THE LAW

In order to minimise the risk of future exposure to asbestos fibres, and also to consolidate a raft of previous Acts and Regulations specific to asbestos issues, the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 (CAR 2006) was implemented in November 2006.

Regulation 4 of the CAR 2006 reiterates and emphasises “dutyholders” legal responsibilities to manage asbestos in non-domestic properties.

Who is “the dutyholder”?

Regulation 4 of the CAR 2006 defines “the dutyholder” as:

(a) every person who has, by virtue of a contract or tenancy, an obligation of any extent in relation to the maintenance or repair of non-domestic premises or any means of access there to or egress therefrom; or

(b) in relation to any part of non-domestic premises where there is no such contract or tenancy, every person who has, to any extent, control of that part of those non-domestic premises or any means of access to or egress there from, and where there is more than one such duty holder, the relative contribution to be made by each such person in complying with the requirements of this regulation will be determined by the nature and extent of the maintenance and repair obligation owed by that person.

What does this mean?

Owners and occupiers of non-domestic premises, who have maintenance and repair responsibilities for those premises, have a duty to:

Assess them for the presence of asbestos and the condition of that asbestos.
Where asbestos is present, ensure that the risk from the asbestos is assessed
Prepare a plan identifying where that asbestos is located
Set out and implement on-going measures to manage the risk from the asbestos