Asbestos: what to check before you drill.

Before you start: find out

Asbestos is the greatest cause of work-related deaths in Great Britain: HSE's 2026 statistics estimate around 5,000 asbestos-related deaths a year. The danger comes from disturbing it.

1. 01

   Ask

   In non-domestic buildings, ask for the asbestos register and survey, and check they cover your work area.

2. 02

   Check

   Breaking into the building fabric may need a refurbishment survey. With no information, arrange a survey or sampling, or presume asbestos is there.

3. 03

   Decide

   Can the job avoid disturbing asbestos? If not, is it licensed, notifiable non-licensed or non-licensed work?

4. 04

   Plan

   Write a plan of work before any work with asbestos starts (regulation 7), and brief the team.

Who has the duty to manage asbestos?

Regulation 4 gives a duty to manage asbestos to whoever is responsible, by contract or tenancy, for maintaining or repairing non-domestic premises such as shops and offices, or who controls them. It covers the common parts of flats, but not owner-occupied homes. Regulation 5 applies everywhere: if you employ people or are self-employed, you must find out about asbestos, or presume it is present, before work that could disturb it.

Licensed, notifiable or non-licensed?

• Licensed

  Examples

  Work on sprayed coatings, pipe lagging or loose fill insulation, and asbestos insulating board (AIB) work that is not short duration

  What the law requires

  A contractor licensed by HSE, who notifies the enforcing authority at least 14 days before starting (regulations 8 and 9)

• Notifiable non-licensed

  Examples

  Removing badly damaged asbestos cement, or minor, short AIB removal during a refurbishment

  What the law requires

  Notify before starting, mark off the work area, medical examinations at least every 3 years and records kept for 40 years (regulations 9, 18 and 22)

• Non-licensed

  Examples

  Drilling a few holes in AIB or textured coating; carefully removing whole asbestos cement sheets

  What the law requires

  Trained workers, a written plan of work and the right controls, as in Asbestos essentials

Note: If you are unsure which type applies, stop and get competent advice.

Asbestos awareness training

Anyone liable to disturb asbestos in their normal work, and their supervisors, must get the right information, instruction and training (regulation 10). HSE lists electricians, plumbers, joiners, plasterers, roofers and decorators among them.

• Awareness training helps people avoid disturbing asbestos. It does not prepare them to work on it.
• Non-licensed work needs further training for that work.
• Refresh awareness when needed; a full course every year is not required. For non-licensed and licensed work, HSE says refresh every year.

What the courts have said

• Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services Ltd [2002] UKHL 22

  Three men developed mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos while working for more than one employer; one had cut asbestos sheeting for a builder. The House of Lords held that each employer that wrongly exposed them could be liable, even though nobody could prove which exposure caused the disease, so every exposure your work causes counts.