Asbestos Management Survey — 1970s Office, Horsham
Four ACMs identified in a 1970s commercial office building in Horsham. Full management survey report, asbestos register, and priority removal specification delivered — duty-to-manage compliance achieved ahead of new tenancy.
Duty-to-Manage Compliance for a Commercial Landlord
Commercial landlords who own non-domestic premises built before 2000 have a legal duty to manage asbestos under Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. This duty requires them to identify the presence of asbestos-containing materials in their premises, assess the risk they present, and prepare and implement a plan to manage that risk. Failure to comply is a criminal offence and can result in prosecution by the HSE.
In practice, duty-to-manage compliance requires a current management survey, a live asbestos register, and a documented management plan. Many commercial landlords have a survey from the time of acquisition but have not updated it — a survey that is more than five years old, or that predates significant building works, may no longer be reliable.
In this Horsham case, the landlord's incoming tenant had specifically requested evidence of current asbestos management compliance as a condition of signing the lease. The survey and register we produced satisfied this requirement and allowed the tenancy to proceed on schedule.
Horsham 1970s office: 3 ACMs identified across 3 floors. Full management survey report, risk assessment, and management plan issued.
A management survey should be reviewed annually and updated whenever: the condition of known ACMs changes; building works are carried out that may have disturbed ACMs; new areas of the building are accessed that were not previously surveyed; or more than five years have passed since the last survey. An out-of-date survey does not satisfy the duty to manage — it is the landlord's responsibility to ensure the register reflects the current condition of the building.
Survey, Report & Removal Specification
Duty-to-Manage Compliance Brief
The commercial landlord owned a 1970s two-storey office building in Horsham that was being prepared for refurbishment ahead of a new tenancy. The building had not been surveyed for asbestos since the landlord acquired it in 2018 — a management survey had been carried out at that time, but it was now out of date and the landlord needed a current survey to satisfy the incoming tenant's due diligence requirements and to comply with their duty to manage asbestos under Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. Our P402-qualified surveyor attended to carry out a full management survey.
Full Building Survey — All Accessible Areas
The survey covered all accessible areas of the building: ground floor offices, first floor offices, reception area, stairwells, toilets, kitchen, plant room, and roof space (via loft hatch). The plant room was the highest-risk area — 1970s commercial plant rooms frequently contain pipe lagging, boiler rope seals, and AIB panels around mechanical equipment. Four ACMs were identified: asbestos insulation board ceiling tiles in the ground floor offices (low risk, good condition), asbestos rope seals on the boiler (medium risk, minor damage), an asbestos cement flue pipe in the plant room (low risk, intact), and asbestos insulation board panels around the plant room pipework (medium risk, surface damage).
Laboratory Analysis & Survey Report
All samples were submitted to our UKAS-accredited laboratory and results returned within 24 hours. The full management survey report was delivered within five working days. The report included the asbestos register, condition assessments, risk ratings, a management plan, and a recommended re-inspection schedule. The asbestos register was formatted for use as a live document — it can be updated as ACM conditions change and is the primary reference document for contractors working in the building.
Priority Removal Specification
The landlord requested a removal specification for the two medium-risk ACMs: the boiler rope seals and the AIB plant room panels. Both required removal before the refurbishment works could commence in the plant room area. We prepared a detailed specification and cost plan for the removal works, which were subsequently carried out by our licensed removal team over two days. The AIB ceiling tiles in the ground floor offices were assessed as low risk and in good condition — they were left in place and included in the asbestos management plan for ongoing monitoring.
Everything Delivered on This Project
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