Hi All

I'm looking for someone who can test for the presence of Asbestos in a domestic property. This is privately owned, and the owner is not keen on splashing the cash. His had this problem for months now (potential) as he keeps putting off doing something about it. He may well not have Asbestos, but only testing the torn down ceiling will tell. There has been no clean up of the house, apart from what his builder did, the sheets themselves have been dumped in the back garden.

On telephoning his local council, they kept referring him to an Asbestos surveyor, despite him asking for advice regarding his health and exposure. This next part beggars belief. He was told by a woman from the council that *don't worry, if it's in the garden it should be fine as long as it's damp*. He could tell she was quoting directly from HSE's website. She also told him to contact his local recycling centre and ask how much Asbestos containing material they would accept, without giving him any advice as to how to do this safely.

Personally, I think this is appalling as we don't know if the ceiling did contain Asbestos (it was Artex), and we don't know when it was installed and how long it's been there. Since this has been ripped out, others have been in the house to complete jobs, and as of now, they're unaware of what went on.

The best outcome is if it gets tested and found to be free of Asbestos, but as far as I know, only testing will determine this.

It's not as bad as it may appear in my opinion. First, artex ceilings (if it is asbestos) contain only a very small amount of asbestos - typically less than 5%. The remains of the ceiling in the garden wrapped in sheets, damp or otherwise, should not contaminate anyone as when exposed to atmosphere most of the fibres will get blown away.

For re-assurance you could get an asbestos surveyor to sample ceiling remains, plus the air in the property and provide a clearance certificate. If it is asbestos containing material (ACM) it needs to be disposed of as hazardous waste. Some council run waste disposal centres cater for asbestos waste. The asbestos surveyor will provide details how to dispose of ACMs.

The problem with engaging cheap builders is they often do a bad job!

It isn't the debris in the garden that is the problem though. A typical builder will waste little time or exercise little care in taking down an existing ceiling. You have airborne dust contamination of all soft furnishings (5% of a ceiling volume is not insignificant in terms of released dust from material hacked or prised off, trampled underfoot, swept, vacuumed (and blown out the other end) etc.


The OP needs definitive analysis. I do hope the windows and doors have been kept open as much as possible in the interim. Getting a meaningful fibre count inside the house after any length of time is difficult if not impossible.

If the result is positive, the question will be how far the occupier is prepared to go for peace of mind. Dump all the carpets, curtains, soft furnishings, etc. as contaminated waste (very expensive), or live with it?

Hi Chris

That is news to me! I think it may also be news to the HSE as well - see extract from HSE FAQ on domestic asbestos.

In addition, please be aware that ACMs need to be legally disposed of as hazardous waste. This should not be mixed with normal household waste. You may be able to arrange to have it collected or there may be special facilities in your area you can use to dispose of it. Contact you local authority for information about asbestos and its disposal [38].

http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/faq.htm

Ray

I would have thought that something as fundamental as changing the onus on disposing of asbestos waste for domestic premises would have been flagged up meaningfully, rather than hidden in an amendment.

I also checked on the EA website to see if I could find any information or refernce to the change. Not saying it's not there somewhere, but I could not find it. However I did find the information below which hardly enforces the change in legislation!

Mixed municipal waste
The prohibition on mixing does not apply to domestic householders. They can put any items of domestic waste (other than asbestos) in their mixed municipal waste as long as they meet the waste segregation instructions from their local authority.