Hidden Time Bomb: Asbestos Still Lurking in 78% of UK Buildings. Audit Exposes Ground-Shifting Risk.

10 November 2025

Despite being banned in the UK since 1999, asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) remain deeply embedded in the built environment. A new audit shows that the current policy of in situ management leaving asbestos where it is provided it’s undamaged and undisturbed under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 is proving inadequate to protect health and safety.

Key Findings

The latest audit by National Organisation of Asbestos Consultants (NORAC) and Asbestos Testing & Consultancy Association (ATaC) examined 128,761 buildings over six months
78 % of those inspected buildings were found to contain ACMs
Of the 710,433 identified asbestos-items, 71 % were recorded as damaged (i.e., not in the “undisturbed/undamaged” state assumed by current regulation)
Alarmingly, 30 % of the items were categorised as the highest-risk, requiring immediate removal

Why the Current Policy Falters

The logic underpinning the regulations states: if ACMs are undamaged and remain undisturbed, the risk of harmful fibre release is low. In practice however:

Many ACMs long exceed their designed lifespan and degrade over time
Routine building use, refurbishment, maintenance works, and even benign disturbances undermine the “undisturbed” assumption
Survey data now show that the majority of ACMs are already damaged, nullifying the premise of safe management under the current approach
Without proactive removal, the ‘watch and manage’ policy allows risk to accumulate.

Implications for Duty-Holders

Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, building owners, managers and duty-holders must manage the risk from ACMs, keep registers, assess condition, and prevent exposure. But the audit suggests that:

Registers may be out-of-date or incomplete
Condition assessments and re-inspections are inadequate
Damaged materials are left in place beyond safe limits
The “duty to manage” is relying on assumptions that no longer hold true for significant portions of the building stock.

What This Means for the Industry (and for ICE Asbestos)

For organisations such as ICE Asbestos, this audit is a clarion call:

There is a need to shift from passive management to proactive risk elimination (or at least risk reduction) strategies
Survey, monitoring, encapsulation, removal and remediation services are now more critical than ever
Clients (public sector, commercial, residential portfolios) will increasingly demand clear evidence of ACM condition, and may expect removal of highest-risk items rather than just monitoring
Communication and training for duty-holders must emphasise that undisturbed ≠ safe when materials are beyond life-expectancy or already damaged
Regulatory scrutiny may intensify. If 30 % of items are already high risk, enforcement action risks rising

Recommended Steps for Immediate Action

Audit your portfolio – Review building registers and survey data to identify ACMs, their condition rating, age, and risk category
Prioritise removal – Items identified as highest risk (damaged, friable, likely to be disturbed) should be earmarked for immediate removal rather than just monitoring
Enhance monitoring – For those items retained in place, set stricter criteria for condition checks, disturbance risk, and remedial action
Improve records & communication – Ensure duty-holders, contractors and maintenance teams have up-to-date asbestos registers and understand the implications of working near ACMs
Revisit your liability & strategy – Given the state of existing ACMs, consider whether the in situ policy remains tenable for your properties; develop a removal-plan or staged programme
Engage clients & stakeholders – Use the audit data to inform landlords, tenants, facility managers and board-level decision-makers about the risk and required investment

Conclusion

The audit by NORAC and ATaC lays bare a stark reality: the UK’s asbestos problem is far from legacy-locked. With over three quarters of buildings still containing ACMs, and the vast majority of those materials already damaged, the prevailing policy of “leave it in place if undisturbed” cannot credibly safeguard health. For ICE Asbestos and the wider sector, the moment has arrived to shift from passive compliance to active risk management and remediation.

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