as Inspection Bodies and laboratories as Testing laboratories. UKAS is the only accreditation body HSE recognises in Great Britain.

A management survey only takes small samples and lifts accessible panels; each sample point is sealed afterwards. A refurbishment or demolition survey is fully intrusive in the work area, so floors, walls and ceilings may be opened. That’s why it’s done just before the work, in an empty area.

For a management survey or re-inspection, yes. For a refurbishment or demolition survey, the area being surveyed must be empty while it’s done, and checked as fit to use again afterwards.

It depends on the survey type, the size of the building, how many samples are likely and how easy the access is. Call 020 3386 1854 with the address and what’s planned, and you’ll get a fixed quote in writing before anyone visits.

Often nothing dramatic. Material in good condition that won’t be disturbed is usually left in place, labelled and checked at each re-inspection. Damaged material may be repaired, sealed or enclosed. If work will disturb it, it’s removed first; the most hazardous types of work must be done by a contractor licensed by HSE.

Probably not. HSE’s guide treats a building finished after 1999 as strong evidence that asbestos isn’t present. Keep the evidence of the build date. If an older building was extended or refitted after 2000, the older parts still need checking.

For the common parts of a block of flats, yes: halls, stairs, risers, roof spaces and similar areas fall under the duty to manage. Inside an individual house or flat, regulation 4 doesn’t apply, but landlords still have general duties, and anyone sending contractors in should know what’s there first.

Yes. The inspector takes a small sample, seals the spot and sends it to the lab. A single result tells you about that material only, so it doesn’t replace a survey if you have a duty to manage or a bigger job planned.

After licensed removal, an analyst from a UKAS-accredited laboratory carries out a four-stage clearance: a check of the work, a visual inspection, air testing and, if everything passes, a certificate that the area is fit to use again. HSE guidance HSG248 sets out how it’s done.

Any previous surveys or registers, building plans if you have them, the build date and dates of major works, keys for plant rooms, risers and roof hatches, and a contact who can open locked areas on the day.

Book an inspection.

Tell us what you need and we’ll call you back with a fixed quote in writing. Prefer to talk now? Call 020 3386 1854.

What do you need?
What kind of building?
When was it built?

We only use your details to reply about this inspection.

What we promise

A fixed quote in writing

Agreed before anyone visits. The price doesn’t change on the day.

You're told what will be sampled

Before anything is touched, and every sample point is sealed.

A plain summary first

What was found and what to do, before the full register.

No pressure to remove

If leaving it in place is safe, that’s what we’ll say.

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