Buyer guide
Required if…Do I need an asbestos survey?
If your building was built or refurbished before 2000 you are legally required to manage the asbestos in it. You cannot manage what you have not found. Who holds the duty in a leased building. The difference between a management survey and a refurbishment survey. What a survey should cost and the removal work you should not be talked into.
Applies to: Great Britain under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. Northern Ireland has its own 2012 Regulations with the same effect.
Looking for the technical detail? Read the version for professionals → CAR 2012 regulation 4 and the HSG264 survey guide. Licensed versus non licensed work and notifiable non licensed work. The asbestos register.
Do I need one? If the building was built or refurbished before 2000 then yes, in effect. The law requires the duty holder to find out whether asbestos is present and manage it. You cannot manage what you have not found.
Does that mean removal? No. The duty is to manage. Asbestos in good condition and left undisturbed is usually safest where it is.
Where are buyers oversold? Surveys commissioned by tenants who already had one in the landlord's filing cabinet. Removal quoted for material that should be managed. Annual resurveys of a building that only needs its register reinspected.
What the law actually requires
Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 puts the duty on whoever holds it for non domestic premises. They must take reasonable steps to find out whether asbestos is present and where and in what condition. They must presume materials contain it unless there is strong evidence they do not. They must keep a record called the asbestos register. They must assess the risk and prepare a plan for managing it. They must give the information to anyone who might disturb it. That includes contractors. It applies to the common parts of domestic buildings too.
The person responsible for the maintenance and repair of the premises under a contract or tenancy. If there is no such person then it is whoever controls the premises. In a leased building that is typically the landlord for the fabric and common parts and the tenant for their own space. A full repairing lease can put the whole duty on the tenant. The lease decides and not the sign on the door.
HSE's guidance on asbestos surveys. There are two types. The management survey finds asbestos that could be disturbed in normal use. The refurbishment and demolition survey is fully intrusive and comes before any building work. Surveyors should be accredited to ISO 17025 or hold the P402 qualification with evidence of experience. It is not law. It is the standard a survey is judged against.
- A survey of a building built or wholly refurbished after 2000.
- Removal of asbestos that is in good condition and will not be disturbed.
- Annual resurveys. The survey is done once. The reinspection is periodic.
- Any survey where the landlord already holds a compliant one for the premises you occupy.
Northern Ireland: the Control of Asbestos Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 impose the same duties.
What this means for your premises
Built after 2000, never refurbished before: no survey needed. Keep the evidence of the build date.
Built or refurbished before 2000 and you lease it: ask the landlord for the asbestos register and management plan. If they hold a management survey covering your part of the building then you need a copy and not a new survey. If they do not and your lease makes you responsible for repair then the duty is yours.
Built before 2000 and you own it: you are the duty holder. Management survey. Register and plan. Periodic reinspection.
Any building about to be refurbished: refurbishment and demolition survey of the area being worked on before the work starts. Your contractor is legally entitled to ask for it and should refuse to start without it.
Your options
The management survey, once
Commission it from a UKAS accredited survey company or a surveyor holding P402 with real experience. The report should include a plan of the building and every location sampled or presumed. For each item it should give the material and its condition and a risk assessment and a recommended action. Get the sample analysis certificates from a UKAS accredited laboratory.
The register and plan, ongoing
The survey feeds the register. The plan says who is responsible and what will be done with each item. Usually that is manage in place and reinspect. It says how contractors are told before they work. A trained person in house can do the periodic reinspections and update the register. Trained means asbestos awareness training and being shown how to check condition against the register. Anything that has changed goes to a surveyor. You do not need to pay a surveyor to walk round every year and confirm the ceiling tiles are still there.
Removal, only where needed
Damaged or deteriorating or in the way of planned work. Licensed materials such as sprayed coatings and lagging and most insulating board need a licensed contractor. Most of that work needs 14 days' notice to HSE. Non licensed materials such as cement sheet and floor tiles and textured coatings can be removed by trained non licensed contractors. Some of that work is still notifiable. Always get the survey first and then two quotes. Check the contractor's licence on HSE's register.
