The Duty to Manage Asbestos. What Every NI Business Owner and Landlord Needs to Know
If you own, rent or look after a commercial building in Northern Ireland, there’s a legal duty you may not realise applies to you. It’s called the duty to manage asbestos, and it sits in the Control of Asbestos Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012.
The good news? Complying is usually straightforward, and it doesn’t mean ripping asbestos out of your building. Here’s what you need to know.
Who is the Dutyholder?
The duty applies to all non-domestic premises – shops, offices, factories, warehouses, schools, churches, community halls, farm buildings and so on. It also covers the common parts of multi-occupancy residential buildings, such as the stairwells, corridors, plant rooms and roof spaces of a block of flats.
The dutyholder is whoever is responsible for maintenance and repair of the building. That’s usually set out in a lease or contract. Where there’s no lease, or the building is empty, it’s whoever has control of the premises. In practice, the dutyholder could be:
- a business owner who owns their unit
- a landlord who retains repair responsibilities
- a tenant whose lease makes them responsible for maintenance
- a managing agent or management company for a block of flats
On multi-let or shared buildings, the duty is often split between more than one party, and everyone involved is expected to co-operate.
Why does it matter?
Asbestos was used widely in UK construction until it was fully banned in 1999. HSENI advises that asbestos can be present in any building built before the year 2000. That covers a huge proportion of Northern Ireland’s commercial building stock.
Asbestos in good condition, left undisturbed, is generally low risk. The danger comes when it’s damaged, drilled, sanded, cut or broken and fibres are released into the air. Breathing those fibres can cause mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer and asbestosis, often 20 to 50 years later. Across the UK, asbestos is still linked to around 5,000 deaths every year, and tradespeople are among those most at risk.
The duty to manage exists mainly to protect the electricians, plumbers, joiners, IT installers and maintenance workers who work on your building without knowing what’s hidden in the walls and ceilings.
What the duty actually requires
In plain terms, the dutyholder must:
- Find out whether asbestos is present, where it is, how much there is and what condition it’s in.
- Presume a material contains asbestos unless there’s strong evidence that it doesn’t.
- Keep an up-to-date record of the location and condition of asbestos – commonly called an asbestos register.
- Assess the risk of anyone being exposed.
- Prepare a written plan setting out how that risk will be managed, and put it into action.
- Review and monitor the plan and the condition of the materials regularly.
- Share the information with anyone who might work on or disturb the materials.
That last point is critical. HSENI’s campaign message to tradespeople is simple: always ask for the asbestos register before starting work. If you’re the dutyholder, you need to be able to hand one over.
Does it mean removing all the asbestos?
No. The duty to manage does not require asbestos removal. In many cases, asbestos in good condition that’s unlikely to be disturbed is safest left where it is, labelled, recorded and checked periodically. Removal can be disruptive and expensive, and if done badly it can create the very risk you’re trying to avoid.
Removal or encapsulation becomes the right choice when materials are damaged, deteriorating, or in the way of planned work.
What happens if you ignore it?
HSENI and district council environmental health teams enforce health and safety law in Northern Ireland. Failing to manage asbestos can lead to improvement or prohibition notices, fines and prosecution. More importantly, it can put people’s health at serious risk and asbestos diseases are irreversible.
If you’re planning building work, there’s another reason to be organised. Under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016, clients must provide contractors with relevant pre-construction information, and asbestos is a key part of that.
The first step: an asbestos management survey
For most dutyholders, the simplest way to comply is to commission an asbestos management survey. A trained surveyor inspects the building, takes samples of suspect materials and has them analysed by a UKAS-accredited laboratory. You then receive a clear report and asbestos register you can use to build your management plan.
How we can help
Asbestos Solutions NI carries out asbestos surveys for businesses, landlords, schools, churches and property managers right across Northern Ireland. From Belfast and Lisburn to Newry, Omagh, Derry/Londonderry, Coleraine and everywhere in between. All samples are analysed by a UKAS-accredited laboratory, and we can turn round urgent reports within 48 hours.
Not sure whether you’re the dutyholder, or what your building needs? Give us a call on 07702 332 333 for practical, impartial advice. We’re always happy to answer questions, there’s no obligation.
