Managing an asbestos cement roof in Nottingham
Here in Nottingham, we see plenty of commercial, industrial, and agricultural buildings still carrying their original asbestos cement roofs. Those old factory units, warehouses, and farm sheds from the 60s, 70s and 80s were built to last, but the asbestos cement itself is well past its best. The surfaces are weathered, fibres can be exposed, and the legal responsibility for dealing with it falls squarely on whoever runs the building today.
We can tell you from experience: the options for managing these roofs are a lot clearer than most people think. If the sheets are sound, we can encapsulate them and manage them in place. If they’re failing, they need to come off. We always start with a proper condition survey to tell you exactly what kind of roof you’ve got on your hands.
What the 2012 Regulations actually require
The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 are pretty clear about the duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic buildings. You’ve got to find it, record its condition and location, assess the risk, then write and keep up a management plan. Two things follow from that. First, you can’t just ignore an asbestos roof that’s falling apart. Second, you don’t have to remove asbestos that’s in good nick; the Regulations expect you to manage it, monitor it, and keep it safe.
For a roof that passes our inspection, encapsulation is one of the most practical ways to meet that duty. It doesn’t just observe the problem; it actually improves the material’s condition.
Encapsulation as the proportionate option
Encapsulation means we keep the existing sheets but remove the risk. Here’s how we approach it:
- We start with a roof condition survey, always before we recommend anything or give you a price.
- We clean the roof carefully. No uncontrolled jet washing that just damages old sheets.
- We repair laps, fixings, and flashings, and we’ll replace any isolated sheets that have completely failed.
- Then we apply a sealing coat system, specified specifically for asbestos cement.
- Finally, we give you all the completion records you need for your asbestos register and management plan.
Compared to stripping and re-sheeting, you save money in three ways: no licensed asbestos removal programme, no disposal costs for an entire roof, and no need to shut down the building underneath. For busy units across Nottingham, keeping the business running is often as valuable as the cost saving itself.
Where honesty matters: unsuitable roofs
Sometimes, people try to sell encapsulation as a miracle cure. It’s not, and we won’t pretend it is. If our survey finds sheets that are friable, delaminating, structurally soft, or broken over large areas, coating them would be bad advice and bad practice. The material underneath would just keep failing, out of sight. Roofs in that state need a licensed asbestos contractor to remove them, then a new covering. Our report will tell you that straight. We only encapsulate roofs that genuinely warrant it, because anything else lets down both the building and the person responsible for it.
How we work
We’re based in the South East, but we carry out asbestos roof encapsulation right across the UK. Nottingham and the East Midlands are well within our working area. Our process never changes: survey first, then our written findings, a straight recommendation, and finally the price. If you’re responsible for an industrial, commercial, or farm building with an ageing asbestos cement roof, that initial survey is the step that turns an open-ended worry into a clear, defined plan.
