Asbestos Responsibilities for commercial premises

If you own, manage, or have responsibility for a non-domestic building, whether that's an office, warehouse, school, retail unit, or any other commercial space the rules around asbestos are clear and legally binding.

 

The duty to manage

Anyone with responsibility for the maintenance or repair of a commercial building has a 'duty to manage' asbestos. In practice, this means:

​

• Finding out whether asbestos-containing materials are present in the building

• Assessing their condition and the risk they present

• Producing and maintaining an asbestos register

• Putting a management plan in place to control the risk

• Making sure anyone who may disturb those materials be it contractors, maintenance staff, tradespeople is made aware before they start work.

 

This isn't optional. Failing to manage asbestos in a commercial setting is a criminal offence and can result in significant fines, enforcement action, and far more importantly serious harm to the people who work in or use that building.

 

Keeping it up to date

An asbestos register isn't a one-and-done job. It needs to be reviewed regularly, updated when work is carried out, and accessible to anyone who needs it. If you don't have one, or yours hasn't been looked at in years, now's the time to sort it.

 

When removal is required

Not all asbestos needs to come out. If materials are in good condition and unlikely to be disturbed, managing them in place is often the right approach. But if you're planning refurbishment, demolition, or if materials are in poor condition and deteriorating, removal will be necessary and that work needs to be carried out properly, by the right people.