HSE guidance describes management surveys and refurbishment or demolition surveys, chosen for different purposes. A management survey supports normal occupation and foreseeable maintenance; an intrusive survey provides the information needed for the areas affected by refurbishment or demolition. This guide focuses on Great Britain, with separate regulations in Northern Ireland.
This page explains what each survey type involves, when the law actually requires each, who can carry them out, and what to look for in a good survey report. It’s informational rather than commercial; the site doesn’t sell surveys.
Why HSG264 retired the old Type 1/2/3 terminology
If you’ve worked with asbestos surveys before about 2010, you may remember the old “Type 1”, “Type 2”, and “Type 3” survey labels. These were the categories defined under the previous MDHS100 guidance: Type 1 was a non-intrusive presumption survey, Type 2 added sampling, Type 3 was a fully intrusive pre-demolition survey.
In January 2010, the HSE published HSG264 — “Asbestos: The survey guide” — which retired the numbered system. The replacement framework has just two survey types:
- Management survey (which subsumed the old Types 1 and 2)
- Refurbishment and demolition survey (which replaced Type 3)
This change matters because some training material, some consultant marketing, and some older survey reports still use the legacy Type 1/2/3 labels. They’re not wrong as descriptions, but they don’t reflect current guidance. A surveyor offering a “Type 2 survey” today is using terminology that hasn’t been current for over fifteen years — not necessarily a competence issue, but a signal worth noticing.
The management survey
A management survey is the standard asbestos survey for a building in normal use. Its purpose is to locate, identify, and record asbestos materials that could be disturbed during routine occupancy and foreseeable maintenance.
What it includes:
- Visual inspection of normally-accessible areas of the building
- Identification of suspect asbestos-containing materials
- Sampling and laboratory analysis of representative materials
- Assessment of the condition of each ACM
- Material assessment, with the dutyholder contributing the occupancy and activity information needed to assess priorities
- A written report and updated asbestos register
Level of intrusion:
A management survey can involve minor intrusive work and disturbance where necessary, including access to service spaces. It is not a guarantee of all hidden materials; record inaccessible areas and presume asbestos where there is insufficient evidence.
Sampling approach:
The surveyor plans representative sampling or justified presumption, considering variation between materials. A result from one panel cannot automatically be applied to every similar-looking panel elsewhere.
When it’s needed:
To support compliance with the duty to manage under Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. Most non-domestic premises built before 2000 should have a current management survey on record. The survey itself doesn’t need to be repeated every year — the asbestos register it produces is the document that gets updated through ongoing re-inspection.
Who commissions it:
The duty holder for the premises — typically the building owner, the tenant under an FRI lease, or the managing agent with responsibility for repair and maintenance. See our guide to the duty to manage asbestos for who counts as the duty holder.
The refurbishment and demolition survey
Before refurbishment or demolition, obtain adequate information for the full area affected by the work. A suitably scoped survey is intrusive and may be destructive to find hidden asbestos. The scope follows the planned work, not every routine contact with a building.
What it includes:
- Full intrusive inspection of all areas affected by the planned work
- Destructive investigation of cavity walls, floor voids, ceiling spaces, service ducts, and structural elements
- Comprehensive sampling of all suspect materials
- Laboratory analysis to confirm or rule out asbestos content
- Detailed mapping of locations to allow safe removal planning
- A written report with sufficient detail to inform a removal contractor’s method statement
Level of intrusion:
Refurbishment and demolition surveys use intrusive methods where needed. The surveyed areas must be vacated and suitable precautions taken; they must be fit for reoccupation before people return.
Sampling approach:
Comprehensive within the work area. Where a management survey samples representatively, a refurbishment survey samples thoroughly — including hidden materials that wouldn’t otherwise have been accessible.
When it’s needed:
Use a refurbishment or demolition survey where needed to identify asbestos affected by planned work, including:
- Major refurbishment or fit-out work
- Demolition (full or partial)
- Structural alterations
- Strip-out before re-letting
- Some service replacement work that involves intrusive access
Do not assume that a management report identifies everything affected by refurbishment. Check its scope and limitations against the proposed work and obtain further investigation where needed.
