The Asbestosis Treatment Market and What It Means for Asbestos Surveying in the UK
Every year, thousands of people in the UK are diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases — and the asbestosis treatment market is growing as a direct consequence. Behind every patient receiving treatment is a building that was never properly surveyed, a hidden fibre that was never identified, and a risk that was never managed.
That connection between clinical outcomes and built environment safety is exactly why the surveying industry is under increasing pressure to evolve. This post explores the relationship between the expanding asbestosis treatment market, the global demand for asbestos surveying, and what it all means for property owners, managers, and duty holders in the UK right now.
What Is the Asbestosis Treatment Market and Why Is It Expanding?
Asbestosis is a chronic lung disease caused by prolonged inhalation of asbestos fibres. There is no cure — treatment focuses on managing symptoms, slowing progression, and improving quality of life.
As more cases are diagnosed globally, the market for these treatments — including oxygen therapy, pulmonary rehabilitation, and emerging pharmaceutical interventions — continues to grow. The UK alone records thousands of deaths annually from asbestos-related diseases including mesothelioma, asbestosis, and asbestos-related lung cancer.
The HSE consistently identifies asbestos as the single greatest cause of work-related deaths in the country. With a latency period of 20 to 60 years between exposure and diagnosis, the full consequences of historic asbestos use are still unfolding.
The growth of the asbestosis treatment market is, in plain terms, a measure of past failure — failure to identify asbestos, failure to manage it properly, and failure to protect workers and building occupants. That is the context in which the surveying industry must now operate.
The Scale of Asbestos in UK Buildings
Asbestos was widely used in UK construction from the 1950s through to its full ban in 1999. The result is a vast legacy of contaminated buildings — estimates suggest up to 1.5 million UK structures may still contain some form of asbestos-containing material (ACM).
These are not just derelict factories or abandoned industrial sites. Schools, hospitals, offices, residential blocks, and public buildings all fall within this category — many of them still in daily use.
Where Asbestos Hides in Older Structures
Asbestos was used in a remarkable range of building materials, which makes identification genuinely difficult without professional assessment. Common locations include:
- Ceiling tiles and floor tiles
- Pipe lagging and boiler insulation
- Roof sheeting and guttering
- Textured coatings such as Artex
- Partition walls and fire doors
- Insulating board panels
Asbestos that remains intact and undisturbed presents a lower immediate risk. However, the moment it is disturbed — through drilling, cutting, renovation, or demolition — fibres are released into the air and become a serious inhalation hazard.
The Challenge of Hidden Asbestos
Surveyors frequently encounter asbestos that has been concealed behind walls, beneath flooring, or within ceiling voids. In older buildings, particularly those that have undergone multiple refurbishments, materials may have been covered over rather than removed.
This makes thorough asbestos testing by qualified professionals essential before any intrusive work begins. The HSE’s guidance document HSG264 sets out the methodology for asbestos surveys and defines the two main types: management surveys and refurbishment and demolition surveys — each serving a different purpose with different requirements for the surveyor.
How the Asbestosis Treatment Market Drives Demand for Surveying
There is a direct causal chain here that property professionals need to understand. As the asbestosis treatment market expands, so does public and political awareness of the disease.
That awareness translates into regulatory pressure, tighter enforcement, and increased litigation — all of which create stronger incentives for building owners to commission surveys. Insurance underwriters are also paying closer attention. Properties without up-to-date asbestos management plans are increasingly viewed as higher-risk assets, and lenders, buyers, and tenants are asking questions that were rarely raised a decade ago.
The Role of Regulation in Shaping the Market
The Control of Asbestos Regulations places a legal duty on those who manage non-domestic premises to identify asbestos-containing materials, assess their condition, and put a management plan in place. This is not optional guidance — it is a legal obligation with real consequences for non-compliance.
Regulation 10 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations requires that anyone liable to disturb asbestos during their work receives adequate information, instruction, and training. This applies to maintenance workers, contractors, and anyone carrying out building work — not just specialist asbestos operatives.
