Asbestos in non-domestic properties
If you manage a non-domestic building, you must check whether it contains asbestos. If it does, you must take action.
Managing asbestos – what you must do
If you own, occupy or manage a non-domestic building, you must protect the people in that building from exposure to asbestos fibres. And you must write an asbestos-management plan.
Find out more on the gov.uk website.
Although your responsibility does not cover homes, the principles of managing asbestos apply to all buildings.
You can find the basics of asbestos management in the Health and Safety Executive leaflet:
Managing asbestos in buildings: A brief guide (PDF)
What is a non-domestic building?
The law covers all buildings which are:
- Industrial, such as factories and warehouses
- Commercial, such as shops and offices
- Public, such as schools and hospitals.
Also covered are the communal areas of domestic housing developments and blocks of flats, including:
- Foyers
- Corridors
- Lifts and lift shafts
- Staircases
- Roof spaces
- Gardens
- Yards
- Outhouses
- Garages.
The law does not apply to individual houses or flats. But if a flat or a house has building work to be done, as soon as this work begins the property becomes a workplace. So, you will have to find out what the risk from asbestos is before the work begins.
