Asbestos in my home
Asbestos was used in most buildings before it was banned in 2000 and it’s common to find it in many homes today. If it's in good condition and you don't disturb it (disturbing it means things like drill, saw, scrub or sand), there’s no issue with it being in place. But it’s important to treat it with care, as breathing in fibres can case cancer and lung disease.
- Textured wall and ceiling coatings
- Service duct panels containing pipework
- Floor tiles and tile adhesives
- Lino with asbestos paper-backing
- Panels behind radiators or heaters
- Ceiling panels
- Boiler flue pipes or water tanks
- Toilet cisterns and bath panels
- Roof tiles
- Soffit boards
- Guttering and drainpipes
- Corrugated garage and shed roofs
- If you’re worried you have anything which contains asbestos, which is damaged or deteriorating in any way, please get in contact with us immediately.
- If we don’t already know whether there’s asbestos in your home, we’ll arrange for a survey to be carried out.
- You can’t tell if a material contains asbestos just by looking at it. Often the material asbestos is added to disguises the fibres. The only way to confirm it contains asbestos is by testing the material in a specialist laboratory. Please don’t try to remove or disturb anything you think could contain asbestos.
It’s our responsibility to deal with any asbestos found in your home but that doesn’t mean we’ll automatically take it out. Sometimes the removal process has more risk than leaving the it where it is. We might remove it when we do home improvements.
We’ll use an specialised contractor to take it out. And we’ll let you know what’s happening every step of the way. We’ll generally remove asbestos if it’s:
- Damaged, crumbling or deteriorating
- If its type, location and condition are shown to be a risk
- In a place in the home that’s used a lot or where it could easily get damaged
We’ll leave it in place and record where it is, we may make safe the material with a special coating or covering to prevent anything happening to it. This locks the fibres into the material so none can escape. We’ll often leave asbestos in place if it's:
- In good condition and not damaged or deteriorating
- Its type, location and condition are shown to be ok
- In a part of the home which isn’t used much or isn’t easy to reach
We might already have an asbestos survey for your home. If you’re planning any works in your home, please contact us and we can let you know if there is any asbestos there.
- Don't damage or drill, cut, scrape or sand anything that might contain asbestos.
- Don't jet-wash or clean down corrugated garage or shed roofs containing asbestos.
- Don't remove old floor tiles or linoleum which may contain asbestos.
Get a licensed professional to do the work for you instead.
If your home was built before 2000 and you are not sure, the HSE has provided the following information: www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/protect.htm
We‘ll check previous inspections before work starts, and raise new inspections and arrange safe removal if required.