Non-Invasive Visual Inspection – Asbestos
Asbestos TestingMeet Your Legal Requirements & Ensure That Your Property Is a Safe Worksite
On the 4 April, 2018, legislation in relation to asbestos management came into effect. This legislation requires that “Landlords must ensure that, when work is carried out at their property, it is done safely and without endangering workers or others, including tenants”. The legislation is specifically in relation to asbestos management and goes on to state that “Landlords have a duty to identify asbestos and prepare an asbestos management plan“.
ATS recognises that historically asbestos testing has been an incredibly expensive and onerous task and as such most Landlords and Property Managers would shy away from asbestos testing unless it was absolutely vital. We get it. Spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars on invasive asbestos testing or even a full blown asbestos survey on every rental property in New Zealand that was built prior to 2000 is just not viable.
It is with this in mind that ATS went right back to the drawing board in order to design a product which would allow Landlords, and property owners in general, to keep their property safe from the risk of asbestos without breaking the bank. From this blank canvas starting point, our Non-Invasive Visual Inspection report for asbestos was born.
What is a Non-Invasive Visual Inspection?
ATS has created this product for the specific purpose of ensuring that Landlords and Property Managers have a cost effective way to meet their legal obligations and keep contractors and their tenants safe. This product is also perfect for home owners that would like a cost effective method of identifying any asbestos risk in their own home.
Here’s what the report contains.
- An overview of any potential Asbestos Containing Material (ACM) on the property.
- A detailed description, including pictures of the potential ACM and where the potential ACM is located.
- An in-depth description of the state of the potential ACM.
- Remember that ACM only becomes dangerous to our health if the integrity of the building material is damaged in any way.
- Recommendations on how to proceed.
- Most of the time, there is no action required, other than to monitor the state of the potential ACM over time.
- A specific timeline of review requirements of the potential ACM.
- In most cases, the review timeline is 5 years. Click here to see what the actual report looks like.
What should you do with the report?
The report is designed to be used on a day to day basis by anyone that has a reason to enter the property. It is a working document that will become the basis for ensuring that you meet your legal obligations and keep your tenants and contractors safe. The report will act as the central point of your asbestos risk management plan as it identifies every material in the property that could hold asbestos fibres and details the action required. Nine times out of ten, this action is simply to monitor the state of the potential ACM.
We have developed the following recommendations of specifically how you should use the report.
- A copy of the report should be provided to the tenants with the instruction that if they notice any degradation of the potential ACM, or if the potential ACM is damaged or broken in anyway, that they should contact the Landlord or Property Manager immediately.
- While conducting regular property inspections, the Landlord or Property Manager should note any damage to the material that has been identified as potential ACM. If new damage or degradation is noted, then follow up action, which is usually a scientific analysis of the potential ACM, can be arranged.
- A copy of the report should be provided to any PCBU (Person Conducting Business or Undertaking) that will be working on the property. This includes tradespeople, cleaners, lawn mowing firms and any other contractor that has a reason to enter the property. It means that your contractors can ensure that they do not accidentally damage and ACM and that tradespeople can ensure that any work that they need to carry out on site will not disturb the ACM in any way.
You are a Landlord or Property Manager, what do you need to do?
If you are a Landlord or a Property Manager, then you are legally required to meet the legislation regarding asbestos management which came into effect on the 4 April, 2018. But we have great news. ATS has created an incredibly cost effective product which will ensure that you are meeting your legal obligations, keeping your tenants and any contractors that come to site safe and will not cost you an arm and a leg. In fact it will only cost you 97 cents per week! Here’s what you need to do:
- Give ATS a call and book in a Non-Invasive Visual Inspection.
- Let your tenants know when they can expect ATS to come to the property.
- ATS will conduct the inspection and supply you with a written report.
- Hold this report on file and use it to as part of your regular property inspections to check that the ACM is not damaged and provide a copy of the report to any contractors that will be going onto the property to conduct any work.
That’s it. ATS has created this report in order to ensure that Property Managers and Landlords are compliant with the legislation and that they are doing their part as a PCBU (Person Conducting Business or Undertaking) to keep contractors and tenants safe. So with one quick call, you can take “All Practicable Steps” to ensure the Health and Safety of anyone working or living in your property. All of this for just 97 cents per week!
