Handled with care

摘要

Until recently, asbestos inspectors had a hard time trying to get professional indemnity insurance. Insurers were unwilling to carry asbestos-related risk, and most professional indemnity policies specifically exclude claims linked to asbestos, or provide very limited cover. Not surprisingly, many people have stopped carrying out the work - despite the Health and Safety Executive's estimate that 800,000 non-domestic buildings require an asbestos survey at a cost of £1.4bn. The reason so many buildings require asbestos surveys is rule 4 of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations, which came into force on 21 May last year. This piece of legislation requires every duty holder of non-domestic premises to assess whether asbestos is present and, if it is, to prepare a plan for managing the associated risks. Clearly, the work is of a specialist nature and duty holders will have to employ the services of specialists to carry out the assessment. Annual recurring costs could be as high as £13m, representing big business for construction professionals who act as inspectors in the coming years.