Asbestos in your block of flats
Sinead Campbell, of London Flats Insurance, discusses everything you need to know about asbestos in your block of flats.
For many blocks of flats, the standard health and safety measures such as fire safety and electrical safety may seem obvious. However, there are other things you need to think about, such as the dangers of asbestos in your building and the steps you need to take to ensure your property is safe.
It is your duty as a Residents’ Management Company director or the landlord to ensure the safety of your residents and any employees working on the grounds, as well as any visitors to the property. Failure to comply with health and safety regulations may result in prosecution in court and you may be sued for negligence, so it’s vital that you are fully aware of your responsibilities.
What should I be aware of?
It is the duty of the person managing the maintenance and repair of common areas to ensure they also manage assessments for asbestos within the building. As stated, this duty usually falls on the landlord or Residents’ Management Company.
Asbestos assessments and any necessary follow-up action are a legal requirement of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. This law does not apply to individual leaseholders’ flats, however, only to common areas within the building such as foyers, corridors, staircases and lifts. These regulations are normally upheld by local authorities and Health and Safety Executives.
As the manager of the building, it is your job to determine whether there is asbestos within the property and if so, where it is and what condition it is in. From there, you will have to establish the risk and create a plan of action to manage and mitigate this. In the same way the fire officers can request to see the fire risk assessment records, solicitors looking to buy the property can also request to see evidence of an asbestos survey being made. If this is not available, it could cause a problem selling the property.
As asbestos was regularly used in building materials between the 1950s and 1980s, it is crucial that any building built before the 2000s undergoes a survey, as the property is at risk of containing asbestos.
The cost for the asbestos survey and any resulting work may be recovered from the annual service charge if the lease specifically stipulates this.