Found asbestos in your Kent home or business? Meyer Southern is an HSE licensed asbestos firm carrying out asbestos surveys across Kent, from Dartford to Dover.
Book an asbestos survey in Kent and you get a qualified surveyor, lab-tested samples and a report that tells you exactly what to do next.
Tell us about the property and what you are planning. Upload any old reports or photos of anything suspicious and we will come back to you with the right survey and a quote.
Asbestos was not fully banned in the UK until 1999, so any building put up or refurbished before 2000 can still contain it. An asbestos survey in Kent tells you whether it is there, what type it is, what condition it is in and what needs to happen next.
We carry out asbestos surveys for homes, landlords, schools, offices and factories, with every survey carried out in line with HSG264, the Health and Safety Executive’s guidance known as Asbestos: The Survey Guide. It is essential reading for anyone commissioning a survey in the UK. Because Meyer Southern also holds an HSE licence for asbestos removal, the report you get is written by people who know what removal involves.
We cover the county from the London border to the coast, including Maidstone, Canterbury and Ashford. For the full picture of what we offer, see our asbestos surveys page.
Call 0239 307 2182 or use our enquiry form to get started.
Much of Kent’s housing was built when asbestos was a standard building material. Interwar semis, postwar estates and the 1960s and 1970s developments around the larger towns all went up in the decades when asbestos cement, textured coatings and insulation board were used without a second thought.
In homes, we most often find it in asbestos garage roofs and outbuildings, artex and textured coatings on ceilings, old vinyl floor tiles and their adhesive, boxed-in pipework, and soffits, fascias and guttering.
A domestic survey is not a legal requirement, but it is strongly advised before a kitchen refit, a loft conversion, an extension or selling an older house. Finding asbestos halfway through a renovation stops the job and adds cost. Finding it beforehand lets you plan around it and protect the people working on the building.
If you own, manage or maintain a non-domestic building, the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 place a duty to manage asbestos on you. That covers offices, shops, warehouses, schools, churches and industrial premises, along with the common parts of flats and HMOs such as hallways, stairwells, plant rooms and lofts.
To meet that duty you need to know whether asbestos is present, keep a written record of where it is and what condition it is in, and have a plan for managing it. A management survey is usually the starting point, and it gives you the asbestos register your contractors will ask to see before they start work.
Most duty holders re-inspect known asbestos every six to twelve months, depending on its condition. Legal obligations depend on the type of property and how it is used. If you are unsure where you stand, speak to our team today and we will talk you through it.
Most survey firms hand you a report and leave you to find a removal contractor. Meyer Southern holds HSE asbestos licence number 262606126, so if your survey finds licensed-category material, the same firm can quote and carry out the safe removal from our own report.
That means no second inspection of the building, no explaining the job twice and no gap between finding the asbestos and dealing with it. Higher-risk work such as sprayed coatings, lagging and most insulation board can only be carried out by a licensed contractor, and that is what we are.
You are not tied to us. The report is written so any licensed contractor can price against it. If you want us to do the work, our asbestos removal Kent team picks it up from the survey.
Stop work and keep everyone out of the room to limit exposure. Close the door, switch off any fans or heating that move air through the space, and do not sweep or vacuum the dust. It is essential not to spread fibres further.
Then call us. We can arrange urgent sampling to confirm whether the material contains asbestos. If it does, our HSE licensed team can carry out the asbestos removal and make the area safe. Kent County Council accepts small amounts of wrapped household asbestos at its recycling centres, apart from Sheerness, but only by booking. Damaged material from a disturbed ceiling or board is a job for professionals, not a trip to the tip.
Five types of asbestos surveys, each matched to what you are doing with the building.
A selection of recent surveys and removals across the south east. Each one shows what we found, how it was dealt with and the paperwork the client was left with.
Customers who use our asbestos services include:
Call 0239 307 2182 or send us a message on WhatsApp to discuss your property.
