Suspect asbestos in your Surrey property? Don’t put your health at risk by guessing. Meyer Southern is an HSE licensed firm delivering fast, accurate asbestos surveys in Surrey.
Tell us the property, its age and what the report is for. Not sure which survey you need? Describe it and our HSE licensed Surrey team will tell you before you commit to anything.
Four things usually bring someone to this page. A contractor will not start until a survey has been done. A duty to manage has landed and there is no asbestos register behind it. A sale or purchase has reached the point where a report has been asked for. Or something has turned up in a loft or a garage and nobody wants to touch it.
Meyer Southern Ltd covers all four across Surrey, from Staines down to Haslemere and from Farnham across to Oxted.
Call 0239 307 2182, email admin@meyerenvironmental.co.uk, message us on WhatsApp, or use the enquiry form.
Surrey grew outwards along its railway lines. Victorian and Edwardian development around the station towns, heavy interwar suburban building through the 1920s and 30s, then post-war and 1960s expansion at Woking, Staines, Epsom and Camberley. There is also a large flat and maisonette stock across the north of the county. Asbestos was not fully banned in the UK until 1999, so most of that housing predates the ban.
In buildings constructed during those decades, asbestos containing materials tend to sit in artex ceilings and textured coatings, garage roofs and outbuilding panels, floor tiles and the bitumen beneath them, pipe lagging, loft insulation and boiler flues. Left undisturbed and in good condition they carry little risk. Drilling, sanding or breaking them releases fibres, and inhaling those fibres is linked to mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer. Around 2,500 people die from mesothelioma in the UK each year.
If you are renovating, selling, letting, or dealing with accidental damage after a leak or a fire, a survey identifies what is present before anyone disturbs it.
Surrey carries a deep commercial and institutional footprint. The 1960s and 70s office and civic building at Guildford, Woking and Redhill. The military estate around Camberley, Deepcut and Pirbright. A large schools and healthcare estate spread across every borough, much of it built when asbestos products were standard. Those materials are still in place in many buildings today.
The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 place a duty to manage asbestos on the holder of any non-domestic property. In practice that means knowing where asbestos is, keeping an asbestos register, holding a written management plan, and checking the condition of anything identified. The HSE estimates around 5,000 asbestos-related deaths a year, and a large share trace back to offices, schools, healthcare buildings and industrial sites. A management survey is how a duty holder meets that obligation.
If you are legally responsible for a building and have no current register, that is the gap to close first. We work with facilities teams and property managers across Surrey, including sites where access has to be arranged outside operating hours.
Your survey and any removal are quoted separately. The survey report is written as a tender document, to a standard any licensed contractor can price against, and there is no obligation to use us for the work. Plenty of clients take our report elsewhere, which is exactly what it is built for.
What you get instead is one firm that already knows the building. If the survey identifies something that has to come out, there is no second inspection and no second explanation.
Five services, from a full building inspection to a single sample.
Every job below started with someone unsure what they were looking at. These are properties we have surveyed, sampled and reported on
From a single maisonette in Staines to a school estate across a borough, the survey is carried out to the same standard. What changes is access, scheduling and who needs to read the report at the end.
Tell us the property type and we will tell you which survey fits. Call 0239 307 2182 or use the enquiry form.
Four stages, from your first call to a report you can hand to a solicitor, a contractor or the HSE.
We ask about the property, its age and what the report is for. That last part matters more than people expect, because a report for a lender and a report for a demolition contractor are not the same document. Once the survey type is settled you get a fixed quote, so no laboratory cost appears later.
A BOHS P402 qualified surveyor carries out the inspection. On a management survey that is non-intrusive and you can usually stay in the building. On a refurbishment and demolition survey it means opening up structure to reach concealed areas. Photographs and material descriptions are recorded throughout.
Anything suspect is sampled under controlled conditions and sent to a UKAS-accredited laboratory, UKAS being the United Kingdom Accreditation Service. The laboratory confirms whether asbestos is present and identifies the fibre type. Laboratory analysis is the only result that carries legal weight, which is why a visual opinion is never enough on its own.
