Know where the asbestos is before anyone drills.

Asbestos surveys in Swindon for homes, landlords and workplaces. We find the materials that could contain asbestos, have samples analysed, and give you a written report you can hand to a builder, a tenant or an inspector.

Surveys for

Houses and flats, the common parts of blocks and HMOs, offices, shops, schools and industrial units

Your price

Surveys from £300, including one sample. Each extra sample is £50. Your exact price is agreed in writing on the call, before anyone visits.

Talk to us

020 3386 1854

Management survey

For a building in normal use. Finds and rates anything that day-to-day work could disturb.

When you need it →

Refurbishment & demolition

Before building work. Fully intrusive, in the rooms being worked on or the whole building.

When you need it →

Sampling & re-inspection

Test one suspect material, or check the condition of asbestos you already know about.

When you need it →

1930

The year all use of asbestos was banned in Great Britain.

Until then it went into new and refurbished buildings for decades: roofs, ceilings, boiler cupboards, floors and pipework. Left alone and in good condition, it isn’t a risk. Damaged, drilled or sanded, it releases fibres that can cause serious lung disease, including cancers.

1900

1925

1950

1975

2000

Heaviest use in homes

Still used, product by product

1930–1980

When asbestos was used most heavily in homes, according to HSE.

1985

Blue and brown asbestos stopped, including insulating board.

1999

Nearly all remaining products banned. Later buildings rarely contain it.

Source: HSE, ‘Asbestos: The survey guide’ (HSG264), paragraphs 2, 38 and 61.

Four kinds of survey, and when each one fits.

The type depends on what will happen in the building next. If nothing is changing, you need to know what’s there and its condition. If walls, ceilings or floors are coming out, you need to know everything that’s inside them.

Management survey

The standard survey. It locates, as far as reasonably practicable, any material that could contain asbestos and could be damaged during normal use, maintenance or installing new equipment, and assesses its condition.

Who it's for

Anyone with the duty to manage: owners and occupiers of workplaces, landlords of blocks and HMOs (common parts).

What happens

Every room, plus ceiling voids, lofts, risers and ducts. Minor intrusion with simple tools and small samples.

You can stay

The building stays in use. Sample points are sealed as we go.

You receive

A report built to become your asbestos register, with a condition score for each item.

From £300 including one sample · each extra sample £50 · your exact price is agreed in writing on the call, before anyone visits.

Refurbishment & demolition survey

Needed before any refurbishment or demolition. It aims to locate every asbestos material in the area being worked on, or the whole building if it’s coming down, so it can be removed safely before work starts.

Who it's for

Homeowners and landlords planning a kitchen, rewire, loft or extension; clients and contractors on any building project.

What happens

Fully intrusive: lifting floors, opening walls, ceilings and boxing. Destructive where it needs to be.

You can't stay

The area must be empty while we work. We check it’s fit to use again before anyone goes back in.

You receive

A report your builder can price the removal from, before work is tendered.

From £300 including one sample · each extra sample £50 · the full price depends on the rooms or building being opened up, and is agreed in writing on the call, before anyone visits.

Sampling

When there’s one material you’re unsure about, such as a textured ceiling, an old floor tile, a garage roof or a panel behind a boiler, a sample can settle it. It goes to a laboratory for analysis.

Who it's for

Homeowners before a small job, and anyone whose survey presumed a material contains asbestos.

What happens

A small sample taken with controls in place, the spot sealed and labelled.

Good to know

A sample answers one question. Before larger work you’ll need a refurbishment survey.

You receive

The lab result in writing, with what it means for the work you’re planning.

£300 for one sample · each extra sample £50: 2 samples £350 · 3 samples £400 · 4 samples £450. Agreed in writing on the call, before anyone visits.

Re-inspection

Once a survey has been done it doesn’t need repeating. But asbestos left in place has to be monitored, and HSE says the management plan should be reviewed every 12 months or sooner. A re-inspection checks each item and updates the register.

