CareHomeDeskCareHomeDeskThe three types of asbestos survey serve different purposes. Getting the right type before any building work is one of the most common compliance failures in care home property management.
A management survey is the standard survey required to manage asbestos during the normal occupation and routine maintenance of a building. It identifies and assesses ACMs that could be disturbed during day-to-day activities -- maintenance, minor repairs, and cleaning. It is not designed to identify ACMs that are concealed or require destructive investigation to locate. A management survey should be the starting point for every pre-2000 care home building that does not already have a current, comprehensive asbestos register. It must be carried out by a surveyor accredited by UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) -- check the surveyor's accreditation at ukas.com before appointment.
A refurbishment and demolition (R&D) survey is required before any refurbishment or demolition work that may disturb the building fabric. Unlike a management survey, an R&D survey is intrusive -- it involves breaking into walls, lifting floor coverings, and sampling concealed materials. The area being surveyed must be vacated. An R&D survey is not a substitute for a management survey and vice versa: if you have a management survey but are planning refurbishment work, you still need an R&D survey for the area being refurbished. Commissioning refurbishment work without an R&D survey is one of the most common and serious asbestos compliance failures in the care sector.
If your building was constructed or refurbished before the year 2000 and you do not have a current asbestos survey, you should commission a management survey before any maintenance work is carried out. Asbestos was used in hundreds of building products until it was finally banned in the UK in 1999 -- the absence of known ACMs is not the same as confirmed absence. When any refurbishment is planned, however minor, commission an R&D survey for the affected area before work starts. Do not rely on the results of a management survey to clear an area for refurbishment -- a management survey is not designed for that purpose.
UKAS accreditation to ISO 17020 is the recognised benchmark for asbestos surveyors. Check the surveyor's scope of accreditation at ukas.com -- their accreditation should specifically cover asbestos surveys. Get a written scope of works before appointment, specifying which survey type is required, the areas to be surveyed, and what the deliverable report should contain. The report should include a drawn plan showing ACM locations, a schedule of all materials identified (or presumed) with condition and risk ratings, and laboratory analysis results for any samples taken. Ask to see an example report from a similar building before appointing.
The survey report is only useful if it is acted upon. On receipt, update your ACM register with all findings. Brief every maintenance contractor with the report findings relevant to their work areas. Implement any priority actions recommended by the surveyor. Commission a reinspection of any ACMs in poor condition on at least an annual basis -- their condition can deteriorate rapidly. Store the report securely but accessibly: it must be available to contractors before any work starts and to the HSE or environmental health officer on request. Where the report reveals ACMs in locations where previous uncontrolled work may have taken place, consider whether a hygiene assessment is warranted.
CareHomeDesk gives you compliance checklists, maintenance logs, and contractor management tools built around exactly this kind of knowledge.