Who is Responsible for Asbestos (ACMs)?
The Regulations define Duty Holders as all persons who control, manage, own, occupy or have responsibilities for workplace/non-domestic premises. This covers those parties that have legal responsibility for maintenance and repair of those premises.
Duty Holders may appoint competent persons to carry out certain parts of the work required to fulfill the new regulations but they must be involved in the final assessment of the potential risk.
The terms and conditions of each commercial lease will define who is the Duty Holder. This is based on the party having "control" of a specified area.
In a building with multiple tenants, the tenants will have responsibility for inspecting their demised areas and the landlord the common parts (including external). In such instances, savings and efficiencies could be made by co-ordinating the inspection and management of Asbestos Containing Materials (ACMs).
Tenants who do not have maintenance and repair responsibilities (e.g. those in services offices) and parties that control access to premises are required to provide information on the whereabouts of ACMs to Duty Holders and co-operate with the management of these ACMs.