Refurbishment & demolition asbestos survey
Before you renovate or demolish, a refurbishment and demolition survey finds the asbestos that building work would otherwise disturb. It is a fully intrusive survey: we open up the areas the work will touch, so anything hidden is located and dealt with before tools go in. Samples confirmed by a UKAS-accredited laboratory.
A refurbishment and demolition survey is the survey you need before any building work: it is fully intrusive, locating asbestos in the areas the work will disturb so it can be removed or made safe before anyone starts. Unlike a management survey, which covers a building in normal use, this one deliberately opens up the fabric — behind walls, above ceilings, under floors — exactly where the work is going.
It exists to stop the most dangerous scenario in this trade: a builder unknowingly cutting, drilling, or breaking into hidden asbestos. Getting the survey done first means the asbestos is found and handled on your terms, not discovered halfway through a job. It is one of four services in our surveys and testing range.
What a refurbishment & demolition survey covers
- A fully intrusive inspection of the areas your work will affect
- Opening up the fabric: behind walls and panels, above ceilings, under floors, into voids
- Sampling of suspect materials, confirmed by a UKAS-accredited laboratory
- A report locating every asbestos material in the work area, for your contractor to work to
- A clear path to removal of anything found, before the build begins
This survey is intrusive by design, because the work will be too. For a building simply in use, the non-intrusive management survey is the right one.
How the survey works
Define the scope
We pin down exactly what your project will touch, so the survey covers every area the work will disturb, and nothing is missed.
Intrusive inspection
We open up the work areas — behind, above, and below — to reach materials a visual survey would never see, sampling as we go.
UKAS-accredited analysis
Samples go to a UKAS-accredited laboratory, which confirms whether asbestos is present and which type.
Report before works
You receive a report locating everything found, so removal can be arranged and your contractor can start safely.
The kitchen extension that stopped the day before the groundworks
A homeowner in Deptford was extending into the side return. The builder had quoted, the skip was booked, and the start date was the following morning. The homeowner called us that afternoon because a neighbour had mentioned the old lean-to roof might be asbestos. It was. The single-skin corrugated roof over the side return was asbestos cement, and the builder had been planning to take it off with an angle grinder.
We carried out a refurbishment survey of the entire work area the same day. The roof was confirmed asbestos cement — non-licensed, removable by us. But the survey also found something the builder would have hit on day two: a section of asbestos-cement board used as a fire break between the lean-to and the main house wall, hidden behind a timber batten. It was in good condition but would have been cut through when the new steel lintel was installed.
We removed both materials before the build started. The builder got a clean work area and a copy of our clearance certificate. The extension finished on schedule. Without the survey, the builder would have cut into the fire break on day two without knowing what it was. The survey cost less than one day of the builder's time.
Why a refurbishment survey from Diamond
The point of this survey is to make a building project safe and predictable. A report that is vague or incomplete defeats it, because anything missed is something a builder might cut into. Because we also remove asbestos, our surveys are written by people who know exactly what a contractor needs to see.
- UKAS-accredited analysis.
Every sample is confirmed by a UKAS-accredited laboratory, so the report your build relies on rests on evidence.
- Thorough where it counts.
We open up the areas the work will reach rather than glancing over the surface, because hidden asbestos is exactly what this survey exists to find.
- Straight into removal.
If the survey finds non-licensed materials, we can remove them ourselves and tell you plainly when something needs a licensed contractor, so your project keeps moving.
Get the survey done before anything is opened up, not after. Finding asbestos mid-build means a stopped job, a contaminated site, and a bigger bill — all of which this survey is designed to prevent.
What affects the price
We quote each survey to the project rather than a flat rate. The main factors:
Is this the survey you need?
Choose this one if you are renovating, refurbishing, or demolishing. If the building is simply in use, the non-intrusive management survey is right; if you only need a single material checked, testing and sampling may be enough. See all options on the surveys and testing hub. Whatever the survey finds, we can carry out the non-licensed removal ourselves.
Refurbishment surveys, answered
When do I need a refurbishment & demolition survey?
How intrusive is it?
Will it damage my property?
How is it different from a management survey?
Can you remove what the survey finds?
Book a refurbishment & demolition survey
Tell us about the project and what it will touch, and we will arrange the survey and a quote, with UKAS-accredited analysis and a report your contractor can work to safely.