Cat A · Cat B · Fit-out · Dilapidations
Asbestos in commercial offices — every fit-out, every dilaps, every time.
Office asbestos rarely stays put. Every Cat A shell hand-back, every Cat B fit-out, every dilapidations settlement is another chance for materials that were safe in situ to be disturbed by contractors who don't know they're there.
Overview
What actually matters in commercial offices.
The UK office stock of 1960–1985 is heavy with AIB service-riser panels, sprayed coatings on structural steel, and pipe lagging through raised-floor voids. Even where these have been documented, the register very often goes stale between tenants.
Cat A/B fit-outs and dilapidations create a hand-off risk: the outgoing tenant's contractor removes finishes, the incoming tenant's contractor installs new ones, and neither has a current R&D survey in hand. The result is enforcement notices, delays and dilapidations disputes.
A landlord's duty-to-manage survey should be re-inspected annually and re-scoped after every material change. For tenants, an R&D survey scoped to the demise-of-works is the correct step before every fit-out or strip-out.
Era-by-era context
What was original, and what got added later.
1960s–70s speculative build
AIB service-riser panels, sprayed limpet coatings on columns, pipe lagging through raised-floor voids.
1980s–90s corporate offices
Late AIB, textured coatings, thermoplastic tiles, cement flues and rainwater goods.
Post-2000 refurbishments
Cladding overlays and suspended ceilings hiding original ACMs — often only discovered during strip-out.
Typical asbestos locations
Where we find it most in commercial offices.
AIB service-riser panels
Behind every core plumbing and electrical riser.
Sprayed coatings on structural steel
Usually encapsulated, but often disturbed during ceiling and cladding works.
Raised-floor pipe lagging
In floor voids running through fit-out zones.
Textured coatings on office ceilings
Chrysotile-bearing Artex on pre-1999 fits.
Vinyl floor tiles under carpet
'Marley' tiles beneath carpet tiles — encountered on every strip-out.
Boiler house and plant room lagging
Legacy plant rooms in older buildings still contain lagged pipework and calorifier jackets.
Common scenarios
The situations clients come to us with.
Landlord duty-to-manage across a portfolio
Annual re-inspection programme with a unified register and quarterly incident reporting.
Tenant Cat B fit-out
R&D survey scoped to demise-of-works before contractors mobilise.
Dilapidations settlement
R&D survey to inform the schedule of dilaps and quantify any ACM removal cost.
Building refurbishment or re-cladding
Full R&D survey pre-strip, plus revised management plan post-works.
Recommended surveys and services
The right survey for the job — no upselling.
We are consultancy-only. Every recommendation is scored on risk, not scope of work.
Refurbishment & Demolition Survey
The standard for any Cat A hand-back, Cat B fit-out or dilaps settlement.
See what's includedManagement Survey
The landlord baseline — required by CAR 2012 for all non-domestic buildings.
See what's includedOffices industry hub
How we support landlords and occupiers across the office lifecycle.
Open the offices hubFrequently asked
Commercial Offices — the questions clients ask us first.
Does the landlord's survey cover the tenant's fit-out?
No — the landlord's Management Survey covers the demised areas as they were at survey date. Any subsequent alteration by a tenant needs its own R&D survey.
Can we open the office during a survey?
Yes — Management Surveys are non-intrusive and can be carried out during working hours with minimal disruption. R&D surveys are intrusive and are usually scheduled out-of-hours or during a strip-out phase.
Explore further
More reading for commercial offices
Guides, FAQs and industry hubs that connect to this property type.
Industry
Offices — Industry Hub
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Hospitals — Industry Hub
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Care Homes — Industry Hub
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Housing Associations — Industry Hub
Independent asbestos consultancy for housing associations, ALMOs and registered providers. Stock-condition surveying, void turnaround, planned maintenance, decant projects and 24/7 incident response — CAR 2012 and RSH-aligned.
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Factory Surveys
Factory asbestos surveys for UK manufacturers — production halls, plant, boilers, service risers and offices.
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