While it's not strictly required to be UKAS accredited when undertaking asbestos surveys, it's still important to follow the relevant standards and best practice.

Here are some general pointers to make sure you're following the right standards outlined by the Health and Safety Executive Agency.

• HSG264 and HSG248 standards
  Both of these standards are free to download from the HSE website. For surveying, HSG264 Asbestos: The Survey Guide is the main standard, but you should also check out HSG248 Asbestos: The Analysts Guide too, which gives extra detail on areas such as sampling methods, etc.
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• Don't reinvent the wheel. Use a "proven" template that already follows the standards
  Rather than creating a report template from scratch which may or may not be compliant, use a report template that has already passed muster with UKAS for another company. Your asbestos reporting software should have a default template you can use. Here's ours
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• Calculate risk scores for material and priority assessments
  Use the material and priority assessment algorithms outlined in the HSG 264 standard to calculate risk scores for suspected ACM's. You don't want to calculate risk scores manually, as you could easily make a mistake. Your asbestos reporting software should automatically calculate these scores for you.
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• Stay up-to-date with regulations by joining membership groups
  To stay abreast of industry changes, you can join groups such as the Asbestos Network Group or join a committee such as FAAM or NORAC. Company membership groups like ATAC/ARCA and ACAD are another source of helpful information. UKAS also issues technical bulletins for new guidance.

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