What should you do if you discover that your stock has a potentially large amount of asbestos that needs checking and possibly removing?
At Riviera Housing Trust, we have just completed our asbestos register. We have anticipated forthcoming regulations and have produced asbestos management plans in the comprehensive manner that will be required under the new system. Very few other landlords so far have done this.
Despite the challenge of such a major exercise, we have successfully reassured our tenants and avoided the interest of the local media.
We took over Torbay council’s homes in a stock transfer in February 2001, and one of our key priorities has been to contribute to the overall health of our tenants and leaseholders. We believe housing can make a major difference to the health of communities.
The starting point for any landlord committed to this aim has to be making its properties safe. It is only when basic safety is achieved that more sophisticated health issues, such as asthma reduction and anti-damp measures, can be tackled with confidence.
Before we started our improvement programme, we had to ensure that all the works on new roofs, bathrooms, kitchens and windows were carried out in a way that did not risk the health or safety of tenants and contractors.
The council had told us it believed asbestos was present in the properties, but had no definitive records. We had no option but to undertake a comprehensive survey in order to avoid disturbing any material containing asbestos during the improvement works.
Asbestos is a specialist field. We appointed consultant Phillip Hanna, of Risk Management, to advise us. A tendering exercise resulted in the company Particle Analysis being commissioned to carry out a survey on around 800 of our units – those due for improvements in year one of our programme.
The initial asbestos survey of 800 homes was coordinated to fit in with the first year’s improvement programme. Information obtained by Particle Analysis was fed to contractors after being vetted by Hanna, who audited their findings.
We decided that the appropriate public relations approach was to be open about the problem early on, and to explain clearly what we were doing to tackle it.
Reassuring tenants who would read about the asbestos in the local papers was a top priority. We therefore timed the press release to coincide with a free telephone support line (including after hours access) to allow tenants to speak to staff about any concerns.
Ahead of the survey, we wrote to all tenants and sent them the government booklet Asbestos in the home. This included a section entitled ‘Asbestos: your questions answered’, and informed tenants of the purpose and extent of the survey, when the advice line would open and when results would be available.
To date, around 2,600 homes have been surveyed. The information gained is being put onto a database that will allow us to remove or manage asbestos in accordance with existing and anticipated legislation.
Our residents gave the contractors 90 per cent access to the targeted properties, well above the 70 per cent coverage the surveyors report as normal. We hope this was partly down to the way we kept them informed of what we were doing all along.
So far we have removed materials containing asbestos from 60 homes and will continue to deal with those materials prior to planned improvement works.
Riviera has saved a considerable sum by completing the asbestos register ahead of the proposed regulations. By having all properties surveyed in one project we have reduced unit costs and enabled refurbishment works to proceed unimpeded, minimising risks to both tenants and contractors.
Looking back, one of the most important factors was our use of acknowledged experts as our advisors and contractors. Hanna was always on hand to offer technical advice.
By training staff to both manage asbestos materials and carry out minor works, we avoided the need for the constant involvement of licensed contractors, saving both money and time on projects.
Our building services team built up a great deal of expertise working closely with out-of-house experts. This not only increased their skills base – it also made them aware of the priority we give to the health of our residents.
The way our staff carry out improvement works will have a stronger ‘health dimension’ as a result of this activity. Together with our contractors, we have developed a package of measures that may well be of interest to other landlords contemplating a similar exercise.
Should we have known more about the asbestos at the time of transfer?
We were aware that there was some incidence of asbestos, because the council specified this in the transfer documents. We could have perhaps undertaken a sample survey.
However, as is generally the case in transfer negotiations, the price agreed was a compromise between the seller and purchaser that took account of all manner of things.
Riviera, like other transfer landlords, suffered from the quality and integrity of the inherited data on the stock. We decided to invest money up front in an asbestos survey and also to commission a full stock condition survey that will be complete by the end of the year.
The knowledge gained from these two exercises will allow us to compile definitive annual work programmes that target the units in greatest need, while ensuring that our business plan is not compromised.
Whatever the causes of the asbestos incidence, stock transfer has created the resources for Torbay tenants’ landlord to tackle the problem once and for all as part of an initial investment programme of £25m in the first five years post transfer.
Why carry out an asbestos survey?
> Health and safety regulations, and other legislation, require all employers and landlords to assess asbestos risks in their activities.
This can only be carried out where the location, condition, nature and extent of asbestos-containing materials are known.
> To make property asbestos checks comprehensive, a new regulation requiring a management plan for materials containing asbestos will be
brought into force in the near future. The regulation will be in two parts. The first will be for non-residential properties.
This will be in force by the end of 2003 and will include common parts of residential blocks.
Residential properties will be regulated this way from late 2005.
> Social landlords will soon have to tackle asbestos comprehensively. They will be required to assess and quantify the risks
under a new much tougher regulatory regime.
Nigel Bridge is director of operations at Riviera Housing Trust. nigel.bridge@rivierahousing.org.uk
Source
Housing Today
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