Demolition Asbestos Survey Edinburgh — investigate the structure before it is broken apart
Locate hidden ACMs before demolition plant and operatives expose them
A Demolition Survey investigates the defined structure at a much more intrusive level than a Management Survey. It should be planned around what is being demolished and what is retained.
Full demolition
Investigate the structure comprehensively before complete demolition begins.
Partial demolition
Define demolition and retained boundaries so the survey matches the actual work.
Soft strip / deconstruction
Coordinate survey access with ceilings, floors, services, walls and other elements being stripped.
An old Management Survey is not a demolition clearance document
HSE states that refurbishment or demolition surveys must locate and identify hidden ACMs before structural work begins, and that ACMs should be removed so far as reasonably practicable before major refurbishment or demolition.
See HSE guidance and ASM's national Demolition Survey page.
Useful demolition-survey inputs
- demolition drawings
- retained structures
- soft-strip sequence
- existing asbestos records
- structural information
- services and isolations
- below-ground interfaces
- access and programme constraints
Survey → scope asbestos work → complete controls → proceed with demolition
Define the boundary
Confirm exactly what is being demolished and what remains.
Investigate intrusively
Open the relevant building fabric under controlled survey arrangements.
Deal with ACMs
Plan removal or required controls before demolition disturbs the materials.
Provide project information
Use the report and completion records as part of pre-construction information.
Connect asbestos findings to the demolition programme
Use the survey evidence to define the removal, analytical and ground-risk workstreams before the programme moves on.
Removal scope
Price known ACMs against the actual demolition survey findings rather than generic allowances.
Removal cost
Use Edinburgh guide prices for early budgeting, then obtain a fixed scope-based quotation.
Air monitoring / clearance
Book analytical support before the demolition programme relies on an enclosure handback date.
Below the slab
A building Demolition Survey does not automatically clear made ground or previous demolition fill beneath the structure.
Pre-demolition surveys for redevelopment, industrial sites and constrained urban projects
Leith, Granton & former industrial land
Older warehouses, workshops and development plots can combine standing-building asbestos with demolition fill or made-ground concerns that need separate but coordinated workstreams.
Constrained city sites
Shared walls, retained façades, neighbouring occupation, restricted loading and structural hazards can affect the destructive survey sequence and areas that can be opened safely.
Soft strip & major internal demolition
Where the shell remains but ceilings, floors, partitions, M&E and plant are removed, the survey boundary should match the full depth of the strip-out rather than the label attached to the project.
Edinburgh and the Lothians support through ASM's local Edinburgh office
ASM supports projects throughout Edinburgh, the Lothians and wider Scotland through its local Edinburgh office, led by James Brown, Regional Manager Scotland. UKAS-accredited bulk sample analysis is undertaken at ASM's Sunderland headquarters laboratory within the applicable accredited scope.
ASM Edinburgh Office
Third Floor
3 Hill Street
Edinburgh
EH2 3JP
Regional Manager Scotland:
James Brown
Edinburgh: 0131 202 4096
National: 0330 433 9680
Monday–Friday
08:00–18:00
UKAS Accreditation No. 32982
Edinburgh and the Lothians coverage
Edinburgh City Centre, New Town, Old Town, Royal Mile, Leith, Stockbridge, Morningside, Newington, Marchmont, Bruntsfield, Haymarket, Murrayfield, Gorgie, Dalry, Corstorphine, Portobello, Liberton, Colinton, Craigentinny, Granton, South Gyle, Sighthill and Edinburgh Park, with wider attendance across Musselburgh, Dalkeith, Bonnyrigg, Penicuik, Livingston, West Lothian, East Lothian, Midlothian, Fife, Falkirk and Central Scotland subject to project requirements and availability.
Attendance is subject to project requirements, scope, access and availability.
ASM holds UKAS accreditation number 32982 for defined asbestos inspection activities to ISO/IEC 17020. Removal and demolition activities themselves are not described as UKAS-accredited services.
Edinburgh services connected to demolition
Connect the pre-demolition survey to removal, analytical support, contaminated-land work and wider redevelopment information.
Edinburgh & the Lothians FAQs
When is a Demolition Asbestos Survey required?
It is used before full or partial demolition where the asbestos information needs to cover the structure being broken apart.
Can a Management Survey be used before demolition?
No. A Management Survey is not a substitute for the intrusive asbestos information required for the demolition boundary.
Does a Demolition Survey involve destructive inspection?
Yes. It is highly intrusive because hidden ACMs need to be investigated before structural demolition exposes them.
What happens if asbestos is found?
The findings are used to define removal or other required controls before demolition disturbs the ACMs.
Does the survey include asbestos in soil?
Not automatically. Made ground and buried demolition materials require separate contaminated-land consideration.
Define the demolition boundary before the destructive survey starts
Send drawings, demolition scope, retained structures, soft-strip sequence, existing asbestos information, isolation constraints and programme. ASM can prepare the intrusive survey scope and written quotation.
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