Asbestos Testing for Landlords

As you will likely be aware, legislation came into effect earlier this year which relates specifically to Landlords and their requirement to have in place an asbestos management plan.

Since introducing our Non-Invasive Visual Inspection service, we have had a few Landlords make contact and question the requirement to have an asbestos management plan created for their property.  There has certainly been a lot of uncertainty around the legislative requirements following the legislation coming into effect on the 4 April, 2018.

The requirement that you have as a Landlord, is to ensure the safety of any contractor that is performing work on your property. This now explicitly includes asbestos management. The reason for this requirement is due to the changes over the last few years in the Health and Safety Act (HSA) which means that Landlords have become a Person Conducting Business or Undertaking (PCBU) and as such have significant H&S responsibilities. In the case of workers coming to your property, not only are you a PCBU, but as the owner of the property you are the Principal PCBU, which means that your H&S requirements increase.

What the new legislation states, is that should work that is being conducted at your property involve the disturbance in any way of Asbestos Containing Material (ACM), then an asbestos management plan is required. The issue, is that it is up to you as the Principal PCBU to identify where ACM is located at your property. As you will be aware, any property that is built prior to 2000 will almost certainly have ACM on site. While some potential ACM is obvious, for example cement boards or speckled (popcorn) ceilings, often the potential ACM is difficult to identify and it is due to this that we strongly encourage you to contract a specialist company to identify the potential ACM on site. While you may not currently have maintenance or other work scheduled for your property, it is important to have any potential ACM at the property identified in case of unexpected maintenance requirements.

This is what you get when you choose ATS:

1. It is exceptionally cost effective ($249+gst).  The reports that you reeive are valid for 5 years, which means that the cost to you works out at 96 cents per week.
2. You are provided with a full written report, which highlights any potential asbestos containing material on site including pictures, recommendations as to how to proceed and a timeline for review.
3. The report fully meets the requirements of a “practicable step” in relation to the legislation.
4. ATS takes on all liability and is backed by multi-million dollar insurance cover. This allows you as the Landlord to be fully indemnified for asbestos risks faced by contractors accessing your property.
5. The report makes it straightforward for your Property Manager to keep an eye on any potential asbestos containing material on your property and ensure that it is not damaged or degraded in any way.

If you have any questions, please feel free to give us a call on 0800 005 321.

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