Survey found traces of asbestos

[MM]

My estate agent has just called to say that the buyer's building society survey report has come back saying that there are "traces of asbestos" in my property and a separate special investigation by an environmental services company is required. Consequently, a man is coming later this week.

Is this where I should really start panicking? The only abestos I can think of is four corrugated sheets forming the roof of the adjacent brick shed, which is approximately 10 ft x 8 ft.

How much is this going to cost me? Should I get a second opinion? I thought asbestos in sheet form, provided it is undisturbed, is harmless.

MM

[Andy Hall]

Of course not.

Could be that. Do you have any pre-1980 Artex?

Nothing yet. The buyer is paying. It may even be a ruse by the surveyor to put more cost into his job at the expense of the buyer.

Of course the buyer may then want to recover the extra survey cost from you.

Not yet. It won't make any difference at this point. You aren't going to dissuade the buyer from getting his done, and if you make an issue beforehand, it might give him the impression that you have something to hide.

There are various types and most are.

If it were me, I would do nothing, ask to see a copy of the environmental report and then decide what to do. If it does relate to the shed and the buyer doesn't like it then it could be a game to get it fixed at your expense.

Equally, it could be people covering their backsides because of the publicity, some warranted and some not about asbestos.

Try asbestos you can not to worry - hard though that may be. Now is the time to be cool and not make any waves.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[EricP]

I am sitting in my 1979 semi, under acres of artex ceiling containing asbestos and looking at my garage with it's asbestos roof. My house is one of many hundreds within a half mile of me, and hundreds of thousands, in the country. It was the standard method of construction.

Yours is the second problem of this type reported here. I wonder if we are seeing the replacement for Double Glazing as a money-spinner???

If so, it will make the flooding scare look mundane.

Andy has made very good comments.

And what a wonderful way of getting the price down!

[Grunff]

Had to read that a few times...

In my day, we used to eat it for breakfast. Never did us any harm. Honestly, these day, people panic over everything. I blame the media.

[Tony Bryer]

Check out

[Tony Williams]

Question: How did they find the "traces of asbestos"?

Did they suck up dust with a vacuum cleaner and filter, and then somehow got it chemically analysed?

[Andy Wade]

You are not alone. Perhaps he's been having English lessons from IMAM?

[Ric]

And you try telling the young people of today that - and they won't beleive you.

[MM]

I am, though. I'm sure my BP is now higher than it was an hour ago.

No.

But the asbestos survey is being carried out by a separate company.

I don't think that's justified. Surveys are always commissioned by those who want to find something out. It's their cost.

The kind on my shed appears to be the safer white variety. It is of course undisturbed since the 1950s.

That may very well be true.

Puhleeze, no casual wit! I can't stand it!

MM

[Tim]

My Dad's house has some bay window ceilings boarded with "asbestos cement" which I think is just the grey board stuff (remember chemistry lessons - it's the same as the heat mats).

The only problem with it is the ceiling paper doesn't stick very well and tends to fall off. Don't know why?...

I'll probably remove it but I won't have any hestiation in doing it myself, with a few basic precautions...

Timbo

[Andy Hall]

Read it again.......

Asbestos ----> As best os ----> As best as

Never mind :-)

Mark 4:5

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[Andy Hall]

Right now you don't need anything, apart, perhaps from a nice G&T.

Nothing has happened, no surveyor has called and no scam attempted.

However you are well prepared with information on what the scams

*could* be *if* they happen.

Tony has posted the details of an organisation that could be brought into play if need be.

The main thing is not to do anything to panic the buyer because the whole thing is probably about nothing anyway.

If and when there are negative reports from the surveyor and his brother in law at the environmental company, you can ask for copies and then obtain your professional advice.

It could be that there's a scam afoot or not. It could be that the surveyor is covering himself or creaming from the buyer. The buyer, having paid for the report is more likely than not to accept the contents, but it's really only then that there is something tangible to discuss.

For the moment, I think you've done all that you reasonably can other than getting in your own asbestos expert tomorrow. I don't see the point, though because right now nothing has happened.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[Grunff]

Oh I got it - it just took me a few reads...

[Andy Wade]

Oh dear. Not so much stony ground as receiver completely off-tune. I think I just failed the Turing test :-(. Blame it all on useless energy.

[Andy Hall]

Not been listening to Welsh again have you ? ;-)

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[Owain]

"MM" wrote | >Nothing yet. The buyer is paying. It may even be a ruse by | >the surveyor to put more cost into his job at the expense | >of the buyer. | But the asbestos survey is being carried out by a separate company.

Who couldn't possibly be passing bungs to surveyors who manage to get them work ... An inspection is probably worth a bottle of malt, a full removal contract a case.

Owain

[Jonathan Pearson]

SNIP

Actually getting slightly O/T but I'd treat anything official from the HM Government with scepticism, as there is an interesting story currently breaking with regard to our HM Government and 63,000 secret files exposed to asbestos have been put out of range of the Freedom of Information Act until they can be decontaminated. These are reported to contain the official account of the sinking of the Belgrano, and possibly whether files could unravel any more details of the shooting of IRA terrorists by the SAS in Gibraltar in 1988 - more info at

- I wonder if these files were simply stored in a room which had pipes lagged in asbestos, and now 'conveniently' have to be destroyed due to health and safety regulations.

Jon

[EricP]

My house dealing was coloured by the sale of my first house.

I bought in Ipswich in 1974 for 9,950 and sold three years later. I asked 11,950 and got a buyer in short order. Their surveyor invented "subsidence", and they put in an offer of 11,250.

As I had moved out and was paying for a bridge loan, I instructed my surveyor/agent to start a contract race. He said he would not normally get involved in that, but as I had been messed about, he would comply.

Three bodies took the bait and I ended up with 12,950 for the place. If the first arse had paid what I was asking, he would have been well in himself. He was just being clever.

I sincerely wish you every luck in this matter.

PS My Ipswich house would now cost me about 200,000, so the whole business is a bit pointless anyway. I feel for starters trying to get a home.

[MM]

No idea *how* the surveyor arrived at this conclusion. Vendors don't get to see buyers' survey reports, do they? I tried to get my estate agent call me back once I had mulled over the information, but of course he hasn't! (But I shall ring them tomorrow morning to ask again.)

I think it can only be the asbestos roof on the shed. The surveyor (the building society one) was here for about 20 minutes and gave no indication that there were any problems.

Perhaps it's the building society just being careful that they would not have to spend thousands clearing out asbestos contamination if they ever had to repossess the house. The surveyor wrote "asbestos on shed" and that was the trigger that set warning bells ringing. I shall know more on Wednesday when the specialist firm is coming to check.

MM

[Conrad Edwards]

The word 'traces' might really show you that the surveyor is covering his arse. Recommending a thorough asbestos survey is again covering his arse. I just pity the buyers when they get hit for an extra £££ for a report that just says 'leave it alone or remove it properly'.