← All FAQs
FAQS · SURVEYS & TESTING
Which asbestos survey do I need — management or refurbishment?.
There are two types of asbestos survey, and choosing the wrong one is among the most common — and expensive — mistakes we see. The right choice depends on one question: is the building simply being occupied and maintained, or is it about to be altered?
Any building constructed before 2000 can contain asbestos, so if there is no survey on file, one is overdue.
Written by the Innov8 UK Group asbestos team · Technically reviewed by our Contracts Director · Last reviewed July 2026
SURVEY
Management surveys
A management survey is the standard survey for buildings in normal use. It locates asbestos materials that could be disturbed during day-to-day occupation and maintenance, assesses their condition, and feeds the asbestos register and management plan that dutyholders must keep under Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. It is minimally intrusive and the building stays in use.
Refurbishment & demolition surveys
Before any refurbishment, intrusive maintenance or demolition, the affected areas need a refurbishment and demolition (R&D) survey. It is deliberately destructive — opening up floors, walls, voids and plant — because the materials that matter are the concealed ones a management survey is not designed to find. No contractor should start intrusive work without it, and the HSE treats a missing R&D survey as a serious failing.
What a good report gives you
Expect clear floor plans with sampled and presumed locations, laboratory results (UKAS-accredited analysis), material and priority risk scores, photographs, and unambiguous recommendations. We turn that into a plain-English summary of what must happen before your project can proceed — and can price any removal from the same document.
The order of operations
Survey first, then design, then removal, then clearance, then construction. Trying to reverse the order — starting work and surveying when something turns up — costs far more in delays and uncontrolled exposure than the survey ever would.
Need this dealt with?
Explore our
Asbestos surveys service, or send a photo of the material via WhatsApp for a free identification and fixed quote.
