Building owners are struggling to meet a basic new asbestos regulation

Thursday, 13 September 2018

Commercial building owners are struggling with a basic obligation to have an asbestos management plan to deal with the hazardous material if it was found in their buildings.

Some commercial building owners are struggling to meet a basic obligation to have an asbestos management plan to deal with the hazardous material if it is found in their buildings.

From April 4 the Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations required businesses to have asbestos management plans for their buildings and workplaces where asbestos is likely to be found.

Government regulator Worksafe said asbestos was likely to be in buildings built before 2000, that more than 170 New Zealanders died each year from diseases related to past asbestos exposure and every tradesperson was likely to come in contact with it.

An asbestos management plan sets out where asbestos or asbestos containing material is and how it will be dealt with.

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Vice-president of the New Zealand Demolition and Asbestos Association Brett Pietersen said awareness of this responsibility had lagged behind other changes in asbestos regulations.

Whenever the association had speaking engagements the issue dominated question time. Building owners wanted to know when the plans were required and what should be included in a good one.

'It's only really the last six to 12 months that we've noticed a marked increase from particularly the commercial property sector in getting their heads around that,' Pietersen said.

'Your larger players were au fait with it early on, but it is more the mum and dad investors or the smaller businesses that owned properties that have been seeking to get their heads around it,'

One of 50 old Wellington commuter train carriages with asbestos in its walls makes its way to the city dump for burial.

Pietersen said it was hard for him to quantify how much non-compliance there was.

'What we are noticing from the property sector certainly, there are still a lot of organisations who are only going through the process of surveying their buildings and developing their asbestos management plans at the moment.

'I would suggest there is probably quite a reasonable number of smaller or individual operators in buildings who haven't even given it a second thought.'

He expected building owners would become more aware of their legal responsibilities as they tried to sell commercial properties and potential buyers asked for the asbestos management plan.

With the right advisors it did not need to be difficult or a financial burden.

There were only so many assessors and surveyors who knew how to produce the plans and certain qualifications and experience were required.

'There are all sorts of organisations who have come out of the woodwork as asbestos surveyors from building surveyors, engineers through to a franchise lawn mowing group.'

New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors vice-president Rory Crosbie said some would not know they had this obligation and might only find out when they were trying to re-tenant the property and tenants asked to see an asbestos management plan.

'Certainly there are those professional property owners that are maybe not yet complete, but are certainly actioning the actual investigation and getting the reports in place if they haven't done so already.

'It is potentially those who are not professional property players who are slowly realising that this is yet another requirement that they have to comply with.'

A building surveyor had to complete specialist training to inspect a property and complete the asbestos management plan. Specialist providers were offering the training and some companies had brough trainers in from the United Kingdom.

'There's quite a lot asbestos in New Zealand. It has been brought into the country until relatively recently.'

An asbestos management plan was not that expensive. The starting price might be $1500 for a small retail unit, Crosbie said.

Worksafe said it had not prosecuted any person or organisation for not having an asbestos management plan.

The regulations say the penalty is $1000 for an individual and $6000 for an organisation for failing to have one readily available and the same penalties again for failing to review and revise it.

A Worksafe spokesperson said its focus was on engaging and educating the sector to comply rather than on non-compliance levels.