Buildings, structures, houses that was built between early 80s -1999 may still contain asbestos containing materials. This is because during that era of life, asbestos containing materials were used for the construction of building until it was banned in 1999. these buildings may pose a threat to human life, if an asbestos survey test is not carried out on them. The asbestos survey London regulation, has directed individuals to carry out asbestos surveys on house and building that are still standing tall dating back to the early 90s.
Also, asbestos survey are to be conducted on other building that are suspected to contain asbestos materials. Making sure that the lives of the occupants are not at risk, thereby reducing the death rate as a result of inhaling asbestos fibre.
Contracted competent surveyors are to inspect every nuke and cranny of the the building to identify any asbestos containing materials. This cannot be seen by the normal eyes and would require a microscope to be carried out successfully.
If the surveyor identifies any asbestos containing materials, samples would be taken for analysis and inspection. By doing this, the surveyor would determine the type of asbestos containing material that may be in the building and take further actions to eradicate it.
Asbestos survey types
There are two main types of the asbestos survey according to the asbestos London regulations which include the following
- Management asbestos survey
- Demolition and refurbishment asbestos survey.
Management asbestos survey
The management asbestos survey is a type of survey, carried out on all commercial, residential, and industrial properties. This type of survey does not require total demolition of property, however, the surveyor would need to take some samples of suspected asbestos containing materials which he would send to the laboratory for further analysis of what kind of asbestos material may be present if one is found. Home insurance companies require an asbestos survey to be carried out on a building before leasing out an insurance policy to their customers. It is imperative that you carry this out for such purposes as well as your health.
Once the analysis is done, a report is compiled stating a summary of if asbestos containing materials are contained in the building, the amount that could possibly be found in it, and steps on further actions to take.
Demolition and refurbishment asbestos survey
The demolition and refurbishment survey are the complete inspection of building that are to be upgraded, renovated, refurbished or demolished in other to identify asbestos containing materials. For this asbestos survey to take place, occupants of the building would need to evacuate the area in case there are damaged asbestos containing materials in the site. All inspections need to be carried out before commencing work on the site to avoid worker inhaling the asbestos fibre.
In other words, the purpose of the demolition and refurbishment asbestos survey is to inspect the property or building to be worked on for asbestos containing materials so that they can be removed safely without incurring health issues