Asbestos surveys for homes and business in and around Milton Keynes: New firm offers quality reports

Left undisturbed this substance – once commonly used for things like wall or ceiling panels & coatings, insulation, bath panels, floor tiles and window frames – poses low risk. But if it is disturbed during simple DIY, building work or natural occurrences like floods, it poses a long-term risk to health.

Asbestos is known to be highly carcinogenic and can contribute to deadly cancers like mesothelioma, asbestosis and problems connected to the lungs.

Now a new MK survey company – backed up with over 35 years of industry experience – is there to give householders peace of mind, keep businesses up to date with their legal responsibilities and to offer consultation regarding the management or removal of asbestos.

About the firm

MD Environmental Surveys is run by friends Amanda Ryan and David Motture, who have both spent much of their careers working in the field of asbestos surveys. They decided to go out on their own in 2024 offering a service for domestic households as well as for businesses with premises of any size. The firm employs qualified surveyors to carry out reviews in line with HSE standards, The Control of Asbestos Regulations and the Surveyor’s Guide.

Who needs an asbestos survey?

There are two main client bases, and in almost every case it relates to buildings built before the year 2000.

The first is ordinary householders, worried that their house contains asbestos, or where potential asbestos has been picked up on a house survey prior to a sale. Or they may be planning a property purchase, sale or significant refurbishment/alterations. That’s when you need your survey – to protect your family, employees and contractors.

Often a survey offers peace of mind, allowing people to live with asbestos in-situ in their home, once a survey concludes it is safely contained. If the survey recommends removal, it allows the householder to approach a properly registered asbestos removal firm and get them to carry out the work.

For commercial premises, business owners have a legal duty to inspect their properties for asbestos and carry out a management report, which sets out the scale of the asbestos and a plan to manage it. This can mean doing nothing, other than yearly re-inspections to ensure the asbestos is safe and unlikely to be disturbed. Re-inspections may be done ‘in-house’ (by competent persons with training), but MD Environmental Surveys can do it for you and produce an updated report with appropriate recommendations. Under the ‘Duty to Manage’, a written asbestos management plan should be written following the survey. If works are planned, the duty holder must arrange for a pre-refurbishment or pre-demolition asbestos survey by law.

How long does it take?

For average sized homes or small premises, the on-site time is normally just one day or less. Tiny samples are taken from any part of the home suspected of containing asbestos, and are sent away for scientific sampling, which takes around five working days.

Larger commercial premises may require a more in-depth survey over a wider area, and again samples are taken to allow a full, detailed report to be made.

How much will it cost?

The smaller the premises the smaller the bill, and Amanda and David often have special offers on for domestic premises with prices starting at just £275 for a small domestic property. They are friendly and approachable, and there is no charge at all if you simply want to phone them or email them for a chat around your concerns, to find out if you need a survey at all.

More information is available online. You can call them on 07566256060/07747423684 on find them on socials at Facebook,https://www.checkatrade.com/trades/mdenvironmentalsurveysltdor LinkedIn.