Who commissions it:
Normally the client for the refurbishment work — the building owner, the developer, or the contractor with overall responsibility for the project under CDM 2015. The duty under Regulation 5 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 is on the employer of the workers who will carry out the work, but in practice the survey is commissioned upstream by the project client.
Comparison: management vs refurbishment/demolition survey
The two survey types compared across the points that matter in practice:
- Purpose. Management surveys support normal occupation and maintenance; refurbishment or demolition surveys establish information for the specific intrusive project.
- Intrusion. Management surveys can include minor intrusive work; refurbishment or demolition surveys use more extensive destructive access where necessary.
- Areas covered. Management survey covers normally-accessible parts of the building. Refurbishment/demolition survey covers all areas affected by the planned work.
- Sampling. Management survey uses representative sampling. Refurbishment/demolition survey uses comprehensive sampling.
- Building status. Management surveys can often be arranged during occupation; areas undergoing intrusive refurbishment or demolition surveys must be vacated and made fit for return.
- Output. Management survey feeds the asbestos register and management plan. Refurbishment/demolition survey produces a detailed map for removal planning.
- Review. Reuse survey information only if it remains reliable and covers the current purpose; changes, gaps or a new project can require additional investigation.
- Old name (pre-2010). Management survey was Type 1 or Type 2. Refurbishment/demolition survey was Type 3.
Re-inspection — not a third survey type
A common point of confusion is the re-inspection that follows a management survey. This isn’t a third survey type; it’s the ongoing management activity required to keep the register current.
Re-inspection involves a competent person revisiting the materials identified in the original management survey, assessing whether their condition has changed, and updating the register accordingly. It doesn’t normally involve new sampling unless there’s a change that warrants it — a damaged material that needs re-categorisation, for example.
Set condition checks from the material and risks, keeping the register current. HSE says to review the management plan every 12 months or sooner if needed; do not use a generic multi-year inspection interval without justification.
Who is qualified to carry out an asbestos survey
The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 require the surveyor to be competent. Competence is demonstrated through a combination of training, qualifications, and experience.
The main UK qualifications and accreditations:
- BOHS P402 — a qualification in surveying and sampling strategies; competence also requires relevant experience and effective quality arrangements
- BOHS P401 — identification of asbestos in bulk samples by polarised light microscopy. P404 concerns clearance testing and reoccupation, not bulk sample identification.
- UKAS accreditation to BS EN ISO/IEC 17020 — the organisational standard for inspection bodies. A surveying company accredited to this standard has demonstrated systematic quality assurance for its survey work.
- UKAS accreditation to BS EN ISO/IEC 17025 — the organisational standard for testing and calibration laboratories. The laboratory analysing the samples should hold this accreditation.
- Check current evidence of the individual’s competence and the organisation’s quality arrangements; do not rely on an old scheme name alone
HSE strongly recommends an accredited surveying organisation. Check the relevant UKAS inspection scope, the surveyor’s competence and laboratory accreditation for the analysis required; accreditation and qualifications have distinct purposes.
What a good survey report contains
A competent asbestos survey report should include:
- A clear scope statement — what was surveyed and what wasn’t, and why
- Full site identification and survey date
- Surveyor name, qualifications, and accreditation
- Laboratory analysis certificates for all samples taken
- A complete asbestos register output, with location, material type, asbestos type, condition, and risk rating
- Photographs of identified materials, ideally annotated
- Building plans or floor plans showing sample and ACM locations
- A list of areas that couldn’t be accessed and the reason, with presumed-asbestos status applied
- Recommendations for management of each material
- Limitations and caveats
For a refurbishment and demolition survey, the report should also include the destructive access carried out, the work-area boundaries, and detail sufficient for a removal contractor to plan the work.