Who it's for

Dutyholders with a register: landlords of blocks, managing agents, business owners.

What happens

We work through your register item by item, note any change in condition and re-score it.

Good to know

Items can be damaged by tenants, contractors or weather. Damage changes the action needed.

You receive

An updated register and a list of what has changed since last time.

From £300 including one sample · each extra sample £50 · agreed in writing on the call, before anyone visits.

Which survey do you need?

Three questions. The answer appears beside them, with the reason and the rule behind it.

What kind of building is it?

What's happening next?

When was it built?

Your answer

Answer the three questions

Pick one option in each row. The result updates as you change them.

Based on HSE’s survey guide (HSG264) and the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

Management survey

You have a legal duty to manage asbestos in this building.
The survey finds what everyday use and routine maintenance could disturb, and scores its condition.
It becomes your asbestos register. Review the plan every 12 months.

Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, regulation 4.

No survey needed right now

There’s no legal duty to survey a home you live in or the inside of a single let property.
If you’re worried about one material, a single sample will settle it.
Before any building work, book a refurbishment survey.

HSG264, paragraph 10.

Refurbishment survey

Needed before work that disturbs the fabric of the building.
Fully intrusive, in the rooms being worked on. The area must be empty while we survey.
Your builder can price any removal from the report before work starts.

HSG264, paragraphs 50–53; CAR 2012, regulation 5.

Demolition survey

Needed before demolition, covering the whole building.
Fully intrusive. All asbestos has to be removed, as far as reasonably practicable, before demolition.
The building must be out of use during the survey.

HSG264, paragraph 51; CAR 2012, regulation 7.

Sampling

A sample of the material goes to a laboratory for analysis.
You get the result in writing, with what it means for your plans.
If larger work is planned, a refurbishment survey is the better choice.

HSG264, paragraphs 45–48.

Probably no survey needed

HSE accepts construction after 1999 as strong evidence that asbestos isn’t present.
Check for older parts: an earlier extension, outbuilding, or plant moved from another site.
If any part is older, answer for that part instead.

HSG264, paragraph 38.

Not sure of the age? We’ll treat it as pre-2000 until the survey shows otherwise.

Who holds the duty?

Whoever has a contract or tenancy that makes them responsible for maintaining or repairing the building. Often the owner or the landlord. Where there’s no such agreement, or the building is empty, it’s whoever controls it.

A managing agent can do the work for the owner, but can’t take on the legal duty.

Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, regulation 4; HSE duty-to-manage guidance.

The duty to manage, in seven plain steps.

For workplaces and the shared parts of residential blocks, the law sets out what the dutyholder must do. A management survey covers the first four. You keep the rest going.

Find out whether asbestos is present

A suitable and sufficient assessment, taking in the building’s age, plans and an inspection of every reasonably accessible part.

Presume a material contains asbestos unless there's strong evidence it doesn't

Anything not sampled, or any area not reached, is treated as asbestos until shown otherwise.

Keep an up-to-date record of where it is and its condition

This is your asbestos register. The survey report is laid out to become it.

Assess the risk of anyone breathing in fibres

Condition, type of material and how likely it is to be disturbed decide the priority.

Write a plan to manage the risk, and act on it

Monitor, maintain, seal or remove, and record what you did.

Review the plan every 12 months, or sooner

Sooner if the building changes or the plan may no longer be valid.

Tell anyone who could disturb it

Contractors, maintenance staff and the emergency services must be able to get the information.

Homes are different from workplaces.

The duty to manage doesn’t reach inside an individual home. It does reach the shared parts of a block, and building work changes the picture for everyone.

The duty to manage covers

Non-domestic buildingsOffices, shops, factories, warehouses, schools, hospitals, museums.
Shared parts of blocks of flatsFoyers, corridors, lifts and lift shafts, staircases, boilerhouses and risers.
Outside shared areasRoof spaces, gardens, yards, outhouses and garages that belong to a block.