What it should cost
Management survey of a small commercial building: £350. An office or shop with 5 to 19 people: £490. Larger buildings are priced by floor area and run to several thousand. Sample analysis is usually included or £30 a sample. A refurbishment survey is priced by area and is usually more. Periodic reinspection by a surveyor if you outsource it: £200. Licensed removal starts around £1,000 for a small job and runs far higher. Always the survey and two quotes first.
Figures are typical prices taken from published commercial price guides and checked October 2026. Same method on every page. Larger or more complex premises sit above them.
What you shouldn’t be sold
- A survey the landlord already holds. Ask for the register before you commission anything.
- A survey of a building built after 2000. Asbestos was banned in 1999. Keep the build date on file.
- Removal of material in good condition. Manage it. Removal disturbs it and costs more. It creates the very risk you are trying to avoid.
- An annual resurvey. The survey is once. The reinspection is periodic and can be in house.
- A management survey passed off as a refurbishment survey. If you are doing building work you need the intrusive one for that area. If a contractor starts work on the strength of a management survey, stop them.
- Removal quoted by the surveyor. Keep survey and removal separate, as with everything on this site. The surveyor who finds it should not be the one who profits from taking it out.
- "Asbestos awareness" training sold as a survey substitute. Training is for people who might disturb it. It does not tell you where it is.
Check what else your business needs
Asbestos is one of the specific assessments under your general risk assessment. Older buildings usually also need attention on electrical inspection and legionella. Run the Compliance Check to see the full picture.
Quick answers
- Is an asbestos survey a legal requirement?
- The law requires the duty holder for non domestic premises to find out whether asbestos is present and assess its condition. Then keep a record and manage the risk. For any building built or refurbished before 2000 the only practical way to do that is a management survey by a competent surveyor. Buildings built after 2000 can be presumed free of asbestos because it was banned in 1999.
- Who is the duty holder for asbestos?
- Whoever has responsibility for maintenance and repair of the premises. In a leased building that is usually the landlord for the structure and common parts and the tenant for the parts they occupy and maintain. The lease decides. If you have a repairing lease the duty is probably yours.
- What is the difference between a management survey and a refurbishment survey?
- A management survey locates asbestos that could be disturbed during normal occupation and maintenance, so you can manage it in place. A refurbishment and demolition survey is fully intrusive and is required before any refurbishment or building work or demolition. You need the first to occupy the building and the second before you knock anything down.
- Do I have to remove asbestos?
- No. Asbestos in good condition that is not going to be disturbed is usually safer left in place and managed. The duty is to manage and not to remove. Removal is required only when the material is damaged or deteriorating or in the way of planned work.
- How much does an asbestos survey cost?
- A management survey of a small commercial building is £350 and £490 for an office or shop with 5 to 19 people. Larger buildings are priced by floor area and run to several thousand. Sample analysis is usually included or £30 a sample. A refurbishment survey is priced by the area being worked on and is generally more. Removal of licensed materials is a separate specialist job and is expensive.
- How often does an asbestos survey need to be redone?
- It does not. The survey is done once. What the law requires afterwards is that the condition of the asbestos is reinspected periodically and the register and plan updated. Typically every six to twelve months. That reinspection can be done by a trained person in house. Trained means asbestos awareness training plus being shown how to check condition against the register.
- Does a shop or office need an asbestos survey?
- If the building was built or refurbished before 2000, yes. The duty holder must hold one. Ask your landlord for the asbestos register before you assume you need to commission a survey yourself. They may already have it.
Find and check
Who can I use for this?
We do not recommend suppliers. Here is the official register and what to check before you book.
The register
- UKAS accredited inspection bodies Search for asbestos surveying.
- HSE licensed asbestos contractors For removal work only.
Check
- UKAS accreditation or P402 with evidence of experience.
- Sample analysis by a UKAS accredited laboratory.
- That the surveyor does not also sell removal.
Ask
- Has my landlord already got a survey for this building?
- Is this a management survey or a refurbishment survey and which do I need?
- Which items should be managed in place rather than removed?
Insist on
- A report with a plan of the building and every item’s condition.
- Survey and removal from different companies.
- One survey. Periodic re-inspection can be in house.
General information about UK compliance, written for the person paying the bill. Not legal advice. If your situation is unusual, get a professional to look at it. See our editorial standards.