RICS has now published a new edition of Asbestos: legal requirements and best practice for property professionals and clients guidance note. As with previous editions, the document applies to the UK; but while it is not global in scope, it still sets out good practice that can be followed around the world, subject to local regulations.
Previous editions change with regulation
RICS first published an asbestos guidance note in 2003. This followed the ban on chrysotile asbestos in Great Britain in 1999, and 2000 in Northern Ireland – which was then the only type of asbestos that could still be legally used – as well as the introduction of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002.
The latter included the new and significant regulation 4, imposing a duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises that would come into effect in May 2004. This duty, which remains substantially the same in the latest asbestos regulations – where it remains as regulation 4 – falls on those with control over parts of non-domestic premises or who are obliged by contract or tenancy to maintain or repair non-domestic premises, or means of access to or egress from them.
It was important that RICS made members aware of this onerous duty in the guidance note, and this was an important focus within the document's overall intention 'to give … a balanced and pragmatic appreciation of the various issues surrounding asbestos, with particular regard to its use in buildings and structures'.
The guidance note also recognised the 'plethora of regulations, codes of practice and official guidance' available on asbestos at the time, and stated that the subject was 'shrouded in … mystique'. Although not intended to be limited to the built environment, it had 'particular regard to ... buildings and structures'.
A second edition of the guidance note published in 2009 acknowledged the rationalisation of legislation that led to the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006. It also recognised that 'the situation for surveyors and other property professionals [had] changed considerably and training in "asbestos awareness" [was] a mandatory legal requirement', but that there was 'still a plethora of codes of practice and official guidance'.
A third edition followed in 2011, and while this too referred to a range of surveyor services, the emphasis remained on buildings. Revised regulations, the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, were subsequently introduced to bring the UK in line with EU requirements, and to reflect amendments made to the 2006 Regulations by other legislation.
The new edition
The fourth edition guidance note refers to these regulations, to the UK's Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals regime (REACH), and to the latest guidance, such as CL:AIRE's CAR-SOIL as well as the HSE's L143 Managing and working with asbestos and HSG264 Asbestos: The survey guide.
- common asbestos-containing materials
- the duty to manage
- guidance on how to commission an asbestos survey
- suggested contents of an asbestos management plan
- work that requires a licence and work that does not
- the effects of asbestos
- international attitudes.
It was felt that the previous editions were not seen as relevant to all professional groups: they were thought to be targeted only at built environment professionals such as quantity surveyors and building surveyors.
The first edition did not mention any matters other than the built environment apart from fine art and antiques, and then only in connection with surveyors' interaction with the built environment in connection with the finding and moving of artefacts. The second edition expanded the section on services offered by surveyors, but the only further reference to anything other than the built environment – in the part referring to fine arts and antiques – was to asbestos occasionally being woven into materials or fabrics such as ancient funeral shrouds. While the third edition once more expanded the section on surveyors' services, it again added nothing further about issues unrelated to the built environment.
Relevance to all
Although it is recognised that a major area of asbestos-related endeavour must, of necessity, be the built environment, another major focus of the working group behind the guidance note was to write the new edition in such a way as to make it more relevant and of greater interest to all surveyors.
There is, for example, information for the heritage and auctioneering sectors, referring to insulation and coatings in steam trains and diesel trains; exhaust wrapping, brake linings and clutches on classic cars and historic vehicles; filters in gas masks; and asbestos insulating board (AIB) mountings for miscellaneous artefacts.
Separate case studies include, for example, AIB used as backing to a picture frame. However, these interesting and useful studies and images could not be included as part of the guidance note due to data limitations, so will instead be available for download separately.
"Another major focus of the working group behind the guidance note was to write the new edition in such a way as to make it more relevant and of greater interest to all surveyors"