It doesn't directly cover

An individual house or flatNo direct duty on landlords for the home itself, though general health and safety duties still apply to work carried out there.
Shared rooms inside one houseBathrooms and kitchens shared by more than one household in a shared house.
Communal lounges in sheltered housingThese count as part of the residence, not common parts.

Building work applies to every building.

Before demolition, maintenance or other work that could disturb asbestos, the employer doing the work must find out whether it’s there, or assume it is. That’s why builders ask for a survey (CAR 2012, regulation 5).

Where it tends to be, and how easily it lets go.

Seven materials that a survey in a Swindon house, block or unit often checks. The last-used year is when that product stopped being made with asbestos. Older stock was sometimes fitted for years afterwards.

Material

Where you'll see it

If disturbed

Last used

Sprayed coatings

Undersides of roofs in industrial buildings and warehouses, fire protection on steel beams and columns.

High releaseEspecially unsealed, knocked or flaking.

1974

Pipe and boiler lagging

Heating pipes, boilers and tanks in older plant rooms, basements and ducts.

High releaseDepends on the finish over it.

1970s

Insulating board

Ceiling tiles, partitions, soffits, fire doors, boiler casings, service ducts, porch linings.

High releaseBreaks easily; sawing and drilling release fibres.

1980

Textured coatings

Decorative finishes on walls and ceilings, often known by trade names such as Artex.

Lower releaseUntil it’s sanded down or scraped off.

1984

Floor tiles and adhesive

Thermoplastic and vinyl tiles, paper-backed vinyl, and the bitumen adhesive under them.

Lower releaseUntil it’s cut, or the residue is power-sanded.

1992

Bitumen roofing and felts

Roofing felt, gutter linings, flashings and damp-proof courses.

Lower releaseMust not be burnt after removal.

1992

Cement sheets and pipes

Garage and shed roofs, wall cladding on industrial units, gutters, flue pipes.

Rises with wearAbrading, power tools and roof cleaning release fibres.

1999

Source: HSE, ‘Asbestos: The survey guide’ (HSG264), Appendix 1. Only a laboratory analysis can confirm whether a material contains asbestos.

A report you can actually use.

HSE’s guidance says a survey report should be easy to lift straight into an asbestos register. Ours follows its structure, so you can find the answer you need on the first page.

Summary

Where asbestos was found or presumed, areas not reached, high scores and actions.

Scope

What was surveyed, why, and the age and build of the property.

Site details

Surveyor names, dates, areas included and any excluded.

Results

Each item with its location, photo, extent and condition score.

Actions

What can stay and be monitored, and what needs work first.

Lab results

The analysis certificate for every sample taken.

Example register entry

Illustrative only

Location

Ground floor, boiler cupboard, rear wall

Material

Insulating board panel behind the boiler, painted

Sample

S03: asbestos detected (amosite)

Condition

Low damage, one chipped corner, surface sealed

Action

Label it, keep it in the register, re-inspect within 12 months. Tell anyone fixing to that wall before they drill.

Material assessment score

7 of 12 · medium

4 or less very low

5–6 low

7–9 medium

10+ high

After the survey: who's allowed to do the work.

If something has to be removed, sealed or worked on, the material and the job decide who can do it. HSE sorts the work into three levels, and each item’s action in the report points to the right one.

Lower risk

Non-licensed work

Short, careful jobs on materials in good condition. Done by a contractor trained in non-licensed asbestos work.

Careful removal of undamaged cement roof sheets
Drilling holes in insulating board to put up shelving
Painting or sealing materials in good condition

Higher risk

Notifiable non-licensed

Work that damages the material or breaks it down. No licence, but extra legal steps for the contractor.

Removing insulating board during a refurbishment
Large-scale removal of textured coatings by steaming or gel
Removing cement badly damaged by fire or flood

The contractor must

Notify the enforcing authority online before starting, mark off the area, keep health records for 40 years.

