CareHomeDeskCareHomeDeskAsbestos-containing materials (ACMs) identified in a management survey must be reinspected annually to assess any change in condition. HSE guidance MDHS100 sets out the reinspection methodology. The reinspection can be carried out by a competent in-house person with appropriate training, or by a specialist contractor.
Identifying asbestos-containing materials through an initial management survey is only the first step in meeting the duty to manage under CAR 2012. HSE guidance, including MDHS100, sets out the expectation that ACMs recorded in the register are reinspected at regular intervals -- typically annually -- to assess whether their condition has changed since the last check. A register that is never revisited after the original survey does not meet this ongoing management expectation, regardless of how thorough the initial survey was.
The reinspection process set out in MDHS100 involves a visual assessment of each recorded ACM against its previous condition rating, checking for signs of damage, deterioration, or disturbance such as drilling, painting over, or physical impact. Where a material's condition has worsened, its risk rating in the register should be updated, and consideration given to whether more urgent action -- encapsulation, repair or removal -- is now needed rather than continued monitoring.
Reinspection does not always require a fully accredited surveying organisation. A competent person within the organisation who has received appropriate asbestos awareness and reinspection training can carry out routine reinspections, provided they understand what changes in condition to look for and how to record them correctly. More complex sites, or where materials are in poor or uncertain condition, may still warrant using a specialist contractor for reinspection.
Each reinspection should be recorded against the specific register entry with the date, who carried it out, the condition observed, and any change from the previous assessment. Where a material's condition is unchanged, this should still be explicitly recorded rather than left blank, since a register with gaps in its reinspection history is difficult to distinguish from one that has simply never been reinspected.
HSE treats an ACM register with no reinspection history since the original survey as effectively an unmanaged register, because deterioration between survey and disturbance is exactly the scenario the ongoing duty to manage is designed to catch. Annual reinspection is the mechanism that identifies a deteriorating material before fibres are released into the air and before a contractor unknowingly disturbs a material that was recorded as stable years earlier but has since degraded.
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