Regulation 4: Duty to Manage
Asbestos in Non Domestic Premises
Owners and occupiers of non domestic premises, who have
maintenance and repair responsibilities, have a duty to
assess all locations for the presence of asbestos and the
condition of that asbestos. Where asbestos is present the
dutyholder must ensure that the risk from the asbestos
is assessed, that a written plan identifying where that
asbestos is located, is prepared and that measures to manage
the risk from the asbestos are set out in that plan and
are implemented.
Domestic Rented Properties
Regulation 4 is principally aimed at commercial properties
but also applies to residential properties where there
are shared common internal and external areas. The legislation
will apply to the common areas only with the duty holder
being the person or people responsible for the maintenance
and repair of the common areas, including housing developments
and blocks of flats, but does not place any direct duties
on landlords in respect of individual’s houses or
flats. However, landlords do have to meet the requirements
of the Defective Premises Act 1972 in England and Wales
or the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 in Scotland.
For more information on what are perceived as common parts
visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/campaign/chart.htm
Private Properties
House purchasers are becoming increasingly aware of the
risk from asbestos, both to health and property values.
Residential surveyors and mortgage lenders are now frequently
asking for specialist asbestos reports where the presence
of asbestos is suspected.
Private areas of dwellings are not covered by CAR 2006,
although there is still an implied duty on householders
to prevent anyone entering the property being exposed to
an asbestos risk. If the place becomes a ‘place of
work’ by virtue of an instruction to carryout repairs
or maintenance, then that dwelling is brought within the
regulations. This is particularly relevant to private and
social housing landlords.
For further information about asbestos products within
the home visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/essentials/building.htm
Demolition and Major Refurbishment Works
Where demolition and major refurbishment is taking place
and asbestos is known or suspected to be present, the planning
supervisor is required to ensure that a Type 3 Inspection
has been carried out and is included in the pre-tender
health and safety plan in accordance with Construction
(Design and Management) Regulations 1994.
Financial Help Is Available
"The tax relief initiative is a major
financial impact benefit for both property owners and businesses"
As part of the labour government commitment towards urban
regeneration, they have introduced an additional tax relief
for companies incurring expenditure on Land Remediation.
The tax relief was introduced in the Finance Act 2001
Schedule 22 & 23 Remediation of Contaminated Land.
This is a completely new form of tax relief on Capital
expenditure, applying not only to investors in property,
but also to commercial developers including house builders.
The relief has been pitched at 150% to attract interest.
The tax relief initiative should have a major financial
impact for both property owners and developers and will
help measure the monetary impact of alternative renovation
proposals.
There are five conditions necessary
for qualification:
- A claimant must be a UK company who is under the corporation
tax regime. The capital expenditure will be allowed as
a deduction in computing the profits of the trade for
the accounting period in which the expenditure is incurred;
- Land must be acquired in a contaminated state. That
is to say the company, or anyone connected with the company
must not have polluted the site;
- The expenditure on remediation is incurred on a) employee
costs and (b) materials, or on sub-contracted land remediation;
- That the expenditure would not have been occurred if
the land had not been in a contaminated state;
- The expenditure is not subsidised.
So now the costs of asbestos removal/management from existing
buildings can be set against company profits as tax relief.
The tax relief may improve the options when considering
what actions to take when dealing with remediation of asbestos
in a building. The relief should not determine the action
taken, but any possibility of claiming it on replacement
materials may change the long-term objectives. The tax
relief initiative is a major financial help for businesses.
As with many forms of tax relief, a number of conditions
must be met and technicalities before the benefits can
be obtained. Tax matters can be extremely complex and advice
should therefore be sought from an expert in these matters.
'This tax relief may improve the options
when considering what actions to take when dealing with
remediation of asbestos in a building.'
For more information please visit this RICS
link.
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