Highest risk

Licensed work

The most friable materials. Only a contractor holding an HSE licence may do it.

Any work on sprayed coatings
Most repair or removal of pipe and boiler lagging
Most work on insulating board, such as taking out partitions or ceilings

Allow 14 days

Licensed work has a 14-day notification period before it can begin.

Source: HSE guidance on licensed, notifiable non-licensed and non-licensed asbestos work. We survey and report; we don’t remove asbestos.

Swindon was built in waves. Most of them before 2000.

The age of a building tells a surveyor where to look first. A railway-era terrace, a 1950s estate house and a 1980s industrial unit each hide asbestos in different places.

1840s–1900s

Railway Village and Old Town

Victorian terraces. Original fabric is older than asbestos, but decades of later boilers, flues, panels and ceilings often aren’t.

1950s–1970s

Post-war estates

Penhill, Walcot, Park North and the eastern estates grew when asbestos was in heavy use: soffits, panels, textured ceilings, garage roofs.

1970s–1980s

West Swindon

Toothill, Freshbrook and Westlea. Insulating board was still made until 1980, textured coatings and floor tiles later still.

Older units

Industrial estates

Cement sheet roofs and cladding, sprayed coatings on steelwork and lagged pipework in plant rooms.

SN1

Town centre, Old Town, Railway Village, Eastcott

SN2

Rodbourne, Penhill, Upper Stratton, Kingsdown

SN3

Stratton St Margaret, Covingham, Dorcan, Liden, Nythe, Eldene

SN4

Wroughton, Royal Wootton Bassett, Chiseldon

SN5

West Swindon: Toothill, Freshbrook, Westlea, Shaw, Peatmoor

SN6

Highworth, Shrivenham, Cricklade

SN25

North Swindon

SN26

Blunsdon

Call with your postcode and we’ll confirm a date and a written price.

From first call to finished report.

You know the scope, the price and the date before anyone arrives. Nothing is added on the day without asking you first.

You call

Tell us the building, its age and what’s planned. We tell you which survey fits.

Scope in writing

Areas to be surveyed, the survey type, the date and the price, confirmed before the visit.

Survey on site

Room by room, voids and risers included. Samples taken and sealed as we go.

Lab analysis

Samples go to a laboratory. Results are added to each item in the report.

Your report

Summary, register-ready results, actions, and any area we couldn’t reach named plainly.

No pressure to remove

Much asbestos in good condition can stay and be managed. The report says which.

Questions after the report

Call and we’ll talk you through any item and what it means for your work.

A reminder when it's due

If you have a register, we’ll remind you when the 12-month review comes round.

What helps us, and what you get back.

A survey is only as good as the access and information behind it. These are the things HSE’s guide says a surveyor needs from you, and what you should expect from any surveyor in return.

The address and scope

Which buildings, floors or rooms, and which survey.

How it's used

Who is in the building, any hazards, any areas with special rules.

Plans or drawings

Even a sketch helps us mark every item on a floor plan.

Earlier records

Previous surveys, registers, or notes of asbestos removed.

Access

Keys, lofts, plant rooms, permits, and tenant contact details.

A contact on the day

Someone who can answer questions and open locked areas.

Questions people ask before booking.

Do I need an asbestos survey for my own house?

There’s no legal duty to survey a home you live in. But before building work, the contractor must find out whether asbestos is present or assume it is, so most builders will ask for a refurbishment survey on a house built before 2000. Commissioning it yourself means you know the cost of any removal before you agree a price for the job.

I'm a landlord. What am I responsible for?

If you own or manage a block of flats, the shared parts (halls, stairs, lifts, plant rooms, roof spaces, outbuildings) fall under the duty to manage. That means a survey, a register and a management plan reviewed at least every 12 months. For an individual house or flat there’s no direct duty to manage, but general health and safety duties still apply when work is done there, and any contractor will need to know what’s present.