We carry out asbestos surveys throughout Kent and into south east London.
We also cover Aylesford, Beckenham, Belvedere, Bexleyheath, Birchington, Broadstairs, Chatham, Chislehurst, Cranbrook, Deal, Dover, Edenbridge, Erith, Faversham, Gillingham, Gravesend, Greenhithe, Herne Bay, Keston, Longfield, Margate, New Romney, Orpington, Queenborough, Ramsgate, Rochester, Romney Marsh, Sandwich, Sevenoaks, Sheerness, Sidcup, Sittingbourne, Snodland, Swanley, Swanscombe, Tenterden, Tonbridge, Welling, West Malling, West Wickham, Westerham, Westgate-on-Sea, Westwood and Whitstable.
Four steps from your first call to a finished report.
We start by asking about the property: when it was built, what work you are planning and whether any previous surveys exist. The age of a property helps determine whether asbestos is likely, and the work you have planned decides which survey you need. We then confirm the survey type, the access required and a date.
Your surveyor inspects every area in scope, records anything suspect and collects small samples using controlled methods that keep fibre release to a minimum. Each sample point is sealed and labelled. Most domestic surveys take two to three hours on site, and you can usually stay in the building while it is inspected.
Samples are sent for analysis at a UKAS-accredited laboratory, which confirms whether asbestos is present and identifies the type. Sample results are usually back within 48 hours, and the findings feed directly into the condition ratings in your report.
Your full asbestos report arrives within three to five working days. It lists every material identified, its type, quantity and condition, with photos, floor plans and clear recommendations. Where removal is needed, we can quote for it straight from the report.
Planning work, selling a property or meeting your duty to manage, the first step is the same: find out what is in the building. Our survey services come with straightforward expert advice, and we book your survey at a time that suits you.
If the survey finds asbestos that needs to come out, our HSE licensed asbestos removal Kent service takes it from there.
Call 0239 307 2182, email admin@meyerenvironmental.co.uk, message us on WhatsApp or fill in the enquiry form below.
Send us the property address, its rough age and what you are planning, and we will come back with the right survey and a quote.
Yes. Meyer Southern holds an asbestos licence from the HSE, licence number 262606126, and we are fully insured, including public liability insurance. The licence covers higher-risk asbestos removal work, which by law can only be carried out by a licensed contractor. Asbestos surveying does not need an HSE licence, so any firm offering surveys should be judged on its surveyors’ qualifications, such as BOHS P402, and the laboratory it uses.
Where the licence matters for you is what happens after the survey. If your report identifies licensed-category material, you do not need to find and brief a second firm. We can quote from our own report and carry out the removal under the same licence, with the paperwork to prove it was done correctly.
Alongside surveys and asbestos testing, we carry out licensed and non-licensed asbestos removal services, clearance and disposal. Our asbestos removal Kent page covers that side of the business.
We also carry out lead testing and legionella testing services for residential and commercial property, so landlords and facilities managers can deal with one firm for all three.
We cover the whole county, from Dartford, Gravesend and the Medway towns through Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells to Canterbury, Thanet, Ashford, Folkestone and Dover. We also cover the Kent and south east London border, including Orpington, Bexleyheath and Sidcup.
Property types include houses, flats and HMOs, shops, offices, warehouses, industrial units, schools and churches. If you are not sure whether we cover your area, contact us and we will confirm.
Asbestos survey reports set out every material inspected and every material identified as containing asbestos, with its type, quantity, condition and a risk score. You also get photos, location plans and recommendations for each item: leave it and manage it, encapsulate it, or remove it.
Other people will rely on it. Builders and contractors need it before they start work. Buyers’ solicitors and lenders may ask for it during a sale. For commercial buildings, it forms the basis of your asbestos register and management plan, and anyone maintaining the building should see it before they touch the fabric.
