For schools, MATs, LAs & academies
Schools & Academies Asbestos Surveys
Over 80% of UK schools were built before 2000 and are estimated to contain asbestos. The duty holder — governing body, academy trust or local authority — carries a live obligation under CAR 2012 and DfE 'Managing Asbestos in Your School' guidance. We deliver holiday-window surveys, safeguarding-compliant surveyors and a register the DfE and HSE will accept.
- DfE guidance aware
- Holiday & half-term surveying
- BOHS P402 qualified surveyors
- Safeguarding-first working practices
- MAT-wide portfolio pricing
- Independent — no removal contracts
- UKAS-accredited laboratory analysis
- Independent — no removal contracts
- BOHS P402 qualified surveyors
- Digital reports (PDF + Excel register)
- Fast turnaround — quote inside 1 hour
- London, Essex & Kent covered in full
The DfE expectation
The DfE 'Managing Asbestos in Your School' guidance sets out the duty holder's responsibilities clearly: a written management survey, a labelled register, a management plan and a communication strategy for staff and contractors. We produce all four as a single package — the survey and register from the visit, the management plan and comms pack from your policy templates (or ours, if you don't have any).
Holiday-window surveying
Our schools rota books almost every summer and half-term. If you need a survey during term time we work evenings and weekends by arrangement, with clear traffic-light zoning so classrooms are never accessed while occupied. Surveyors are briefed on the school's safeguarding policy on arrival.
MAT & LA portfolio programmes
Multi-academy trusts and local authorities typically run rolling 3–5 year programmes with prioritisation by build year, previous survey age and works pipeline. We produce a portfolio prioritisation matrix free of charge as part of a tender response.
Refurbishment works & Condition Improvement Fund (CIF)
CIF-funded projects — boiler swaps, window renewals, roof works — all disturb the fabric and require a refurbishment survey before mobilisation. We can scope it against your CIF bid so the survey cost is folded into the project budget rather than eating your estates opex.
How it works
A five-step process, no surprises.
1. Book
Send us the address and access notes. You'll get a fixed-price quote by email within one working hour.
2. Visit
We agree a date that works around tenants, staff or works programmes — evenings and weekends included.
3. Survey
A qualified surveyor inspects every accessible area, records materials, takes samples where needed and photographs each location.
4. Report
You receive an HSG264-format PDF report with a register, risk assessments, a photo log and (where relevant) a floor-plan overlay — typically within 48–72 hours.
5. Ongoing advice
Your surveyor is your point of contact. We answer solicitor, contractor and enforcement queries on your report for free, for the life of the property.
Areas covered
London, Essex and Kent in full — plus the wider South East.
We survey properties across all of London, all of Essex and all of Kent, and also attend Suffolk, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey, East Sussex and West Sussex, using BOHS P402 qualified surveyors. Same fixed-price approach throughout.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
Who is the duty holder in a school?+
It varies: maintained schools — the local authority; academies — the academy trust; voluntary-aided — the governing body. If in doubt, ask the estates lead or the trust CFO; we can advise.
Can you survey during term time?+
Yes, with strict zoning. We prefer holidays and half-terms wherever possible — quality is better and disruption is nil. Term-time visits are typically evening / weekend.
What about the register we already hold?+
We can re-inspect and update it rather than start again. Re-inspection is faster and cheaper, and produces a clear management plan around the previously identified ACMs.
How much does a school survey cost?+
Fixed price per building, based on floor area, storeys and known ACM locations. MAT portfolios attract volume discounts across 5+ sites.
How do you handle the register long-term?+
Cloud-hosted register with contractor sign-in and read-only access for the head, business manager and estates team. Free re-issue for the life of the school.
What qualifications do your surveyors hold?+
Surveys are carried out by BOHS P402 qualified surveyors in accordance with HSG264.
What about pupil-facing communication?+
Handled discreetly. Our surveyors work in unbranded workwear and are briefed to answer any pupil questions with 'ask your teacher' — safeguarding first.
Do you do CIF-funded projects?+
Regularly. We can price the R&D component of a CIF bid so it's budgeted from day one.
Which areas do you cover?+
All of London, Essex and Kent, plus Suffolk, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and the surrounding South East counties.
Related services
Continue your research.
If schools isn't the right fit, our surveyors also cover Healthcare Building Asbestos Surveys, Commercial Property Asbestos Surveys, Management Survey (Duty to Manage), Refurbishment Asbestos Surveys and Listed Building Asbestos Surveys. Every survey uses the same HSG264 methodology, UKAS ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory analysis and BOHS P402 qualified surveyors.
Where we survey
Looking for an asbestos survey locally? See asbestos surveys in Colchester, asbestos survey services across Essex and London asbestos surveying for local guide prices, survey types and turnaround times.
Independent asbestos surveying and testing — no asbestos removal sales
We survey and advise — we do not sell the removal work.
Elements Surveying Group specialises in asbestos surveying, sampling and independent advice. We do not sell asbestos removal services, so our survey recommendations remain focused on the condition, risk and appropriate management of the material identified.
Where removal or remedial work is genuinely required, we explain what that normally involves and what a licensed contractor would need — then leave you free to appoint whoever you choose.
How we workReady when you are
Book a School Survey.
Fixed-price quote. Contact us to discuss surveyor availability.