As enforcement activity increases and awareness grows, more duty holders are recognising that compliance is a genuine risk management tool that protects both people and assets. For buildings that are routinely occupied and managed, an management survey is typically the starting point for meeting these obligations. For buildings approaching refurbishment or demolition, a more intrusive approach is required — specifically a demolition survey carried out by qualified professionals.
Technological Advances Reshaping the Surveying Industry
The asbestosis treatment market is not the only area seeing rapid development. The tools and techniques available to asbestos surveyors have advanced considerably, and this is changing what a professional survey looks like in practice.
AI-Assisted Detection and Digital Survey Tools
Artificial intelligence is beginning to play a role in asbestos surveying, particularly in processing large volumes of data from complex sites. AI-assisted tools can help identify patterns, flag high-risk areas, and support more consistent reporting across large portfolios of buildings.
Drones equipped with high-resolution cameras are being deployed on large industrial sites and buildings with difficult-to-access roofing or facades. Rather than sending a surveyor onto a fragile asbestos cement roof — itself a hazardous task — a drone can capture detailed imagery for initial assessment.
Infrared imaging allows surveyors to detect temperature differentials within building structures, which can indicate the presence of certain insulating materials. While not a definitive identification method on its own, it adds a useful layer to the inspection process.
Improved Sampling and Laboratory Analysis
Laboratory techniques for analysing bulk samples have also improved significantly. Polarised light microscopy (PLM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) provide increasingly precise identification of fibre types, which matters when distinguishing between different asbestos minerals — chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite — each carrying different risk profiles.
For those requiring a fast turnaround, professional asbestos testing services now offer rapid analysis options that do not compromise on accuracy. This is particularly valuable when renovation programmes are running to tight schedules.
Regional Differences in Asbestos Legislation
The UK operates under a clear and well-established regulatory framework, but globally the picture is far more fragmented. Several countries banned asbestos decades ago — Iceland in 1983, Norway in 1984, Denmark and Sweden in 1986, and the European Union in 1999. Australia followed in 2003, Japan in 2004, South Africa in 2008, and Canada in 2018.
The United States operates under a partial ban, while Russia remains a significant producer and exporter with no ban in place. This patchwork of legislation creates very different risk environments across different markets.
For UK-based businesses with international property portfolios, or for companies operating in countries with weaker regulatory frameworks, the variation in standards creates both risk and opportunity. Firms with strong asbestos management expertise are well placed to support international clients navigating these differences.
The Growing Demand for Skilled Asbestos Professionals
One of the most significant challenges facing the asbestos surveying industry is the availability of qualified professionals. As demand increases — driven by renovation activity, regulatory compliance, and the growing awareness linked to the asbestosis treatment market — the supply of competent surveyors has not kept pace.
Training and Certification Requirements
Asbestos surveyors in the UK are expected to hold recognised qualifications, typically through bodies such as the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) or the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). The P402 qualification — Building Surveys and Bulk Sampling for Asbestos — remains the benchmark for those carrying out asbestos surveys.
Certification schemes ensure that surveyors understand not just the technical aspects of asbestos identification, but also the legal framework, risk assessment methodology, and reporting requirements set out in HSG264. Ongoing professional development is essential as regulations evolve and new technologies emerge.
The Demand for Specialist Asbestos Consultants
Beyond the surveyor on the ground, there is growing demand for specialist consultants who can support organisations in developing and maintaining asbestos management plans, advising on complex refurbishment projects, and providing expert input in legal or insurance contexts.
Building managers, facilities teams, and property developers increasingly rely on consultants who can translate technical survey findings into practical management decisions. This advisory role is becoming as important as the survey itself.
Economic Implications for the Surveying Industry
The growth of the asbestosis treatment market and the increasing regulatory burden on building owners have clear economic consequences for the surveying industry — some positive, some challenging.
