Asbestos in a block of flats: who holds the duty to manage in the common parts, what the register covers, and why a managing agent cannot take it on

A resident director of a residents' management company opens a letter from a contractor who is about to work in the plant room and asks whether the building has an asbestos register. Nobody knows. The block was built before 2000, the managing agent says it is the company's responsibility, and the company thinks it is the agent's. Both are partly right, and the law is specific about which part is whose.

Does the duty reach a block of flats?

Yes, for the common parts. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says the duty to manage asbestos covers non-domestic premises and the common parts of domestic ones. Its page lists the common parts as "foyers and corridors, lifts and lift-shafts, staircases, roof spaces, gardens and yards, outhouses and garages". It does not extend to the inside of an individual flat, which belongs to the leaseholder.

The HSE's wording on who holds it is: "In common parts of domestic premises, the person responsible for those areas, such as the landlord of rented accommodation, is responsible for managing asbestos." In a leasehold block the dutyholder is usually the freeholder or the RMC, whichever the leases make responsible for maintenance and repair of those areas. Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 says that where there is more than one dutyholder, the weight each carries follows the nature and extent of their maintenance and repair obligation.

The managing agent cannot take the duty on

The HSE page is clear: "the legal obligation to comply with duty to manage regulation cannot be passed to a managing agent." An agent can be instructed to carry out the work, commission the survey and keep the register. The legal duty stays with the owner. An RMC director who signs the management agreement and assumes the problem has gone away has not moved it.

What the duty requires

Regulation 4 asks the dutyholder to:

1. ensure a suitable and sufficient assessment is made of whether asbestos is or is liable to be present, taking reasonable steps, considering building plans and the age of the premises, and inspecting reasonably accessible areas;
2. where asbestos is found, make a written plan identifying the affected areas and the measures to manage the risk, including monitoring, maintenance or removal, and passing information to the people who need it;
3. review the assessment and plan regularly and without delay if circumstances change or their validity is questioned;
4. make sure the plan's measures are carried out and that what was done is recorded.

The regulation also makes everyone else cooperate with the dutyholder, which is the hook for asking leaseholders to give access to a flat when a pipe boxing or a riser runs through it.

The register for a real block

The survey is the first cost, and the size of the building sets how much there is to inspect. Worked for a typical five-storey block:

Each of the 19 gets a condition entry and a risk score, and each should say whether it was sampled or presumed to contain asbestos. A register that lists only the plant room fails the "suitable and sufficient" test even if the plant room entry is excellent.

Contractors and handover

Before any contractor opens up a ceiling, a riser or a boiler flue in the common parts, the register must be in their hands. Regulation 4 asks the plan to cover information to those who might disturb asbestos, so a work order that does not mention the register is a gap in the plan itself. When one agent hands a block to another, the register, the plan and the review record are among the documents to ask for. The handover checklist lists what to request, and the four-question guide to fire and building safety duties shows where asbestos sits among the other duties a block carries. In a higher-risk building the duties set by the Building Safety Act apply as well.

Questions to put to the agent

1. Is there a survey for the common parts, and what date is it?
2. Does it cover every location in the building, including roof space and garages?
3. Who holds the register, and when was the plan last reviewed?
4. How is it passed to a contractor before each job?

Where Overlyft fits

Overlyft can set up an AI assistant for block and property managers that keeps the register date and review date on the diary, attaches the register extract to each contractor work order, and drafts the director's reply to "do we have asbestos?" from the firm's own records, for the property manager to check and send. It does not survey, rate the condition of a material or decide whether an area is safe.

This is general information for England and not legal advice. The duty sits with the owner; take advice on a specific block.