Hi FireSafety, Whilst I am not expert I have organised and programmed surveys at property on my site. From my experience. yes the building should be empty in order to complete this type of survey. For the basic reasons the surveyor might need to sample any suspicious materials he finds during the survey and cannot have others around when he is sampling thsi material. Someone more knowledgable should be able to clarify this.

All, it is often the case that properties will need to be surveyed whilst still in occupation. As per Bob's repsonse above there will be standard procedures that the surveyors will follow to prevent any unintended release/spread of asbestos fibres durign any survey process. The exact controls of this will depend on the product being sampled, its condition etc but at the most basic I would expect the following: others to be prohibited from entering the area whilst the samples are being taken, a decription of a way of removing the suspect material to minimise distrubance, how any areas that have been exposed during sampling are to be made safe (filler!!), how any debris is to be cleaned (e.g. H-Vac/wet rags, polythene under areas to be cut?), PPE/RPE to be used during sampling process (type 5 overalls, FFP3 face mask minimum). I would certainly ask to seek a copy of the surveyors method statement (the surveyors might call this a plan of work) detailing these controls. You may have additional knowledge of the site that could help the surveyors when detialing this method statement (you can't really have someone sampling suspect material - probably fully kitted up with disposable overalls and a FFP3 face mask - stood next to Mrs Brown buying her pint of milk!). Out of hours is certainly one option here. The survey information is a critical part of any pre-construction information that is/shoud be provided to the contractor - if the contractors are starting works on the unit without the results of the asbestos (refurb/demolition) survey then they run the risk of damaging asbestos containing materials with all the subseqent contamination problems. If the contractors are carrying out intrusive works that could distrub as yet unsurveyed asbestos products then this would be a concern. Hope this helps