Rising Service Costs
Investment in advanced technology — drones, AI platforms, improved laboratory analysis — adds cost to survey projects. These are not unnecessary expenses; they deliver more accurate results and reduce risk. But they do mean that the cost of a professional asbestos survey has increased compared to a decade ago.
For large-scale projects, such as the refurbishment of a major industrial facility, asbestos removal and management costs can run into hundreds of thousands of pounds. This underlines why early identification through proper surveying is always more cost-effective than reactive remediation.
Opportunities in Emerging and Developing Markets
As countries with younger regulatory frameworks begin to tighten their asbestos legislation, there is growing international demand for the kind of expertise that UK-based surveying firms have developed over decades. Markets in Asia, Africa, and South America are at earlier stages of the regulatory journey that the UK completed in the late 1990s.
UK firms with strong technical capabilities and robust quality management systems are well positioned to support this international demand, whether through direct service provision or through training and knowledge transfer.
Compliance Costs for Building Owners
For duty holders, the cost of maintaining compliance with the Control of Asbestos Regulations is a genuine business consideration. Legal liabilities from asbestos-related claims, environmental remediation costs, and the reputational damage of non-compliance all create financial pressure.
The most effective way to manage these costs is through proactive asbestos management — commissioning surveys, maintaining accurate records, and ensuring that anyone working in or on affected buildings has access to relevant asbestos information before they begin work.
What This Means for Property Owners and Duty Holders Right Now
The expansion of the asbestosis treatment market is a signal that the consequences of past asbestos exposure continue to unfold — and that the window for proactive management in existing buildings is not unlimited. Renovation cycles, changing occupancy patterns, and increasing enforcement all mean that duty holders who have not yet commissioned a survey are taking on growing risk.
Across the UK, demand for professional asbestos surveys is rising in every major city. Whether you manage a commercial property in the capital or a portfolio of industrial units in the North West, the obligation and the risk are the same. Our teams carry out asbestos survey London projects, asbestos survey Manchester projects, and asbestos survey Birmingham projects — as well as nationwide coverage for multi-site clients.
The practical steps for any duty holder are straightforward:
- Establish whether your building was constructed or refurbished before 2000
- Commission a management survey if one has not been carried out, or if your existing survey is out of date
- Ensure your asbestos management plan is current and accessible to anyone working on the premises
- Before any refurbishment or demolition work, commission a refurbishment and demolition survey
- Ensure all contractors are briefed on known or suspected ACMs before they begin work
None of this is complicated in principle. The challenge is ensuring it is done properly, by qualified professionals working to HSG264 standards — because a survey that misses materials is worse than no survey at all. It creates a false sense of security that can have fatal consequences.
How Supernova Asbestos Surveys Can Help
At Supernova Asbestos Surveys, we have completed over 50,000 surveys nationwide. Our qualified surveyors work across all property types — commercial, industrial, residential, and public sector — delivering thorough, HSG264-compliant reports that give duty holders the information they need to manage risk effectively.
Whether you need a management survey for an occupied building, a refurbishment and demolition survey ahead of planned works, or rapid asbestos testing to support an active construction programme, our team is ready to help.
Call us on 020 4586 0680 or visit asbestos-surveys.org.uk to discuss your requirements and arrange a survey at your property.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the asbestosis treatment market?
The asbestosis treatment market refers to the global healthcare sector focused on managing and treating asbestosis — a chronic lung disease caused by inhaling asbestos fibres. Because there is no cure, treatment centres on symptom management through approaches such as oxygen therapy, pulmonary rehabilitation, and emerging drug therapies. The market is expanding as diagnosis rates rise, reflecting the long latency period between asbestos exposure and disease onset.
Why does the asbestosis treatment market matter to building owners in the UK?
The growth of the asbestosis treatment market is a direct indicator that asbestos exposure continues to cause serious harm. For building owners and duty holders, this translates into increased regulatory scrutiny, greater enforcement activity, and heightened legal liability. