The duty to manage is directed at those who manage non-domestic premises: the people with responsibility for protecting others who work in such premises, or use them in other ways, from the risks to ill health that exposure to asbestos causes.
These pages provide answers to some questions about the duty as well as some further information:
The duty to manage asbestos is contained in regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006. It requires the person who has the duty (ie the “dutyholder”) to:
There is also a requirement on anyone to co-operate as far as is necessary to allow the dutyholder to comply with the above requirements.
In many cases, the dutyholder is the person or organisation that has clear responsibility for the maintenance or repair of non-domestic premises through an explicit agreement such as a tenancy agreement or contract.
The extent of the duty will depend on the nature of that agreement. In a building occupied by one leaseholder, the agreement might be for either the owner or leaseholder to take on the full duty for the whole building; or it might be to share the duty. In a multi-occupied building, the agreement might be that the owner takes on the full duty for the whole building. Or it might be that the duty is shared – for example, the owner takes responsibility for the common parts while the leaseholders take responsibility for the parts they occupy. Sometimes, there might be an agreement to pass the responsibilities to a managing agent.
In some cases, there may be no tenancy agreement or contract. Or, if there is, it may not specify who has responsibility for the maintenance or repair of non-domestic premises. In these cases, or where the premises are unoccupied, the duty is placed on whoever has control of the premises, or part of the premises. Often this will be the owner.
The duty to manage covers all non-domestic premises. Such premises include all industrial, commercial or public buildings such as factories, warehouses, offices, shops, hospitals and schools.
Non-domestic premises also include those ‘common’ areas of certain domestic premises: purpose-built flats or houses converted into flats. The common areas of such domestic premises might include foyers, corridors, lifts and lift-shafts, staircases, roof spaces, gardens, yards, outhouses and garages – but would not include the flat itself. Such common areas would not include rooms within a private residence that are shared by more than one household such as bathrooms, kitchens etc in shared houses and communal dining rooms and lounges in sheltered accommodation.
Further detail is set out in a chart of premises and includes which are likely to be classified as domestic or non-domestic for the purposes of the duty to manage.
There are three essential steps:
Further details of these steps can be found on pages 7-13 of this downloadable pdf file ‘A short guide to managing asbestos’. For details of more comprehensive publications see the further information page.
Here are some basic principles to remember:
If any ACMs need to be sealed, encapsulated or removed, remember you will need to employ a licensed contractor if the materials are high risk (eg pipe insulation and asbestos insulating panels). If the materials are lower risk (eg asbestos cement) then an unlicensed but competent contractor may carry out this work. For further details look at the licensing section.
HSE is running a campaign to reduce the risks to ill health for people who use buildings which contain asbestos by:
Remember, it’s ‘duty to manage’ not ‘duty to survey’.
For a more detailed guide on surveys you can consult MDHS100 [774kb]
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In this type of survey no actual sampling is carried out, so there is no positive identification of ACMs. However, the purpose of the survey is to locate, as far as reasonably practicable, presumed ACMs and assess the extent to which they were used and their condition. In this case, you may find that you are bearing the cost for managing materials that do not contain asbestos, as you are presuming that any material, which can reasonably be expected to contain asbestos, does so, and treating it as such for future work. In this case you can only exclude materials if you are completely confident that they do not contain asbestos ie glass, metal or wood (although asbestos may be hidden by them).
During this survey, all areas should be inspected as far as reasonably practicable or else must be presumed to contain asbestos. The condition of all materials which are presumed to be asbestos must be assessed.
The procedures used for this type of survey are the same as for a type 1, however in this case representative samples of the ACMs are collected and analysed to confirm or refute the suspected presence of asbestos. Sampling may take place simultaneously with the survey or be carried out after the type 1 survey is complete. Condition of the ACMs in question must also be assessed.
This survey may involve destructive inspection to gain access to all areas of the building to locate and describe, as far as reasonably practicable, all ACMs in the building. A full sampling programme is undertaken to identify ACMs and the extent to which they are used (volume and surface area). This type of survey is designed to be used as a basis for tendering the removal of ACMs before demolition or major refurbishment so an assessment of the condition of ACMs present is not necessary.
First, make sure that appointing such a person or organisation is how you wish to comply with the need to manage asbestos in your premises. Remember - you may find it more appropriate to carry out the inspection in-house.
If you are sure you want to appoint a person or organisation to carry out a survey, you should as a minimum:
; and You can check whether an organisation has the appropriate training and experience by finding out if it is approved by a recognised accreditation body as complying with the standard ISO 17020. If it is an individual surveyor you wish to appoint, you can check whether he or she has personnel certification for asbestos surveys from a certification body which has been approved by a recognised accreditation body under the standard ISO 17024. In addition, you will need to check which of the three types of survey set out above the organisation or individual surveyor is qualified to carry out.
Further information about accreditation to these standards can be obtained from the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), which is the sole recognised accreditation body in Great Britain. HSE strongly recommends that an accredited surveyor is used for carrying out asbestos surveys.
In addition to this there are two personnel certification schemes which have been developed for individuals that undertake asbestos surveys.
One of these is known as ABICS (Asbestos Building Inspectors Certification Scheme) which is operated by the Faculty of Occupational Health (FOH) as part of the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS). For further information on this scheme visit the website at www.abics.org.
The other scheme is known as NIACS which is the National Individual Asbestos Certification Scheme. This is a joint venture comprising the specialist division of ARCA (Asbestos Removal Contractors Association) known as Asbestos Testing and Consultation (AtaC) along with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). For further information on this scheme visit the NIACS website at www.niacs.org.uk.