Managers of industrial, commercial or public buildings such as factories, warehouses and offices as well as shops, hospitals and schools have a duty to manage asbestos risk. This also applies to those managing ‘common’ areas to apartment buildings and blocks of flats.
The duty holder, amongst other responsibilities, must take reasonable steps to find out if there are materials containing asbestos in the premises, and if so, their amount, location and condition, and keep an up-to-date record of these details.
Assessment of the risk of anyone being exposed to fibres must be identified and a plan prepared that sets out in detail how the risks from these materials will be managed. If you have any doubts about your duty, call us for advice today.
Who Has The Duty for Asbestos?
In many cases, the dutyholder is the person or organisation that has clear responsibility for the maintenance or repair of non-domestic premises through an explicit agreement such as a tenancy agreement or contract, with the extent of the duty depending on the nature of that agreement.
In a building occupied by one leaseholder, the agreement might be for either the owner or leaseholder to take on the full duty for the whole building, or it might be to share the duty. In a multi-occupied building, the agreement might be that the owner takes on the full duty for the whole building, or it might be that the duty is shared, with the owner taking responsibility for the common parts while the leaseholders take responsibility for the parts they occupy.
Sometimes, there might be an agreement to pass the responsibilities to a managing agent.
In cases where there is no tenancy agreement, or it does not specify who has responsibility, or where the premises are unoccupied, the duty is placed on whoever has control of the premises. Often this will be the owner.