Asbestos management plans

Regulation 4 of CAR 2012 requires the dutyholder to produce and implement a plan for managing the risk arising from asbestos proven or presumed to be contained within the parts of non-domestic premises for which he or she is responsible.

There is no prescribed format for the management plan, except that it must be in writing.

See section 10 of the Asbestos guidance note.

Who prepares the management plan?

The dutyholder is responsible for preparing, implementing, keeping available, reviewing and updating the plan.

The dutyholder may delegate this contractually to another party but he or she will still retain the statutory responsibility.

It is appreciated that the dutyholder may require specialist assistance, in particular in the identification of materials proven or presumed to contain asbestos and the assessment of the risks arising.

The HSE is, however, insistent that the dutyholder is actively involved in the selection of the 'priority assessment' and the chosen management arrangements.

These will need to consider general business and property management issues including availability of funding, short, medium and long term plans (e.g. redecoration and refurbishment), anticipated life of components and services, future changes of use or occupation of parts of the premises and planned or emergency maintenance issues.

As these factors are subject to frequent change, the plan must be regularly reviewed and revised as necessary and this monitoring must be recorded as proof that the asbestos is being properly managed.

See section 10 of the Asbestos guidance note.

When is a management plan not required?

A plan is not required when the assessment shows that the premises do not contain asbestos (e.g. in a record in the Health and Safety File for a new building), but the Approved Code of Practice accompanying the regulations, suggests that a record should be kept to prove this, if necessary.

In all other cases, unless there has been a Type 3 (invasive) or Refurbishment and Demolition survey of the entire premises, or the building form is very simple and self-evident, it is unlikely that all areas where ACMs (asbestos-containing materials) may exist will have been comprehensively inspected.

Typical standard limitations include riser ducts, floor or ceiling voids that cannot be readily accessed without causing unacceptable damage or disturbance and, switchgear and machinery and (sometimes) lift shafts, on health and safety grounds.

There is therefore the risk that when these areas are eventually examined, previously concealed ACMs may be revealed and these will then need to be managed.

In addition, for a variety of reasons the scope of the asbestos survey may have been limited, for example, by the exclusion of specific rooms, parts of buildings or entire buildings on a site which may have been locked or to which access was barred at the time of the inspection.

In such cases a management plan should be prepared to record the areas that were restricted or excluded and warn that caution should be taken if works are proposed to be undertaken that might disturb them. They should be presumed to conceal ACMs until proven otherwise, and managed accordingly.