Communal areas and shared parts
Corridors, stairwells, risers, plant and boiler rooms, bin stores, basements, roof spaces and external structures — the areas the duty to manage actually bites on in a residential block.
Blocks, portfolios and managed estates
Asbestos Surveys for Managing Agents & Property Managers
Communal area surveys, registers, re-inspections and pre-works scopes — handled consistently across a block or a portfolio, with clear reporting you can pass to contractors, clients and leaseholders.
Where the duty sits in a managed block
In a residential block the individual flats are domestic premises, but the shared parts are not. The person responsible for maintaining and repairing those shared parts — usually the freeholder, RMC or the managing agent acting for them — holds the duty to manage asbestos under regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. That means finding out what is present, recording its location and condition, assessing the risk, keeping the information up to date and making it available to anyone liable to disturb it.
The same applies to commercial estates and mixed-use buildings, where contractors attend regularly and the register is what stands between a routine job and an unplanned disturbance.
What we handle for agents
Registers and management plans
A survey is only useful if it turns into something the site team and contractors can act on: a register of what's present, its condition, and a plan for keeping it that way.
Re-inspections
Condition changes. Periodic re-inspection keeps the register current and records deterioration or damage before it becomes a problem.
Pre-works surveys for planned maintenance
Roofing, rewires, riser works, window programmes and lift refurbishments all disturb fabric. Scoping the survey around the planned works keeps costs proportionate.
Portfolio and multi-site instructions
Where several blocks or units are involved, we quote and schedule together and keep report formats consistent so they can be compared and filed.
Handover and takeover of new instructions
Taking on a block with incomplete records is common. We can review what exists and identify the gaps rather than starting from scratch.
Related services: re-inspections, management plans, management surveys and surveys for London flats.
Multiple addresses? Include them in the message and we'll price the programme together. Guide prices are on the survey cost page.
Managing agent asbestos questions
Do the common parts of a residential block fall under the duty to manage?
Yes. Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 the common parts of domestic premises — corridors, stairwells, lift shafts, risers, plant rooms, bin stores and similar — are treated as non-domestic, and the person responsible for their repair and maintenance holds the duty to manage. Individual flats behind the front door are not covered by that duty.
How often should a register be re-inspected?
Guidance points to keeping the assessment under review and re-inspecting so that changes in condition are picked up; annually is the common practice, but the appropriate interval depends on the material, its condition and how much the area is used or disturbed. We'll set out a recommended interval in the report.
Can you survey several blocks at once?
Yes. Send us the address list with an idea of building type and access arrangements and we'll price and schedule the instruction as one programme.
How do you handle access to occupied buildings?
We agree access arrangements before attendance — key holders, concierge, permits, notice to residents — and record any area we could not access, so nothing is presented as inspected when it wasn't.
What format do the reports come in?
A written report with the register, photographs, material and priority assessments, sample results from the independent UKAS-accredited laboratory, and clearly recorded no-access areas.
Do you carry out removal work?
No. We are an independent consultancy. That separation means recommendations in the report aren't tied to selling removal, which matters when you're presenting them to leaseholders or a client.
Do you work outside London?
Yes — across London, Essex, Suffolk and the surrounding counties. Tell us the addresses and we'll confirm coverage.