The duty to manage is the spine of asbestos law in ordinary buildings. It falls on whoever is responsible for the maintenance and repair of non-domestic premises, and it requires them to find out whether asbestos is present, record where it is and what condition it is in, assess the risk, make a plan, act on the plan, and tell anyone who might disturb it. It is a duty to manage rather than a duty to remove, and that distinction is the whole point of it.
Who it falls on
The person with responsibility for the maintenance and repair of the premises. Where a lease says who repairs, the lease decides. Where a lease is silent or there is no lease, it follows whoever is in control of the premises. In multi-occupied buildings there are frequently several duty holders at once, and they are required to cooperate rather than to argue about who holds the register.
What it requires
Find out whether asbestos is present and in what condition, presume it is present where you cannot be sure, keep an up to date record, assess the risk, prepare a plan for managing it, put that plan into action, review it, and provide the information to anyone liable to disturb the material. Each of those is a separate step and each of them is a place the duty is commonly dropped.
When it was introduced
The explicit duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises was introduced by the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002, coming into force for the duty to manage in May 2004, and it is now regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. The underlying obligations to control exposure are older, running back through the 1987 and 1969 regulations and the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Manage rather than remove
Asbestos in good condition and unlikely to be disturbed is safer left in place, recorded and monitored, than removed. Removal is itself a disturbance and it is the moment fibres are most likely to be released. The duty is written that way deliberately, and a management plan that proposes removing everything has usually not done the risk assessment.
Questions people ask about duty to manage asbestos
Does the duty apply to my house?
Not to a private domestic dwelling. It applies to non-domestic premises, and to the common parts of domestic blocks such as stairwells, plant rooms and shared roof spaces.
What if I do not know whether there is asbestos?
You must presume it is present in a building of the relevant age unless there is strong evidence otherwise, and manage it on that basis until it is identified.
Can the duty be passed to a contractor?
A managing agent can hold the register and run the plan, and that is normal. The legal duty stays with the person the premises put it on; it can be delegated in practice but not disowned.