What's the difference between a management survey and a refurbishment survey?

A management survey looks at what normal use and routine maintenance could disturb, with only minor intrusion, and scores each item’s condition. A refurbishment and demolition survey is fully intrusive. It opens up walls, floors and ceilings in the area being worked on, so that all asbestos there can be found and removed before work starts.

Will the survey damage my property?

A management survey leaves small, sealed sample points. A refurbishment or demolition survey is destructive where it needs to be, because it has to see inside the structure. That’s why it’s done in rooms that are about to be worked on anyway.

Do we need to leave the building?

Not for a management survey. For a refurbishment or demolition survey the area must be empty, with furniture removed or covered, and it has to be checked as fit to use again before anyone goes back in. For a small job that can be a single room.

Is a textured (Artex) ceiling dangerous?

Asbestos was added to textured coatings until 1984, and old stock was used for some years after. The fibres are well held in the coating, so a ceiling in good condition isn’t a risk left alone. They can be released when the coating is sanded or scraped off. Have it sampled before any work that would do that.

How much does an asbestos survey cost in Swindon?

Surveys start from £300, which includes one sample. Each extra sample is £50, so two samples come to £350, three to £400 and four to £450. The final price depends on the survey type, the size of the building, how many samples are needed and how easy access is. Call 020 3386 1854 with those details and we’ll confirm the price in writing before the visit. The price you agree is the price you pay.

What happens if asbestos is found?

Often nothing dramatic. Asbestos in good condition that won’t be disturbed can stay where it is, recorded and checked. The report gives each item an action: monitor, repair or seal, or remove before work. Some removal work must be done by an HSE-licensed contractor, and the report makes clear which items that applies to.

My building is newer than 2000. Do I still need a survey?

Usually not. HSE’s guidance accepts post-1999 construction as strong evidence that asbestos is absent. Check whether any part of the building is older, such as an earlier extension, outbuilding or plant reused from another site.

How often does a survey need doing?

A survey doesn’t need repeating once it’s done. What continues is monitoring the asbestos left in place and reviewing the management plan, at least every 12 months. A re-inspection does the checking for you and updates the register. A new refurbishment survey is needed before each new project in an area the last survey didn’t open up.

How do I check any asbestos surveyor?

HSE strongly recommends using accredited or certificated surveyors. Ask whether the organisation is accredited by UKAS to ISO/IEC 17020, or whether the surveyor holds personnel certification. Ask which laboratory analyses the samples (it should be accredited to ISO/IEC 17025), and for insurance details. A good report always names the areas that weren’t accessed.

Do you take samples during a management survey?

Usually, yes. HSE’s guide says surveyors should try to positively identify asbestos, so we sample each type of suspect material and have it analysed. Where a material can’t be reached, it’s presumed to contain asbestos and named as such in the report.

Know where the asbestos is before anyone drills.

Management survey

Refurbishment & demolition

Sampling & re-inspection

The year all use of asbestos was banned in Great Britain.

Four kinds of survey, and when each one fits.

Management survey

Refurbishment & demolition survey

Sampling

Re-inspection

Which survey do you need?

Answer the three questions

Management survey

No survey needed right now

Refurbishment survey

Demolition survey

Sampling

Probably no survey needed

Who holds the duty?

The duty to manage, in seven plain steps.

Homes are different from workplaces.

The duty to manage covers

It doesn't directly cover

Where it tends to be, and how easily it lets go.

A report you can actually use.

After the survey: who's allowed to do the work.

Non-licensed work

Notifiable non-licensed

Licensed work

Swindon was built in waves. Most of them before 2000.

Railway Village and Old Town

Post-war estates

West Swindon

Industrial estates

From first call to finished report.

You call

Scope in writing

Survey on site

Lab analysis

Your report

What helps us, and what you get back.

The address and scope

How it's used

Plans or drawings

Earlier records

Access

A contact on the day

Questions people ask before booking.

Book a survey.