We have recently looked at our premises which we recently purchased as an empty industrial unit for the possibility of the presence of any ACMs. Had I been involved in the purchase I would have insisted the seller carried out an in depth asbestos survey prior to purchasing it but as I knew nothing about it until it was a done deal it was too late. The building was erected in late 1970's so ACMs may have been used. The building is an empty shell with no wall insulation or utilities installed so no hidden ACM's surrounding plumbing, wall insulation, toilets, electrics etc. My only area of concern is the roof which I think is probably asbestos cement sheeting and possible hidden roof insulation. On the appearance of it the roof seems to be in good condition. My query is - as we do not need to do any work to the roof at present do I need to get a formal management survey carried out by competent persons or is it suffice to note that we think it may be ACM on our register/management plan and insist of formal testing prior to any works being carried out on it. I've contacted a few survey companies all of which have said yes we should do it just now but I want to check what others opinions are who are not going to get any commercial benefit from it. If we need to get a management survey done, can anyone advise the sort of fee involved for this? Fees I've been quoted greatly vary and it makes me wonder if some are cowboys and others are rip offs. Before anyone tells me that I need to be competent to manage asbestos I'm very well aware that this lies out with the realms of my competence and one of my priorities in our initial management plan is to appoint a competent contractor to under take survey as/when required and to provide advice until we appoint them I'm on my own and trying to gain a little understanding as a learning experience. If anyone has any experience of any contractors who can offer such a service to a small business in the West of Scotland that you would be willing to recommend please feel free to PM me their details.

Dont forget about mastic type sealants between wall / roof components/ structural joints/ sheet jointing/ construction joints and similar "flexible" materials etc. We have been having these materials tested and it is surprising just how many of them contain asbestos (especially Chrysotile) as a filler (almost impossible to detect with the naked eye in these flexible materials).

Thanks everyone for your feedback. PhilB - thanks for that pointer I hadn't though about that side of things and yes we can get quite bad weather especially as we will soon be in the winter months. I have PM'd you if you would be so kind to provide me with that information.