The east coast really gives roofs a hammering. Around Ipswich, we still see profiled asbestos cement sheeting from the 60s, 70s and 80s on dockside stores, older industrial units and plenty of Suffolk farm buildings. Decades of wind-driven rain and frost have made most of them porous, mossy and slowly shedding fibres from the weathered surface. As the owner, you’ve got a choice, and it’s unavoidable: strip the roof, or seal it and manage it. If the sheets are sound, encapsulation is usually the calmer and cheaper option.
Why sound sheets are often better sealed than stripped
Asbestos cement that’s in decent nick barely releases any fibre. It’s the weathering and disturbance that create the problem. And removal? That’s a major disturbance in itself. You’re looking at controlled stripping, wrapping, transport and disposal as hazardous waste. Then there’s the full whack of a replacement roof, often with the building out of action. Encapsulation avoids all that. The sheets stay put, we seal the eroded surface under a purpose-made coating, lock down any fibre release and make the roof weathertight again. For a building with years of working life ahead, it’s usually the proportionate choice.
What the regulations expect of you
The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 put the duty to manage asbestos on whoever controls the maintenance of non-domestic premises. That means finding it, assessing its condition, recording it and managing the risk under a written, reviewed plan. That duty applies to a unit on an Ipswich industrial estate just as much as it does to a grain store ten miles outside town. The regulations let you manage sound material in place, and HSE guidance backs that up for asbestos cement in good condition. What the duty doesn’t allow is just letting things drift. A weathering roof that nobody assesses or acts on? That’s a duty being neglected.
How the work is carried out
Everything starts with the principle of not disturbing the sheets. Cleaning is controlled and non-abrasive. We treat moss and lichen, we don’t tear them off. We make good minor cracks, laps and fixings, and we identify and manage fragile roof lights. Then we apply the encapsulant system across the roof to specification. We work from the outside, so most occupiers can keep trading underneath. Done properly, you end up with a sealed, maintainable surface and a set re-inspection interval, not a roof that’s quietly getting worse every winter.
When encapsulation is not the answer
We’re coating contractors, and the most useful thing we can tell some owners is that a coating is the wrong product. Sheets that are extensively cracked, holed, delaminating or friable can’t honestly be encapsulated. Neither can roofs with crumbling edges, failing fixings throughout, storm damage right through the sheet, or a dodgy structure underneath. Buildings earmarked for redevelopment are in the same boat. In all those cases, proper controlled removal is the right recommendation, and that’s what our report will tell you. The survey decides which side of the line your roof sits on, not us and not you.
What you get on paper
Because encapsulation is part of a legal management duty, documentation is part of the job:
- A written condition survey with photographs
- A clear suitability verdict: encapsulate, or remove
- The specification for preparation, repairs and the coating system
- A record of the completed work for your asbestos register
- A recommended re-inspection interval for your management plan
We’re based in the South-East, and we carry out asbestos roof encapsulation right across the UK. Ipswich and the wider Suffolk area are definitely inside our usual working range.
