Asbestos Management Surveys

The surveyor reviews existing documentation first: previous reports, registers and building plans. A preliminary walkaround identifies immediate hazards and sets the methodology. Detailed visual inspections then cover all accessible areas in scope, recording ceiling, wall and floor information for each room. Suspect materials are sampled for laboratory analysis, or presumed to contain asbestos where sampling is not feasible. Each material is then assessed against HSE guidance for condition, damage and deterioration, and given a risk rating. Where a priority assessment is also required, input from someone who knows the building's usage, occupancy and maintenance routines feeds into it.

A management survey inspects surface materials that could be disturbed day to day, with some minor intrusive work such as lifting ceiling tiles or carpet tiles. It is not exhaustive, and the report says so. Anything inaccessible is presumed to contain asbestos, which is the honest position and the one that protects a maintenance contractor.

Sampling carried out to established procedures: access restricted, materials suppressed, samples repaired afterwards, and debris cleaned and disposed of as hazardous waste.

Typically excluded unless agreed and access arranged in advance: within or beyond solid structural elements; sealed roof and ceiling voids; sealed floor ducts, voids or subterranean areas; beneath fitted and sealed floor coverings; beneath fixed or raised flooring; within fire doors, behind door and window frames and beneath sills; within sealed boxing or risers with no hatch; within live electrical equipment, machinery, plant and services; and within confined spaces.