We receive many queries relating to asbestos surveys in non domestic premises. Below is the relevant section from within Health and Safety Executive guidance (HSG264 Asbestos: The Survey Guide).
The ‘duty to manage asbestos’ requirements of regulation 4 of CAR 2006 do not normally apply to domestic premises. However, the requirements do apply to common parts of premises, including housing developments and blocks of flats, but do not place any direct duties on landlords for individual houses or flats. Examples of common parts would include foyers, corridors, lifts and lift shafts, staircases, boilerhouses, vertical risers, gardens, yards and outhouses. The requirements do not apply to rooms within a private residence which are shared by more than one household, such as bathrooms, kitchens etc in shared houses and communal dining rooms and lounges in sheltered accommodation.
The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974,7 section 2, requires all employers to conduct their work so their employees will not be exposed to health and safety risks, and to provide information to other people about their workplace which might affect their health and safety. Section 3 places duties on employers and the self-employed towards people not in their employment and section 4 contains general duties for anyone who has control, to any extent, over a workplace. In addition, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 19998 require employers to assess the health and safety risks to third parties, such as tenants who may be affected by their activities, and to make appropriate arrangements to protect them.
These requirements mean that organisations such as local authorities, housing associations, social housing management companies and others who own, or are responsible for, domestic properties, have legal duties to ensure the health and safety of their staff (and others) in domestic premises used as a place of work. As employers, the organisations also have duties under the general requirements of CAR 2006 to identify asbestos, carry out a risk assessment of work liable to expose employees to asbestos and prepare a suitable written plan of work.
