What is asbestos?
Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral composed of flexible fibres that are resistant to heat, electricity and corrosion.
As long as asbestos is in good condition and is not disturbed or damaged there is negligible risk. However, if it is disturbed or damaged, it can become a danger to health, because asbestos fibres are released into the air and people may breathe them in.
Any building prior to 2000 could contain asbestos and was extensively used as a building material between the 1950s and 1980s.
Asbestos in the home
The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.
The regulations relating to Asbestos is in the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. CAR 2012 does not cover residential premises so there is no legal requirement to undertake an asbestos survey when buying or selling residential premises.
Asbestos survey when buying or selling a house?
Quite simply, if you want full reassurance, get a full asbestos management survey pre-purchase. Asbestos identification cannot be presumed to be included in any other type of survey – only an asbestos survey carried out by a qualified asbestos surveyor will give you full peace of mind.
Who might recommend an asbestos survey in a home I’m buying?
Building Surveyor? Of course, building surveyors can identify materials that they suspect to be asbestos. Finding asbestos is not the purpose of their role. Their job is to identify defects of any kind and in very technical premises such as historic premises with many defects, asbestos may be missed.
Therefore, for us we would say, No, unfortunately an asbestos survey is not always recommended when it might be needed and the home buyers survey report may not identify all asbestos in a home.
What about the conveyancer? Your conveyancing solicitor may identify the need of an asbestos survey in a pre-2000 built residential premises and the advantage of using an asbestos surveyor in some circumstances, its worth asking a conveyancer what experience they have with historic premises prior to instructing them.
Therefore for us we would say, No, unfortunately a conveyancer will not always recommend an asbestos survey when required.
How can we help homeowners with asbestos?
Asbestos pre-purchase management Surveys. Full surveys including loft spaces, ceilings, walls and floors.
Asbestos testing. Simple sampling for materials such as artex or vinyl floor coverings.
Asbestos removal and asbestos removal management. High risk materials, how do you know the person removing the asbestos is good, qualified and likely to do a good job?
Asbestos awareness courses. Are useful to building professionals of all kinds and homeowners alike. Our courses tell you what to look out for, and when to seek specialist advice, but most of all, keep you and your family safe.
How can we help building surveyors with asbestos?
We deliver annual asbestos awareness training sessions in their offices and on site and are always happy to be contacted for advice if anyone is unsure about potential asbestos.
We have delivered a number of CPD presentations on deleterious materials and asbestos.
We work with some surveyors to provide guidance on caveats and how to deal with potential misses of asbestos omitted from their survey reports.
Another useful resource by the RICS on asbestos here. https://www.rics.org/globalassets/rics-website/media/upholding-professional-standards/sector-standards/building-surveying/asbestos-and-its-implications-for-surveyors-and-their-clients-3rd-edition-rics.pdf
Will a building survey or check for asbestos in a property you are buying?
The thing to remember is not all building surveyors have the same experience. Its worth asking when appointing a surveyor to undertake a building survey for you. Several building surveying companies regularly undertake CPD training. We also provide asbestos training to various companies including site-based training for surveyors. There is also a great guidance document for surveyors
So to the question, would a buyer have to commission a separate inspection and pay for that, our answer is yes. A Homebuyer Report and/or Building Survey Report is not a specialist Asbestos report. The Surveyor may well make comment, based upon their experience and/or general knowledge about the potential risk and/or likelihood of a particular item containing Asbestos. But as no testing is carried out to be certain whether a product contains.
In conclusion
Quite simply, if you want full reassurance, get a full survey. This work cannot be presumed to be included in any other type of survey – only an asbestos survey carried out by a qualified asbestos surveyor will give you full peace of mind.
Don’t assume a standard home survey before you buy will pick up on any key issues. It is vital to realise that asbestos is not a focus of these types of survey – typically normal surveys will only look at the surface level whereas asbestos can be effectively hidden in the fabric of a property.
Anything not identified prior to purchase becomes a legacy issue for you to deal with, and asbestos removal for notifiable and licensed materials can be very costly to remove.
The purchaser’s solicitors will normally ask for confirmation that an asbestos risk assessment has been carried out for asbestos as a matter of course and ask to see evidence of this. It may cause a problem with a sale if this is not available.
Need Help? Contact Summit Environmental for all matters relating to asbestos, fire, legionella, deleterious materials and energy performance certificates.
