Asbestos Survey and Testing in Guildford
Three different things get called an asbestos test, they cost very different amounts, and the wrong one is worse than none. This page is the decision, not the sales pitch.
On this page
Three different things get called an asbestos test. They cost very different amounts, they answer different questions, and picking the wrong one is the most expensive mistake in this area.
This page exists to make that choice, and then to send you to the right place. It is deliberately short.
One suspect material, one question
You have found something. A textured ceiling, a grey soffit, some nine inch floor tiles under a carpet. You want to know what it is.
Get a single bulk sample. It costs a fraction of a survey, the result comes back from an accredited laboratory in a few working days, and it tells you what that material is and which type of asbestos it contains if any.
That is the right answer for the large majority of household enquiries, and it is what we recommend most often. Details on asbestos testing and sampling.
A whole building, no work planned
You are responsible for a building and you need to know what is in it. A commercial premises, a block of flats, a village hall, a shop.
Get a management survey. It is non-intrusive, it covers accessible areas, and it produces a register: what is present, where, its type, its condition and a risk assessment for each entry. That register is the basis of the duty to manage under Regulation 4.
Details on the asbestos survey page, and the duty itself is set out on the commercial and landlords pages.
Building work is planned
You are refurbishing, converting, knocking through, or demolishing. Walls, ceilings or floors are coming out.
Get a refurbishment and demolition survey. It is intrusive by design. It opens ceilings, lifts panels, goes into voids and floors, and finds the material that a non-intrusive survey deliberately never looked for. It costs more, and it costs a great deal less than finding insulating board on the first morning of a strip-out and losing three to four weeks to statutory notice.
Scope it to the areas the work will touch, and get it at design stage rather than at demolition stage.
What none of them do
None of these tells you that the material has to be removed.
There is no legal requirement to remove asbestos from a building. Sound material that nobody is disturbing can be managed in place, and for a duty holder a documented decision to leave a panel where it is and check it periodically is a perfectly proper outcome.
A test result is information. What you do with it is a separate decision, and the cost page sets out what each option is worth.
Which one, in one line each
One material, one question: a sample.
A building you are responsible for, nothing planned: a management survey.
Work that will open up the fabric: a refurbishment and demolition survey, scoped to the work.
Not sure: send a photograph and a postcode. We will tell you which of the three applies, and quite often the answer is that you do not need any of them yet.
Free, no obligation
Not sure what you are looking at?
Send a photo and a postcode. You get an indicative price back, usually the same day, and a straight answer on whether it is licensed work.
Straight answers
Common questions
What is the cheapest way to find out if something is asbestos?
A single bulk sample on the one material you are worried about, analysed by an accredited laboratory. It costs a fraction of a survey and it answers the only question most householders actually have. A full survey is the right spend when you need a register for a building, when you have three or four distinct materials to check, or when work is planned that will open up the fabric.
Can I use a management survey to plan building work?
No, and this is the most expensive mistake in the whole area. A management survey is non-intrusive by design. It looked at what was visible and it deliberately did not open anything up. Building work disturbs what was not visible, which is precisely the material the survey never looked for. Using one to plan a refurbishment gives false confidence about areas nobody inspected.
Do I legally have to have a survey?
Not as a homeowner. Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 places a duty to manage on those responsible for non-domestic premises and for the common parts of residential buildings, and a survey is the normal way of meeting it. It does not apply inside a single dwelling that somebody lives in or rents as a home.
Send a photo, get a price
Most enquiries get an indicative price the same day. No visit needed to start.