The report sets out every material found, where it is, what condition it is in, a risk assessment for each one, and what we recommend you do. Where there is an ongoing duty to manage, we help build the management plan around it. If removal is needed, the report is already the document a contractor prices from.
If a start date is booked, a completion date is set, or a duty to manage is sitting unanswered, the survey is usually the thing holding everything else up. It is also the quickest part to sort.
We cover the whole county, and we handle the asbestos removal in Surrey clients need afterwards if the survey turns something up.
Call 0239 307 2182, email admin@meyerenvironmental.co.uk, message us on WhatsApp, or send the enquiry form and we will come back to you today.
Tell us the property, the age and what the survey is for. Fixed quote back the same day.
Yes. Meyer Southern Ltd holds an HSE asbestos licence, Licence No. 262606126. Our surveyors are BOHS P402 qualified, and the licence means we are also allowed to remove the highest-risk asbestos materials, which a survey-only firm cannot do.
So if your Surrey survey finds damaged asbestos insulating board, pipe lagging or sprayed coatings, you do not need to find a separate licensed contractor. We already know the building, we already have the results, and we can plan the removal straight away.
It depends on what you are about to do with the building. If it is occupied and running normally and you need to meet a duty to manage, that is a management survey. If any refurbishment or demolition work is planned on a building put up before 2000, you need a refurbishment and demolition survey, and that one is a legal requirement rather than a recommendation. If a survey has already been done and materials were found, the annual check is a re-inspection.
Those three cover most situations. Buying a property is a pre-purchase survey. A single suspect material is a sampling job rather than a survey at all, and it costs a fraction of the price.
The practical test is simple. If you are running the building, you need a management survey. If you are about to change the building, you need a refurbishment and demolition survey. Getting this wrong costs money, because a management survey will not clear a site for building work and the job stops while a second survey is arranged.
If you are not sure, describe the property and the reason on the phone and we will tell you which one applies.
Sometimes not, and it is worth saying so plainly.
If you own and live in your own home, are not carrying out work, and nothing is damaged, there is no legal requirement for a survey. Asbestos in good condition and left undisturbed carries little risk. A survey becomes worth doing when you are about to disturb something, when a material is already damaged, or when you are selling and want to answer the question before a buyer raises it.
Landlords and property managers sit in a different position. A rented property brings duties under housing and health and safety legislation to keep the property safe for tenants, and knowing whether asbestos is present is part of that.
Leasehold flats catch people out. The duty to manage under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 applies to the common parts, the foyers, corridors, stairwells and plant rooms, and falls on the freeholder or managing agent. It does not extend inside your own flat. If you are a leaseholder planning works, you are in the same position as any homeowner.
Duty holders of non-domestic property have a clear legal duty, and that one does not depend on whether work is planned.
There is no legal requirement to commission an asbestos survey before selling a home in England and Wales. The duty to manage applies to non-domestic premises, not to an owner-occupier selling their own house.
The TA6 property information form is where it becomes practical. You are asked what you know about the property, and you have a disclosure obligation for anything that could affect a buyer’s decision. If you know asbestos is present and say nothing, that is a problem. If you have no idea, you can answer that you do not know.
A survey turns an unknown into a document. That matters because buyers’ solicitors increasingly raise asbestos as an enquiry on pre-2000 properties, and some lenders will ask before releasing funds. An unanswered question at that stage means delay while somebody arranges a survey under time pressure. A report already in the file removes it.
It also protects the price. Discovering suspected materials during the buyer’s own survey usually leads to a renegotiation. Documented materials in good condition, with a professional recommendation to manage in place, rarely do.
No. Surrey follows the same UK-wide legislation as the rest of Great Britain. The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 apply in Guildford exactly as they do in Manchester, and the Health and Safety Executive enforces them nationally. Asbestos surveys across the UK are governed by HSG264, the HSE survey guide, which sets the two main types and the standard they are conducted to.
