Property transactions
Has Your Property Survey Flagged Possible Asbestos?
If a Home Survey, Building Survey, structural survey, valuation or buyer's survey has identified a material that may contain asbestos, Elements Surveying Group can help establish what further asbestos investigation may be appropriate.
- Asbestos cannot be confirmed from a general property survey, a description or a photograph.
- Depending on what has been identified, specialist investigation or laboratory analysis of a sample may be appropriate.
- We provide independent asbestos surveying and bulk sampling and testing.
- Samples are analysed by an independent UKAS-accredited laboratory.
- We do not sell asbestos removal services.
Buying a home and asbestos has been mentioned
My Home Survey has mentioned possible asbestos — what now?
General property surveys are visual and non-intrusive. A surveyor noting a material that may contain asbestos is flagging something for further consideration, not confirming a result. The next step is to establish what the material is — usually by taking a sample of the specific material and having it analysed.
Does the surveyor's comment mean asbestos is definitely present?
No. Asbestos cannot be confirmed from a visual inspection or a photograph. Laboratory analysis of a representative sample is what identifies whether asbestos is present and which type.
Should I arrange specialist asbestos testing?
That depends on what has been identified, its condition, and what you intend to do with the property. Send us the relevant extract and we'll tell you what we think is proportionate — including where we think no further asbestos investigation is needed.
Can a suspected material be sampled?
Usually, yes, with the current owner's permission. A small representative sample is taken under controlled conditions and analysed by an independent UKAS-accredited laboratory.
What if I intend to renovate after purchasing?
Where refurbishment is planned, a Refurbishment & Demolition Survey scoped to the intended works is normally more useful than sampling a single material, because it covers everything likely to be disturbed.
Targeted sampling or a wider asbestos survey?
Targeted sampling answers a question about one specific material. A survey covers a defined area or scope of work and records everything found within it. Which is appropriate depends on whether you have one query or a wider programme of work.
Our role is to investigate the asbestos-related concern and provide factual information about the material and property. Decisions about purchasing, valuation, negotiation or legal matters remain with the buyer and their relevant professional advisers.
Has Your Surveyor Mentioned Possible Asbestos?
Send us the relevant asbestos-related extract from your property survey and some basic details about the property. A senior consultant can review what has been raised and advise which Elements service may be appropriate.
The words used in property surveys
Home Survey, homebuyer survey, RICS Home Survey, Level 2 Home Survey, Level 3 Building Survey, building survey, buyer's survey — these are different professional products with different levels of detail, and homeowners commonly use the phrase "structural survey" when referring to the more detailed ones. They are not interchangeable, and none of them is an asbestos survey. What they have in common is that a surveyor may record a material as possibly containing asbestos and recommend specialist investigation.
Asbestos-containing materials were widely used in UK buildings before their prohibition, so suspected materials may be identified during surveys of older properties. Building age does not confirm asbestos is present — analysis does.
Materials commonly raised in property surveys: textured coatings and Artex, floor tiles and bitumen adhesive, asbestos cement products and soffits and asbestos insulating board. None of these materials contains asbestos by definition — laboratory analysis is what establishes it.
Independent
We do not sell asbestos removal
Our role is to identify and report asbestos-related issues independently. We do not sell asbestos removal work. That matters in a transaction: the party telling you what a material is has no commercial interest in it needing to come out. Where removal genuinely is the right course, we will say so — but the decision, and the contractor, are yours.
Referring a Client?
Estate agents, residential and RICS surveyors, conveyancers and solicitors, and other property professionals: if a property survey has identified suspected asbestos requiring specialist investigation, your client can send us the relevant survey extract and we will advise them directly on the appropriate asbestos service.
Refer your client to ElementsCommon questions
Is an asbestos survey required when buying or selling a house?
There is no general legal requirement for an asbestos survey on the sale or purchase of a private home. Duties under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 apply principally to non-domestic premises and to the common parts of certain residential buildings. An asbestos investigation on a house sale is usually driven by a specific query raised in a property survey, or by planned work.
Is a RICS Home Survey an asbestos survey?
No. A Home Survey, Building Survey or valuation is a general property inspection. It may note a material that could contain asbestos and recommend specialist investigation, but it does not identify asbestos. Specialist asbestos surveying and sampling is a separate discipline.
What is the difference between a Level 2 and a Level 3 survey?
They are RICS residential survey products of differing depth — a Level 2 Home Survey is a standard inspection, a Level 3 Building Survey is more detailed. Homeowners often use the phrase 'structural survey' when referring to the more detailed products. Neither is an asbestos survey.
How quickly can a suspected material be tested?
Tell us your transaction deadline when you enquire and we will confirm what turnaround we can commit to for your property and location.
Do you carry out asbestos removal?
No. Elements Surveying Group is an independent asbestos consultancy. We survey, sample and report. We do not sell asbestos removal work, so our findings are not a route into a removal quotation.
Where do you work?
London, Essex, Kent, Suffolk, Norfolk and surrounding areas.
Local pages: Ipswich & Suffolk, Norwich & Norfolk, Colchester, Essex, Kent and London. Related guidance: buying a flat with asbestos, selling a property with asbestos, solicitor requests and mortgage lender questions.