Duty to manage asbestos: CAR 2012 Reg 4
Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR 2012) is the legal basis for almost every asbestos survey carried out in the UK. If you're a surveyor, your work exists to help duty-holders discharge this regulation.
Who is the duty-holder?
Regulation 4 applies to non-domestic premises. The duty-holder is whoever has responsibility for the maintenance or repair of those premises — explicit in a tenancy or contract, or implicit through control of the building.
In practice that's usually the building owner, landlord, managing agent or, for owner-occupied commercial premises, the occupier.
What the duty-holder must do
Regulation 4 sets out a clear sequence of obligations. The duty-holder must:
- Take reasonable steps to find out if asbestos is present, and if so, its amount, location and condition
- Presume materials contain asbestos unless there's strong evidence otherwise
- Make and keep an up-to-date record of the location and condition of ACMs (the asbestos register)
- Assess the risk from those ACMs
- Prepare a written plan setting out how the risk will be managed
- Take steps to put the plan into action and review it regularly
- Provide information on the location and condition of ACMs to anyone liable to disturb them
Where surveys fit in
A management survey under HSG264 is the standard way of discharging the 'find out if asbestos is present' obligation. It produces the structured data the duty-holder needs to populate the register and write the management plan.
An R&D survey is required separately before refurbishment or demolition — Regulation 4 doesn't go away when works start.
Domestic premises — the common confusion
Regulation 4 does not apply to domestic premises. But the common parts of multi-occupancy residential buildings (stairwells, lift shafts, plant rooms, roof spaces) are non-domestic and ARE in scope.
Local authorities and housing associations regularly commission management surveys of these common parts for exactly this reason.
How AsbestosSurveyPro supports Regulation 4 compliance
AsbestosSurveyPro produces the structured management survey output — ACM register, condition scoring, photographic evidence, recommended actions — that duty-holders need to satisfy Regulation 4. The data is captured once on-site and exported as both a professional PDF and a re-usable structured register.
Takeaway
Regulation 4 is the 'why' behind every UK management survey. Know what the duty-holder owes, and you'll always know what your survey needs to deliver.