Frequently Asked Questions
Home Owners FAQ
The current regulations do not place any legal obligations on domestic home owners with regard to how asbestos containing materials (ACM’s) are handled in your own property. The majority of Asbestos Containing Materials in domestic premises do not pose a serious risk to health but it is certainly worth finding out what asbestos products are in the property and how you should deal with them. For the majority of materials, following common sense guidance protocols to maintain them in good condition will ensure that you do not expose yourself or your family to any health risks or face potential complications when selling your property.
An important fact to remember is that if you hire any person to undertake building or maintenance work on your home the asbestos legislation will immediately apply because you have changed the work to a commercial job. All tradesmen now are required by law to undergo asbestos awareness training annually and should be able to reasonably identify any materials they feel could contain asbestos. Remember tradesman cannot remove asbestos materials unless they have specific asbestos removal qualifications and a hazardous waste license. Some asbestos can only be removed by a fully licensed asbestos removal company and may require 14 days notice to the Health & Safety Executive before works can even begin. Fortunately these materials are quite rare and only make up approximately 10% of all asbestos materials found throughout homes in the UK.
Whilst you are legally allowed to work on and remove low density materials yourself, a trained professional will ensure that it is done in accordance with strict measures to ensure maximum safety. If you would a price for asbestos removal from our team, give us a call for a free no obligation quotation.
The simple answer is that you won’t. In order to property determine if you home contains asbestos you will need to appoint a qualified and competent surveyor who will assess your home and take samples of any suspected asbestos materials. These samples will then be sent to an independent UKAS accredited laboratory for analysis. Upon receiving the results the surveyor will produce a report showing the Type, Location and Condition of all asbestos in your home.
It depends upon the type f asbestos found, the amount of asbestos contained in the product, the condition of the product and how likely to be disturbed the asbestos is. Some asbestos is fine to live with and never needs to be removed. Some needs to be repaired, some isolated or painted and others need to be removed immediately to prevent exposure. The first step to determine this is to give us a call on 0800 458 4136
That’s a bit like phoning an estate agent and asking how much a house is. It depends on the type of asbestos, the amount, the accessibility and feasibility of the job. Prices can vary from a hundred pounds to thousands of pounds
It depends upon the condition of the asbestos and how often the garage would be used. Asbestos is safe until it is disturbed at which time fibres will be released and potentially inhaled. We would always advise that any asbestos shed or garage be encapsulated on the inside with specialist pint to stop any future fibre release. For more information on this service give us a call for an informal chat.
In theory some work can be carried out by builders such as removal of asbestos cement roofing, toilet cisterns, floor tiles and other low risk items. However I order to do so they must meet a strict criteria; of which we have yet to find a builder that does. In order to remove low risk asbestos a builder must:
Have asbestos removal training ‘Not Awareness Training’ Hold a full Hazardous Waste License have face fit tests for all his workers by an accredited company carry out the works to HSE standard use, UN approved waste sacks (red & clear)Provide you with a genuine waste consignment note
Remember that although the builder will be prosecuted for removing asbestos when they should, there is also a good chance that the homeowner will also be prosecuted as you have a duty to select a competent and accredited company to carry out works in your property. Unfortunately there are many cowboy builders about who remove asbestos from houses and place both themselves and the home owners family at risk.
Yes you can remove some of the more minor types of asbestos yourself. Please remember that they will need to be removed carefully under controlled conditions. You will need genuine overalls that are for asbestos removal and a mask with a P3 filter. The asbestos must be wrapped in polythene and taken to a local site which takes hazardous waste. I would advise that you give us a call before you do this.
You can take it to a commercial hazardous waste site who will charge you according to the weight or you can try your local tip who sometimes take hazardous waste once a month if its booked in. Please don’t just turn up at your local tip with hazardous waste without calling.
Exit the room immediately and close the door. If possible wet a towel and place it at the bottom of the door to prevent any fibres from blowing out with the draft. Then give us a call and one of our operatives will pop down to assess the situation.
Give us a call and one of our operatives will come out and take a sample. We will then analyse the material and provide you with a certificate showing if it is asbestos free of the type and concentration of asbestos found within it.
Asbestos was only banned in 1999, so this means that any property built before the year 2000 has the possibility for containing asbestos. I can’t tell you the amount of types homeowners have said to us “There’s no asbestos in this property”, only to be proven wrong within the first 10 minutes of an inspection.
Yes asbestos was used in artex as a bonding agent. It was typically phased out of artex around 1989 however we have found it in mixes made up to 1995. If you’re unsure or if you are likely to disturb your artex give us a call and we can take a sample without leaving any discernible marks. We will let you know if it contains asbestos or if it’s clear.