Check that the report clearly identifies its scope, limitations, findings, surveyor and analysis results where sampling was undertaken. A justified presumption survey does not necessarily contain sample certificates, but its conclusions and limits must be explicit.
Approximate costs
A survey price depends on the scope, building, access and analysis required. Request a written quotation covering:
- The occupied and inaccessible areas, survey type and planned works
- Sampling, laboratory analysis, access arrangements and any reinstatement costs
- Deliverables, exclusions and how additional investigation would be charged; there is no universal two- or three-times price multiplier
Compare like-for-like scope and competence. A survey alone does not discharge every duty; the information must be used to plan and implement appropriate controls.
When do you legally need a survey?
The legal triggers map onto the regulatory framework:
- Regulation 4 (duty to manage) — every non-domestic premises and the common parts of blocks of flats should have current information about asbestos. A management survey is the standard way to obtain this.
- Regulation 5 — establish whether asbestos is present before work liable to expose employees. Obtain information appropriate to the task, or presume asbestos and apply the corresponding controls.
- CDM 2015 — for construction projects, the principal designer and client have duties around pre-construction information, which includes asbestos information.
- CAR 2012 Regulation 6 — the written risk assessment for asbestos work requires identification of the type and condition of asbestos, which is what the relevant survey provides.
Before work that could disturb asbestos, establish what is present in the affected area. Existing information may be sufficient for some tasks; intrusive refurbishment or demolition needs appropriately scoped investigation. Do not start and discover the gaps afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
How long does an asbestos survey take?
Time depends on the premises, scope, access, sampling and laboratory arrangements. Agree the programme with the surveyor and allow for inaccessible areas or additional findings; there is no universal half-day or one-day duration.
Do I need a management survey if my building is empty?
An empty building can still be subject to the duty to manage. The responsible person needs adequate information and controls; the survey type depends on ongoing management and any planned work.
What’s the difference between a management survey and a refurbishment survey?
Management surveys support normal occupation and can include minor intrusion. Refurbishment or demolition surveys investigate the full affected work area, destructively where needed. Their scope and limitations determine whether they provide the information required.
Can I survey my own property?
The duty under CAR 2012 doesn’t prohibit a competent person carrying out their own survey, but “competent” is a high bar. For domestic property outside CAR scope, there’s no legal requirement to commission a survey at all — but if you want reliable identification, the qualifications, equipment, and laboratory access of a competent surveyor are difficult to replicate.
How often does an asbestos register need to be reviewed?
Keep the register current when conditions or information change. HSE says to review the management plan every 12 months or sooner if needed, with separate condition-monitoring arrangements for the actual materials and risks.
What qualifications should an asbestos surveyor have?
For an individual, BOHS P402 is the standard UK qualification. For the surveying organisation, UKAS accreditation to ISO/IEC 17020 demonstrates systematic competence. The laboratory analysing the samples should hold UKAS accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025.
For the legal duties that surveys support, see our guide to the duty to manage asbestos under Regulation 4 and the wider Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 framework. For the materials that surveys are designed to find, see our reference guide to asbestos-containing materials in UK buildings.
For employers and supervisors who need to meet the Regulation 10 training duty for workers whose work in pre-2000 buildings could disturb asbestos identified in a survey, our CPD-accredited Asbestos Awareness Course covers the syllabus required under the Approved Code of Practice L143.
Related guides
- The duty to manage asbestos: registers, plans, and what Regulation 4 requires
- Asbestos-containing materials in UK buildings: a reference guide
- The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012
Sources & references
- HSE HSG264 — survey purposes, intrusion, sampling and competence
- HSE — duty to manage
- HSE — condition checks and plan review
- Great Britain — identification and assessment duties
- Northern Ireland — asbestos regulations
- BOHS — P401 bulk sample analysis and other qualification roles
Make sure your team meets the Regulation 10 training duty.
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Mark writes about workplace health & safety, asbestos awareness and accredited online training for Asbestos Awareness Course, part of Online CPD Academy.