Most domestic surveys take two to three hours on site. Larger buildings and intrusive refurbishment or demolition surveys take longer, and we will give you an estimate when we book.
Samples are usually analysed within 48 hours, and your full asbestos report arrives within three to five working days. If you are working to a deadline, such as a contractor’s start date or a sale, tell us when you book and we will plan around it.
You get a report confirming that no asbestos containing materials were found in the areas inspected. For a management survey, that is your record for the duty to manage. For a refurbishment survey, it means your contractors can start work in those areas.
Keep the report safe. It covers the areas that were inspected, so if you later plan work somewhere that was not included, such as a loft that could not be accessed, that area may need checking before work starts.
A surveyor takes a small sample of the suspect material using controlled methods, seals it, labels it and makes good the sample point. The sample goes to a UKAS-accredited laboratory for analysis, which confirms whether asbestos is present and which type.
Results are usually back within 48 hours. Testing suits one or two suspect items, such as a single ceiling or an old floor tile. If you are planning building work across a whole property, a refurbishment survey is the better option, as testing alone will not cover everything the work could disturb.
Usually not in any detail. A standard homebuyer survey may note that a property is old enough to contain asbestos, but it is not designed to confirm it, and surveyors doing that work do not usually take samples for analysis.
If you are buying a property built before 2000, particularly one you plan to renovate, a pre-purchase asbestos survey tells you what is there before you commit. There is no legal requirement for one on a private home in the UK, but it is the only reliable way to know. If you are selling, having a report ready can stop the question holding up the sale.
Your landlord is responsible for managing asbestos in a rented property. If you are concerned about a material, such as flaking artex or old pipe lagging, report it to your landlord or letting agent in writing and avoid disturbing it.
If you are a landlord, we survey rental properties across the county, working closely with you to fit around your tenants. We will arrange access with you, keep disruption to a minimum and give you a report you can keep on file.
A survey does not expire, but it only reflects the building at the time it was inspected. If asbestos has been left in place, its condition needs checking, and most duty holders re-inspect every six to twelve months.
You will need a new survey if you are planning work in areas the original survey did not cover, or if you are moving from everyday use to refurbishment or demolition. A management survey is not enough for building work. That needs a refurbishment survey of the areas being worked on.
The price depends on the size of the building, the type of survey, how many samples need taking and how easy the areas are to reach. A small house needs far fewer samples than a large commercial building with roof voids and plant rooms.
Intrusive refurbishment and demolition surveys take longer than a management survey, which affects the price. Tell us the property type, its age and what you are planning, and we will quote for the right survey rather than one you do not need.
You do not need to be there for the whole survey, but someone needs to let the surveyor in and point out areas such as lofts, cupboards and under-stair spaces. Clearing access to these before we arrive saves time.
For customers in commercial properties, we can survey outside trading hours or room by room so the business keeps running. Where an intrusive survey is needed, we agree the scope and how sample points will be made good before anyone attends.
Do not panic. Asbestos in good condition and not likely to be disturbed is often safer left in place and managed. Your report will say which items can be managed, which should be encapsulated and which need to come out.
If the asbestos needs to be safely removed, we can quote for asbestos removal straight from the report. Licensed-category material can only be removed by an HSE licensed contractor, and we hold that licence. Non-licensed work is quoted the same way, with every job leaving you with the documentation you need.
Asbestos is a natural mineral fibre that was used widely in UK construction until the late 1990s. It poses serious health risks when its fibres are inhaled, and the diseases it causes, including mesothelioma and asbestosis, can take decades to appear. Around 2,500 people still die from mesothelioma in the UK each year.
The danger comes from disturbance, not from asbestos sitting undamaged in a wall or ceiling. Drilling, sanding, cutting or breaking it releases fibres into the air. That is why our asbestos services start with finding out where it is, and why our asbestos removal services are planned so the material comes out intact and under control. If something has already been damaged, call 0239 307 2182 and we will tell you what to do next.
