If you are a ‘dutyholder’ of non-domestic premises, you have a legal obligation a) to determine whether asbestos is (or is likely to be) present in your building, and b) to manage any asbestos that is (or is likely to be) present in that building by way of assessing the risk posed by the asbestos and having a plan in place to manage it.

You can be a dutyholder in a range of capacities, for example, owners of vacant buildings, owners who have leased all or a part of their building to tenants, tenants who occupy the whole of a building, tenants who have underlet part of the building, or even licensees of buildings or managing agents who take on repair obligations.  The extent of a dutyholder’s obligations will be dictated by the extent of their duties to maintain and repair the building, so there are often situations where there are more than one dutyholder for the same building.  For example, a building owner may retain a right to come into a building to carry out repairs where a tenant has failed to do so.  The owner’s tenant will have repair obligations of its own in its lease, and may have granted an underlease which contains further repairing obligations for the undertenant.  In such circumstances, all three parties would be dutyholders, and their relative contributions to the surveying and management of any asbestos would be in proportion to the extent of their repair and maintenance liabilities.  All dutyholders must cooperate and work together to comply with asbestos regulations.
 
In working out whether asbestos is present in a building, a dutyholder needs to assume that it is unless there is strong evidence to the contrary, although a substantial survey would only be needed where the risk warrants it.  Some dutyholders of new, smaller premises that have low maintenance requirements may be able to conduct a walk-through inspection, in contrast to older buildings containing insulation or lagging where a thorough survey may be required.  Once the assessment has been carried out, conclusions and any reviews must be recorded. 
 
Penalties for non-compliance with asbestos regulations can be severe, as they are treated as criminal offences under health and safety legislation.  HSE has the power to prosecute both companies and individuals.