The problem
A fire-stopping contractor opens a riser to seal a penetration and finds lagging or insulating board. Work stops. A licensed removal contractor has to be found, the work notified to the HSE, an enclosure built and the area cleared before fire stopping can resume. The programme slips and the variation is rarely small.
What the law expects
Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, anyone carrying out work that may disturb asbestos must first find out whether it is present. A management survey is not designed for this. Before work that disturbs the fabric, a refurbishment survey of the areas affected is needed, carried out to HSE guidance HSG264.
Licensed asbestos work must be notified to the enforcing authority at least 14 days before it starts.
How to plan it
- Survey the compartmentation and the doors, and in the same visit carry out a targeted refurbishment survey of the voids the works will open.
- Price any removal into the programme from day one, with the 14-day notification built in.
- Sequence removal ahead of fire stopping, floor by floor, so the two never wait for each other.
- Hand over one pack: clearance certificates and the asbestos register update alongside the fire-stopping records.
One team for both
Because we hold a full HSE asbestos licence and BM TRADA Q-Mark certification for fire stopping, the same team surveys, removes, seals and certifies. That removes the hand-off where most programmes lose time.
LE Group technical team · Reviewed November 2026. General guidance only, not legal advice.