Posted By bereznikov Dear all, I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice. The company I now work for (a chemicals manufacturer) occupies a site that has changed hands on numerous occasions since being constructed in the early 1980's, the last being in the mid-1990's - changing ownership to my current employer. However, there were very limited records, buildings plans etc passed onto the new owners, and as such there is no record of any asbestos in the building materials...nor is there any documentation saying that there is not. Although the site owner assures me that "there is no asbestos in any of the buildings" - the 2006 Control of Asbestos Regs places a duty on the owner to find out if there is any asbestos in the premises, its amount and what condition it is in. Am I right in thinking then that the company must have an Asbestos Survey Register? - as it was constructed prior to 1999. Kind regards, bereznikov

Posted By Robert K Lewis Bereznikov Not clear as to the legal jurisdiction you are under. But the Control of Asbestos Regs 2006 place the duty on the person in control of the premise, this does not mean the Owner per se but looks at the reality of who controls. If you take on premises where asbestos is foreseeable without getting hold of the asbestos management plan then you become immediately liable to produce a management plan, inclusive of any survey costs where necessary. In UK law the hard answer is thus the at the owner has successfully landed you with a duty that your legal advisers should have identified during the due diligence of the acquisition process. Bob

Posted By Ron Hunter With the exception of his use of the word 'premise' which in this context must be the plural noun 'premises' - never used in the singular.