“No access” on an asbestos survey means the surveyor could not inspect the area identified in the report. Until it has been inspected, presume that it contains asbestos. If the strip-out will open, enter or disturb that area, put the affected work on hold. A negative sample from the same room does not clear the room or the structure behind the sample point. Read HSE’s guidance on arranging an asbestos survey.
For a facilities manager reviewing a contractor’s strip-out package, start with the item being removed. “Was the office surveyed?” can have a perfectly accurate answer of “yes” while the surveyor inspected only the visible face of the ceiling. The question that matters is whether the report covers the ceiling, its fixings and the space the contractor will expose above it.
Read the survey extract alongside the works drawing
In this illustrative first-floor office, the works drawing calls for the ceiling and redundant ductwork to come out. It also shows shelving to be removed from an adjoining store. The survey contains three entries, each with a different consequence for those works.
01 — Office ceiling finish: no asbestos detected in sample S01
The sample point on the drawing sits on the underside of the office ceiling. The laboratory certificate records “no asbestos detected” for S01, described as a textured coating. That result answers a specific question about the material submitted for analysis.
Trace S01 from the certificate to the survey’s material description, photograph and marked plan. If the surveyor used it as a representative sample, check exactly which extent of matching coating the report assigns it to. The result gives no finding for a different layer, the ceiling board, a repair patch of different appearance or materials above the ceiling. One negative asbestos sample does not clear a whole room for strip-out.
02 — Ceiling void: no access
The office was within the survey boundary, but the report records that the surveyor could not enter or inspect the ceiling void. On the works drawing, the duct marked for removal runs through that space. Taking down the ceiling would expose the void before the ductwork itself came down.
Presume the inaccessible void contains asbestos until it has been inspected. Mark the ceiling and duct removal as on hold and ask the surveyor what prevented access. If the inspection needs the office vacated, services isolated or specialist access arranged, build that into the survey visit. Leaving the first opening to the strip-out crew would expose them to the uncertainty the survey was meant to resolve. Read HSE’s asbestos survey guide, HSG264 (PDF).
03 — Adjoining store: outside the survey scope
The survey instruction covered the office. The store lay beyond the agreed boundary, so the report gives no finding for its walls or the fabric behind its shelving. The distinction matters when arranging the next visit. For the void, the team must resolve an access restriction. For the store, the client must define the additional area and work to be covered.
Check how the shelving is fixed and what its removal will disturb. If the contractor will pull fixings from a wall outside the surveyed area, keep that task on hold and include the wall and fixing locations in the revised survey brief. The absence of a store entry in the asbestos register gives no basis for releasing that work.
Does the existing asbestos survey cover the strip-out?
A management survey supports occupation and routine maintenance. A refurbishment survey investigates the fabric that the proposed work will disturb. An existing refurbishment survey can also have gaps if the design has changed since it was commissioned. A new duct route, a deeper floor breakout or the addition of the store can take the job beyond the original brief.
For help defining the inspection boundary, see ASM’s refurbishment asbestos survey service. For the information to assemble before tender or mobilisation, read ASM’s guide to asbestos surveys before soft strip for principal contractors.
Before issuing the work package, the facilities team and principal contractor can use the following checks together.
- Match the revisions. Record the survey reference and date alongside the current works drawing number and revision. Reconcile room names and floor levels, particularly where spaces have been renamed or subdivided.
- Follow each removal through the building fabric. For a ceiling, trace the finish, board, fixings and void. For a service, follow the route through risers, penetrations and adjoining rooms. Check the written limitations as well as the coloured survey plan.
- Mark the affected tasks on the works drawing. “Office ceiling and high-level duct removal on hold pending void inspection” gives the site team a usable instruction. Record who will resolve the gap and what evidence they need.
- Close the gap before releasing the work. Have the competent surveyor investigate the affected fabric and document the findings. If asbestos is identified, address it in the work plan. Issue the revised information to the contractor, update the asbestos register where appropriate and brief the people doing the strip-out.
Ask ASM to review your asbestos survey before strip-out
If your report says “no access”, “excluded” or “no asbestos detected” and you need to decide whether a particular task can start, send ASM the full survey report with its plans and sample certificate, the latest marked-up works drawing, and a short description of what will be removed. Include the site postcode, intended start date and any known access restrictions.
Identify the decision you need help with. For example, “Does this survey cover removal of the office ceiling and duct above it, and what further inspection is needed before we issue the package?” That gives ASM a defined work area to review and a basis for scoping any follow-up survey.
Request an asbestos survey review from ASM