Facilities at heart of asbestos ruling

Facilities managers look set to become responsible for managing asbestos in buildings — rather than the landlord — when the Health & Safety Commission (HSC) publishes its amended Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations next spring.

There has been high-level speculation surrounding who would be ultimately responsible for managing asbestos in buildings, including who is responsible for providing information on the location and type of asbestos.

Proposed amendments, laid out in a summary of the new regulations by the HSC last year, said an 'explicit duty' would be placed on 'people in control of premises.'

Industry experts now widely believe that the 'premises controller' will be the incumbent facilities manager employed by, or on behalf of the occupier of a building, rather than the property owner.

'If you are providing the whole facilities management package then you are the premises controller,' said AsbestosRegister.com chief executive Ross Udall.

Property owners would nevertheless be expected to keep long-term records of the presence of asbestos.

However, facilities managers employed by the occupier, who accept surveys carried out by the property landlord, need to treat these surveys with caution.

'If you accept the survey, then it is up to you to make sure that it is a proper assessment,' said Udall. Taking the information at face value can be dangerous as the facilities manager would be responsible if unmapped asbestos is found during maintenance or construction work.

Geoff Callan, director of facilities at Milton Keynes NHS Trust believes that premises and facilities managers are key players in the management of asbestos.

'Asbestos and asbestos control is a facilities management job,' he said, commenting on the issue from an NHS viewpoint. 'It is an onerous task, but it has to be done. It is a responsibility, but not too big if managed properly.'

He stressed that for all facilities managers working across the public and private sectors, jobs once deemed as relatively simple, such as the installation of cables behind asbestos-containing ceiling tiles, will now need to be carefully managed. The tiles can no longer simply be taken down and replaced,' he said.

The new law spelling out the legal duty on facilities managers and building owners to prevent asbestos fibres being disturbed has been delayed until next spring due to disputes about which types of buildings should be covered by the legislation.