What does vary locally is the building stock, and that changes what is likely to be found rather than what the law expects of you. Many buildings across Surrey went up during the decades when asbestos products were standard, which is why a pre-2000 build date is the trigger worth acting on.
The one place people get caught is the domestic and non-domestic split. There is no legal requirement for a homeowner to have a survey done. Businesses, landlords and anyone legally responsible for commercial premises do have obligations under the regulations, and those apply whether or not any work is planned.
If you are unsure which side of that line your building falls on, describe it to us and we will tell you straight.
Time on site is usually two to three hours for a domestic management survey. A larger commercial property, or any refurbishment and demolition survey with destructive inspection involved, can take a full day or more. You get a realistic timeframe at quote stage rather than after we have arrived.
Laboratory results come back within three to five working days, and the report follows.
The survey visit is rarely what delays a transaction. The wait is the laboratory analysis and the report being written up. If you are working to a completion date or a contractor start date, tell us at the point of quoting. We can prioritise where the timeline is tight, and it is far easier to plan that in at the start than to chase it later.
You get a report saying so, and that report has real value.
A clear result is documented evidence you can hand to a buyer, a lender, a contractor or an insurer. Builders can start work knowing they are not going to hit something unexpected halfway through a job. If you are a duty holder, a survey finding no asbestos still satisfies the requirement to have assessed the building, and your register records that assessment.
Nobody enjoys paying for an answer they hoped for. But an undocumented assumption that a building is clear is worth nothing to anyone, and it is not a defence if it turns out to be wrong.
Asbestos testing is the laboratory half of the job. A surveyor cannot confirm asbestos by eye, so anything suspect is sampled and analysed.
Our surveyor takes a small sample under controlled conditions, wetting and sealing the area so no fibres are released into the room. Sampling is quick and usually leaves nothing more than a mark the size of a coin. The sample goes to a UKAS-accredited laboratory, where it is examined under microscopy to confirm whether asbestos is present and which fibre type it is.
Laboratory analysis is the only result with legal weight behind it. A visual opinion, however experienced, is not enough on its own, and no report should ever be built on one.
Standard results come back within three to five working days. Where a project or a completion date depends on it, tell us at quote stage and we can prioritise the analysis.
Asbestos was used across almost every part of a building, which is why a visual guess is unreliable. In houses and flats built during the decades before the ban, the common finds are artex ceilings and textured wall coatings, garage roofs and outbuilding panels, floor tiles and the black bitumen adhesive underneath them, pipe lagging in lofts and airing cupboards, insulation board around boilers and behind fire doors, and soffits, fascias and rainwater goods outside.
Commercial buildings add more. Sprayed coatings on structural steel, ceiling tiles, riser and plant room insulation, and asbestos cement roof sheeting on industrial units.
Two things make a real difference to safety here. The first is condition, because building materials in sound condition and left undisturbed release very little. The second is location, because something behind a sealed panel is a different proposition to the same material at head height in a corridor.
Our surveyor checks each item individually and records what is present, its condition and its accessibility, rather than treating every find the same way. Where other materials look suspect but sit outside the agreed scope, we will tell you rather than leave it unsaid.
The report contains an executive summary, every asbestos containing material found with its location, amount and condition, photographs throughout, a material risk assessment for each item, and clear recommendations for what to do next. Where there is an ongoing duty to manage, it feeds the asbestos register and management plan.
It usually travels further than people expect. A solicitor may want it during a transaction. A lender may ask for it before releasing funds. A removal contractor prices directly from it. Building control may want sight of it before signing off structural work. Your insurer may ask for it at renewal.
Scope matters here. A management survey report will not clear a site for refurbishment, so if you know major works are coming, say so at quote stage rather than paying twice.
That is also why the report is written to be read by people who are not asbestos specialists.
Not necessarily removal, which surprises people.
