Rules and Regulations
HEALTH AND SAFETY
- In this regulation "the dutyholder" means -
every person who has, by way of a contract or tenancy, an obligation any extent in relation to the maintenance or repair of non-domestic premises. - Every person shall cooperate with the dutyholder so far as is necessary to enable the dutyholder to comply with his duties under this regulation.
- In order to enable him to manage the risk from Asbestos in non-domestic premises, the dutyholder shall ensure that a suitable and sufficient assessment is carried out as to whether Asbestos is or is liable to be present in the premises.
SURVEY OBJECTIVES
Methods for the Determination of Hazardous Substances (MDHS)- 100 Surveying, Sampling and assessment of Asbestos containing materials.
This document contains practical guidance on surveying for asbestos containing materials in workplace premises and identifies three distinct categories of asbestos surveys.
Asbestos surveys within building are conducted as either part of the safe management of the day-to-day maintenance activities within the facility. (i.e. Type 2 (sampling survey) or as part of the planned demolition or refurbishment of the building (i.e. Type 3 (pre-demolition/major refurbishment surveys).
Type 1: Location and assessment survey (presumptive survey)
This is a visual examination of the fabric of the building and allows for two classes of suspected asbestos containing material to be identified, presumed and strongly presumed.
Any dutiful surveyor, mindful of both the potential for a claim against his or her Professional Indemnity Insurance and a prosecution under Health and Safety Regulations, in the absence of analytical evidence, will treat non-asbestos items as if they are asbestos containing.
For example without sampling and subsequent analysis, its impossible to distinguish between painted Asbestos Insulating Boards (AIB) and asbestos free substitutes such as "Supalux".
Although the initial costs for undertaking this type of survey will be lower than the Type 2 and 3 surveys, any potential savings are likely to be outweighed by:
- Treating the material as asbestos
- The cost of the revisit for sampling purposes
- The debilitating effect that the lack of positive information will have on the day-to-day maintenance of a building.
Type 2: Standard sampling, identification and assessment survey (sampling survey)
The objective of this type of survey is to identify, quantify and provide a risk assessment of those asbestos containing elements within the building which are specified within the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations (CAWR) 2002, (i.e. sprayed coatings, textured coatings, thermal insulation, insulating boards and cement products).
There is a question of balance to be achieved in acquiring sufficient information to manage the risk associated with the presence of asbestos within the fabric of a building and the degree to which damage and disruption is caused to both the fabric of the building and to the operation of your business.
The level of survey is adequate for a day-to-day management and low-level maintenance purposes, although it will not be adequate during a major refurbishment/alteration project. Where the client has commissioned this level of survey, the information should be used with the caution and it should be used as a basis to re-inspect concealed areas (floor spaces, cavities, ceiling voids etc.) that may need to be exposed as part of the enabling works during major construction works.
Type 3: Full access sampling and identification survey (pre-demolition/ major refurbishment surveys)
The principal difference is the degree of destructive testing that occurs in a demolition or development survey compares with a register of survey.
The principal difference is the degree of destructive testing that occurs in a Type 3 (pre-demolition/major refurbishment surveys) compared with a Type 2 (sampling survey).
On the presumption that the building is to be refurbished or demolished, all asbestos containing materials that have been detected will be removed.
