Buyer asking for asbestos survey in 1960’s maisonette

Blueberries

Hello,
Asking for advice on what an asbestos survey entails please? Will there be any drillings, damage to my ceilings?

My buyer is asking for an asbestos survey to be carried out inside my 1964 maisonette. To me it would be quite obvious that it does indeed contain asbestos due to the date. 

I do not want damage to my property only  to see her pulling out for what will already be an obvious result. 

grumpy_codger

AFAIK, the main concerns are Artex (if any) and various heat insulation (mainly in the loft), so it can't be very disruptive.
Also, there were some kitchen floor tiles.

Blueberries

grumpy_codger said:

AFAIK, the main concerns are Artex (if any) and various heat insulation (mainly in the loft), so it can't be very disruptive.
Also, there were some floor tiles, but they are unlikely to be found in a mmisonette.

Thank you! That’s very helpful. Yes we have artex ceilings in 2 bedrooms, we are on the first floor and there is no tiling.

LoopyLoops

We have just bought our house which has textured ceilings (all rooms).  We did the testing ourselves and you can’t see where the samples were taken from.  Husband painted over to ensure it blended back in.  The testing we did you take 3 samples from each room you want to test (we tested 3 of our rooms).

If you agree then I would stipulate they leave no evidence of the testing and get it in writing they will repair any areas tested.  

Section62

Blueberries said:

grumpy_codger said:

AFAIK, the main concerns are Artex (if any) and various heat insulation (mainly in the loft), so it can't be very disruptive.
Also, there were some floor tiles, but they are unlikely to be found in a mmisonette.

Thank you! That’s very helpful. Yes we have artex ceilings in 2 bedrooms, we are on the first floor and there is no tiling.

Depends on the kind of survey they want.

An "asbestos survey" may mean a survey of the whole house/building to identify any asbestos-containing products.  This could be more disruptive as the surveyor may want access behind panels, under carpets/laminate etc.

"Asbestos testing" is less disruptive as it typically involves just taking small samples of already visible materials suspected of being asbestos-containing.

collecting and testing of samples of artex from one or more ceilings could be called an "asbestos survey", but if you are concerned then make sure the scope of the survey/testing is clear and agreed.

Bookworm225

if your enquirer is asking for something you do not want to happen then tell them to go forth and hope to replace them with an enquirer you are more comfortable in dealing with 

Blueberries

LoopyLoops said:

We have just bought our house which has textured ceilings (all rooms).  We did the testing ourselves and you can’t see where the samples were taken from.  Husband painted over to ensure it blended back in.  The testing we did you take 3 samples from each room you want to test (we tested 3 of our rooms).

If you agree then I would stipulate they leave no evidence of the testing and get it in writing they will repair any areas tested.  

Thanks, that’s good to know. It really is annoying that she is asking about this one week before exchange, and will make a decision based on the report. She is a FTB and I’m very tempted to pull out

anselld

Blueberries said:

LoopyLoops said:

We have just bought our house which has textured ceilings (all rooms).  We did the testing ourselves and you can’t see where the samples were taken from.  Husband painted over to ensure it blended back in.  The testing we did you take 3 samples from each room you want to test (we tested 3 of our rooms).

If you agree then I would stipulate they leave no evidence of the testing and get it in writing they will repair any areas tested.  

Thanks, that’s good to know. It really is annoying that she is asking about this one week before exchange, and will make a decision based on the report. She is a FTB and I’m very tempted to pull out

There is no such thing as "one week before exchange".  Exchange is whenever everyone in the chain is ready which you cannot possibly predict in advance.

Blueberries

anselld said:

Blueberries said:

LoopyLoops said:

We have just bought our house which has textured ceilings (all rooms).  We did the testing ourselves and you can’t see where the samples were taken from.  Husband painted over to ensure it blended back in.  The testing we did you take 3 samples from each room you want to test (we tested 3 of our rooms).

If you agree then I would stipulate they leave no evidence of the testing and get it in writing they will repair any areas tested.  

Thanks, that’s good to know. It really is annoying that she is asking about this one week before exchange, and will make a decision based on the report. She is a FTB and I’m very tempted to pull out

There is no such thing as "one week before exchange".  Exchange is whenever everyone in the chain is ready which you cannot possible predict in advance.

All enquiries have been answered and my solicitor advised me that we were looking at the second week of June to exchange 

m0bov

They can do testing after completion 

HampshireH

I'd probably say it's presumed to be asbestos and if they want to confirm it isn't after purchase then they can do 

Are they seriously going to walk away if you've already told them it's most likely and they just don't have a survey to confirm it ?