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Built before 2000? It may be there.
Identification, sampling and licensed removal across Chertsey and Surrey. Surveyed before anything is disturbed.
What happens, in order
The rule is simple: identify before you disturb. Everything else follows from that.
Identify before any work starts
Before drilling, cutting or stripping anything in a pre-2000 property. This is the step people skip and it is the one that matters.
Sample and analyse
Suspected materials are sampled safely and analysed. You get a result, not an opinion.
Then decide: manage or remove
Undisturbed and in good condition, the safest answer is often to leave it, record it and manage it. That is a legitimate outcome and we will say so.
Remove properly if it has to go
Licensed removal where the material and the work require it, with the waste consigned and documented.
Where it usually turns up
Four places we find it most often in Surrey housing stock.
- Artex and textured coatings
- Ceilings and walls, particularly 1960s to 1980s. Common, and usually safe until somebody sands it.
- Garage and shed roofs
- Corrugated cement sheet. Very common, low risk intact, and it must not be broken up or power washed.
- Soffits, fascias and boards
- Cement board around eaves, behind boilers and around old electrical panels.
- Floor tiles and bitumen
- Vinyl floor tiles and the black adhesive under them, often found when a kitchen floor comes up.
How it runs
A date
Sooner where work is due to start and something has been found.
One to three hours
Inspection of the areas affected, and sampling where materials are suspected.
Days, not weeks
Laboratory analysis of the samples, and a written result.
In writing
What is where, what condition it is in, and whether it needs removing or managing.
Scheduled
Licensed removal, with the area controlled and the waste consigned.
After the report lands
A survey is only worth having if somebody acts on it.
The report, in writing
Findings, readings and recommendations, in a document you keep and can show to anybody else.
We will tell you what not to do
Reports generate lists. We will say which items matter on your property.
Work we then do is guaranteed
Two years on our workmanship, in writing, transferable and insurance-backed.
Questions after the report
The surveyor and the installer are the same company.
Two things people ask about next
Both have a page of their own.
The questions we get asked most
Does my house have asbestos?
If it was built before 2000 it may. Asbestos was banned in the UK in 1999, so age is the first and simplest test.
Is it always dangerous?
No. Undisturbed and in good condition it is often safest left alone and managed. The risk comes from disturbing it and releasing fibres.
Do I need a survey before building work?
In a pre-2000 property, yes. Identifying it before anybody drills or cuts is the whole point, and it is far cheaper than finding it halfway through.
Can I remove it myself?
Some lower-risk materials can be handled without a licence, but the rules are specific and the consequences of getting it wrong are serious. Ask before you touch it.
How long do results take?
Days rather than weeks. We will tell you the expected turnaround when you book.
Can you remove it as well as survey it?
Yes, licensed removal where it is needed, with the waste consigned and documented.
Often worth doing at the same time
Same team, same survey, one visit where it makes sense.
Book an asbestos survey
Tell us about the property and what work is planned. If it is pre-2000, this comes before anything is disturbed.
- A fixed price, confirmed before we book
- Sampling and laboratory analysis where materials are suspected
- A written report saying manage or remove
- Weekdays 8am to 5pm, on 01932 550828
Ask before anything is disturbed.
If the property is pre-2000 and work is planned, the survey comes first. It is quicker and cheaper than finding it midway through.