Refurb Projects - November 2018

EDUCATION INFRASTRUCTURE
There are few more emotive
issues in the public buildings
sector than asbestos.
Asbestos-Containing Materials
(ACMs) are still highly prevalent in
thousands of buildings throughout
our society, including schools and
universities. However, with a huge
amount of regeneration happening
across the education sector, Darren
Payne, Client Services Director at
leading asbestos removal, demolition
and remediation specialist Rhodar,
explains why asbestos in education
facilities should be spoken about
more openly and treated as a
problem to be solved, not
stigmatised.
Campus environments present
unique challenges when it comes to
the safe removal or encapsulation of
asbestos, not least in the diversity of
their buildings, from Victorian-era
constructions to CLASP buildings
(Consortium of Local Authorities
Special Programme) and 1960s
concrete structures, many
constructed or refurbished over the
decades using asbestos containing
materials. There’s clearly concern
around asbestos, particularly in ‘live’
environments with high footfall, like
schools, hospitals and universities,
but there doesn’t need to be, if
councils and education authorities
have properly managed their
asbestos containing materials within
their building portfolios, which is
mandatory by law under the duty to
manage asbestos (contained in
regulation 4 of the Control of
Asbestos Regulations 2012*).
GETTING IT RIGHT
Even allowing for this mandatory
duty, many in the education sector
still don’t have a compliant and
robust asbestos management plan
and often choose to undertake
localised refurbishment or
maintenance projects without
undertaking the proper invasive
checks or surveys (helpful guidance
can be found in ‘HSG264 - Asbestos:
The survey guide’** from the Health
and Safety Executive (HSE)) by
qualified, competent and ideally
UKAS-accredited asbestos
consultants. This has caused an
increasing and often publicised
problem of work being undertaken
by unregulated and even uninsured
tradesmen.
Work to remove or encapsulate
ACMs must be carried out by a
competent and vetted asbestos
removal contractor. For most higherrisk
work with asbestos, that
contractor must also have an HSE
licence. Most local authorities have
framework contracts or approved
lists in place with pre-vetted, wellestablished
and qualified asbestos
specialists that schools, whether
under LA control or not, can and
should tap into, and there are other
enabling frameworks in operation
with competent contractors
available to all educational
establishments. Cutting corners or
failing to seek suitably qualified
contractors should never be an
option.
There is much misinformation
around asbestos and kneejerk
reactions to asbestos – “Don’t
mention the ‘A’ word!” – are
common. That’s why it’s important
to engage everyone in the asbestos
discussion within your properties to
ensure a better understanding for
all; ACMs are perfectly fine to leave
in situ if they are in good condition
and managed properly. Interestingly,
the sight of an asbestos specialist’s
vehicle on school grounds can make
people nervous, with parents known
to keep their children off school as a
result. However, it must be stressed
again that schools that do contain
asbestos that is managed properly
are in fact safe environments and
the presence of a competent
asbestos consultant and removal
contractor is actually evidence of
correct procedures and good
practice being carried out. Rhodar
operates clear lines of
communication with schools and
universities to ensure full agreement
of working processes and timescales
so that staff, students and parents
can be kept fully informed.
UNIQUE CHALLENGES
Rhodar has extensive experience of
working within all educational
building types and environments,
including local authority schools,
private schools, academies, colleges
and universities. These are often
complex environments working in
multiple-use buildings and
departments including chemistry
labs, leisure facilities, plant rooms
and high-rise classroom blocks, with
most projects undertaken in
shutdown and holiday periods to
tight deadlines - low-key working
with effective segregation in busy
locations is often essential in termtime,
too.
When seeking an experienced
asbestos removal contractor in
educational estates, there are
specialist frameworks including
university purchasing consortia such
as the NEUPC, NWUPC, SUPC and
LUPC, that will assist estates and
procurement teams if they don’t
already have a formal contracted
specialist in place. Schools are still
high on the agenda for the
government and Rhodar’s experience
and knowledge gained on previous
government backed schemes, such
as Building Schools for the Future
(BSF), PSPB2 schemes and the
academies programme can aid
nominated responsible people in
choosing the right specialist in
schools. Our services are now
becoming increasingly engaged by
contractors involved in the new
ESFA (Education and Skills Funding
Agency) school building programme,
with 400 new schools being built
each year and legacy buildings being
stripped of ACMs and demolished.
EVERY DAY’S A SCHOOL DAY
Due to initiatives like CLASP, which
led to hundreds of asbestoscontaining
‘pre-fabricated’
structures being built between the
1950s and 1980s to address a
schools shortage and increase
capacities in universities in the UK,
there is still a wide range of asbestos
containing material in the UK
education building portfolio. This is
a challenge which can only be fixed
by open and clear communication
and collaboration between the
specialist consultants, contractor, the
institution, local authorities and
parents.
As new schools are built and
universities regenerate, this poses a
significant ongoing challenge for
local authorities, educational
institutions and reputable
contractors to take a more positive
and proactive approach to tackling
asbestos in the right and proper way.
For every new school built there’s
usually an existing structure to deal
with safely, but instead of seeing an
asbestos vehicle as a cause for
alarm, let’s instead see it as a sign of
good practice and proper procedures
to the benefit of all.
www.rhodar.co.uk
www.hse.gov.uk/Asbestos/duty.htm
22 NOVEMBER 2018, REFURBISHMENT PROJECTS