Since 2012 owners and occupiers of non-domestic properties have had to maintain a register of all asbestos and asbestos related works undertaken within their properties.

Asbestos is an important and dangerous material and further queries should be made on securing a new building.   The vendor should provide the asbestos register for the building.  For general queries, go to http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/faq.htm

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 came into force on 6 April 2012, updating previous asbestos regulations to take account of the European Commission’s view that the UK had not fully implemented the EU Directive on exposure to asbestos (Directive 2009/148/EC).

In practice the changes are fairly limited. They mean that some types of non-licensed work with asbestos now have additional requirements, ie notification of work, medical surveillance and record keeping. All other requirements remain unchanged.