About Asbestos 

What is Asbestos?

Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral that was once considered one of the most versatile building materials in the world. It exists in several forms, the most common being chrysotile (white asbestos), amosite (brown asbestos), and crocidolite (blue asbestos). All forms share the same defining characteristic, they are made up of microscopic fibres that, when disturbed, become airborne and invisible to the naked eye.

For much of the 20th century, asbestos was celebrated for its remarkable properties: it is highly resistant to heat, fire, and chemical damage, provides excellent insulation, and is incredibly durable. These qualities made it an attractive material across construction, manufacturing, and industry. It was only as the long-term health consequences became undeniable that its true cost began to emerge.

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Where and Why Was It Used?

Asbestos was used extensively across the UK from the early 1900s through to the late 1990s, finding its way into an enormous range of building materials and industrial products. In construction, it was commonly incorporated into roof sheeting, floor tiles, ceiling tiles, pipe lagging, boiler insulation, textured coatings such as Artex, partition boards, and fire-resistant panels. It was also widely used in shipbuilding, power stations, schools, hospitals, and commercial buildings of all kinds.

Its widespread adoption was driven by both its outstanding physical properties and its low cost. It was abundant, easy to work with, and could be mixed with cement and other materials to strengthen them significantly. At the height of its use, very few industries were untouched by it. As a result, any building constructed or refurbished before the year 2000 has a realistic chance of containing asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) somewhere on the premises.

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What Are the Health Dangers?

The health dangers of asbestos arise when materials containing it are disturbed, damaged, or deteriorate, releasing microscopic fibres into the air that can then be inhaled. Because these fibres are so fine, they bypass the body's natural defences and become permanently lodged deep within lung tissue. There is no safe level of asbestos exposure, and the effects are entirely irreversible once they take hold.

Asbestos exposure is responsible for a number of serious and often fatal diseases. Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer affecting the lining of the lungs and chest cavity, almost exclusively caused by asbestos. Asbestosis is a chronic scarring of the lung tissue that causes progressive breathing difficulty. Asbestos-related lung cancer and pleural thickening are also well-documented consequences. Critically, these conditions typically take between 15 and 50 years to develop after exposure, meaning many people unknowingly carry the damage for decades before symptoms ever appear. Asbestos remains the single biggest cause of work-related deaths in the UK.

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Why Asbestos is Now Banned and Controlled

The UK's relationship with asbestos regulation evolved slowly but decisively as medical evidence mounted. Crocidolite (blue) and amosite (brown) asbestos were banned in 1985, with chrysotile (white) asbestos following in 1999, making the UK one of the first countries to implement a full prohibition on its import and use. Today, the use of asbestos in any new building or product is completely prohibited.

The primary piece of legislation governing asbestos management is the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, which consolidates earlier regulations and sets out strict legal duties for those who own, occupy, or manage non-domestic premises. The regulations impose a duty to manage, requiring that asbestos is identified, its condition assessed, and a management plan put in place. Any work involving the disturbance of asbestos must be carried out in accordance with strict procedural controls, and the most hazardous types of work are licensed activities that can only be performed by contractors holding a licence granted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Failure to comply carries serious legal consequences, including substantial fines and criminal prosecution.

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Your Responsibility With Asbestos

If you own, manage, or are responsible for a non-domestic building constructed before the year 2000, you have a legal duty to manage any asbestos that may be present. This begins with commissioning a professional asbestos survey to identify and assess the condition of any asbestos-containing materials on site. Once identified, you are required to maintain a written management plan and ensure that anyone likely to disturb those materials including contractors, maintenance teams, or other workers must be made aware of their location and condition.

For domestic property owners and landlords, the responsibilities are equally important even where they are less formally codified. Disturbing asbestos during a renovation or repair without the correct precautions puts both workers and occupants at serious risk. The safest course of action is always to assume that materials in older buildings may contain asbestos until a qualified professional confirms otherwise. At Remion, we are here to take that uncertainty away, providing expert surveys, clear guidance with safe & fully compliant removal when needed.