Asbestos Management Plans

An asbestos management plan is a written legal document detailing how you intend to manage the risks from asbestos within your building or buildings.

The main regulation in regard to managing your asbestos is ‘The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, Regulation 4 – ‘The Duty to Manage’ or ‘The management of asbestos in non-domestic premises.

A wide range of people potentially have obligations under the control of asbestos regulations, including employers and the self employed, if they have responsibilities for maintaining or repairing non domestic premises , and the owner of those premises, whether they are occupied or vacant. In all these cases, regulation 4 of the Asbestos Regulations may apply, but the extent of the practical duties will be determined by contractual and other legal obligations towards the property. This is explored in more detail within Approved Code of Practice and Guidance L127 ‘The management of asbestos in non-domestic premises.

The law says YOU must:

1. Take reasonable steps to find materials in premises likely to contain asbestos and check their condition.
2. Presume that materials contain asbestos unless there is strong evidence to suppose they do not.
3. Make a written record of the location and condition of asbestos and presumed asbestos containing materials and keep the record up to date.
4. Assess the risk of the likelihood of anyone being exposed to those materials;
5. Prepare a plan to manage that risk and put it into effect to ensure that;
   • a) any asbestos containing materials known or presumed to contain asbestos is kept in a good state of repair;
   • b) any asbestos containing materials that contains or is presumed to contain asbestos is, because of the risks associated with its location or condition, repaired or if necessary removed; and
   • c) information on the location and condition of the material is given to anyone potentially at risk.

NO. But it helps. An asbestos survey is usually the first step. To be able to manage the risks from asbestos you must know where it is, what it is, how much of it there is and what condition it’s in. The only way to gather this information is to undertake an asbestos survey. This is why it’s the first step.

Managing asbestos is a legal requirement. An asbestos survey on its own does NOT fulfil your legal duty to manage asbestos!!!!!!!

So the big question we always get asked is, ‘how do I manage my asbestos and fulfil my legal duty?’

To manage your asbestos you must have a fully documented asbestos management plan.

This is where we can help. We have decades of experience with hundreds of clients putting together bespoke asbestos management plans. Our asbestos management plans are individually tailored to suit each client dependent upon their needs.

We make sure that you have the correct documented procedures to ensure your asbestos risk is managed fully in accordance with regulatory requirements. Call us now and we will walk you through what we can do for you and what your next steps are.