Asbestos file: checking that it exists and is up to date

Many boards discover the asbestos file exists on the day a contractor refuses to start without it.

The scenario repeats itself: works are voted, the contractor arrives, asks for the asbestos file for the common areas — and nobody knows where it is, or whether it exists. The project waits, a survey is ordered urgently, the quote grows.

For buildings covered by asbestos regulations, this file is not paperwork: it is the first document any contractor working on common areas will ask for.

What the file must make possible

It gathers the surveys carried out in the common areas, the location of the materials found, their condition, and the periodic assessments done since. A summary sheet must be available to occupants and to contractors working on site.

The point is not administrative. Work carried out without knowing that asbestos-containing materials are present exposes people, and creates liability.

The board's four questions

1. Does the file exist, and where is it kept? "At the manager's office" is not enough: ask to consult it.
2. How old is the last survey, and exactly which areas does it cover?
3. Were materials found and, if so, has a periodic assessment of their condition been carried out at the required intervals?
4. Is the summary sheet available to occupants and contractors?

These obligations depend on the building's construction date and the nature of the premises. If in doubt about what applies to your building, take stock with a professional rather than with a forum.

A missing asbestos file is never discovered at a good time: it is discovered the day before works start.

Before any works on common areas

The habit to build: attach the asbestos file to every quote request concerning common areas. Contractors then price with full knowledge, and differences between quotes reflect comparable work — see requesting quotes from the manager and the comparison grid.

On a facade renovation or a heavy refurbishment it is decisive: see preparing a facade renovation and the energy retrofit. A missing survey discovered mid-project stops everything.

Filing it where it will be found

The asbestos file belongs alongside the surveys and the works history, that is, in the building maintenance log and among the documents every condo board should keep.

With CoproHarmony it stays available to the whole board, with its date and its updates — including after a change of board, when nobody remembers who received it. Create your space for free.

This file belongs to a wider set: survey, works plan and mandatory studies.