Asbestos in good condition, in a location where it will not be disturbed, is often safest managed in place and monitored. The report will say where that applies. Removal becomes the answer when a material is damaged, when it sits somewhere it will get knocked, or when planned building work is going to disturb it.
Where removal is the right call, the report is already the document a licensed contractor prices from, and you can take it to whoever you choose. We handle the asbestos removal in Surrey clients need as well, so if you would rather keep it with one firm that already knows the building, that is available.
An asbestos register is the record of every asbestos containing material identified in a building, where it is and what condition it is in. An asbestos management plan is the document setting out what you are going to do about each one, who is responsible, and when it gets checked again.
If you hold non-domestic premises you need both. Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 the duty holder is legally responsible for managing asbestos on site, and in most cases that is the landlord, the commercial tenant or the property manager, depending on what the lease says. The Health and Safety Executive expects the register to be current, not filed away from a decade ago.
Both come out of a management survey. The survey identifies the materials, the register records them, and the plan sets out how you manage them. Anyone carrying out maintenance work in the building should be able to see the register before they start.
If you have inherited a building with no paperwork, that is the most common reason people call us. We carry out asbestos inspections across Surrey commercial buildings and industrial properties and can have your register and plan in place from a single visit.
Every survey is quoted on the individual property rather than from a price list, because the variables move the number too much for a list to mean anything.
Size and type of property is the biggest one. Survey type is next, since a destructive refurbishment and demolition survey takes considerably longer on site than a non-intrusive management survey. Then the number of samples needing laboratory analysis, how accessible the building is, and whether you need the report faster than standard.
Be careful comparing quotes on headline price alone. A quote that excludes laboratory analysis, or that covers accessible areas only when you need a site cleared for works, is not the same job. Ours is a fixed quote with the laboratory costs already in it.
Tell us the property age, rough size and the reason for the survey and you will have that quote the same day.
The whole county. That includes Guildford, Woking, Epsom, Camberley, Esher, Reigate, Redhill, Staines, Weybridge, Farnham, Godalming, Dorking, Chertsey, Egham, Oxted and the surrounding towns and villages, alongside our wider coverage across the south east.
On property types we survey domestic, commercial and industrial. Houses, flats, maisonettes and rental portfolios. Offices, retail units, warehouses and hotels. Schools, care homes and healthcare buildings. Factories and plant rooms, where we can work around production schedules.
If your property is not obviously in one of those categories, call and describe it.
Surveys are one part of what we do. We also handle asbestos testing on individual materials, re-inspections on a scheduled basis, and the asbestos removal in Surrey clients need once a survey has identified something that has to come out.
That matters at the point where a survey finds a problem. Plenty of survey firms hand you a detailed report and leave you to find a contractor. We can quote the removal from our own report, which means no second inspection of the building and no explaining the situation twice.
You are not tied to us for the removal work. The report is written as a tender document, so any licensed contractor can price against it, and we would rather you compared quotes than felt cornered.
Alongside asbestos services we also carry out lead testing and legionella testing across residential and commercial property in Surrey, which helps if you are assessing a building against more than one risk at the same time.
Less than most people expect, and where it might, we plan around it.
For homeowners, a non-intrusive inspection means nothing gets opened up. You can usually stay in the building throughout, and sampling leaves a mark about the size of a coin. There is no need to move out or clear rooms.
For businesses, the disruption question is usually access rather than the work itself. We schedule asbestos inspections across Surrey outside trading hours, around shift patterns, or room by room where a building has to keep running. Schools tend to book in during holidays, and warehouses and factories around production. Tell us the constraint at quote stage and we will build the visit around it.
Where an intrusive inspection is needed, that one does open up structure, so we agree the scope and the making-good arrangements with you before anyone attends. No surprises on the day.
Once the findings are with you, our asbestos specialists will talk you through them and give you expert advice on what needs doing and what does not. If safe removal or remediation is the right call on any item, we will say so and quote it separately. If nothing needs doing, we will say that too.
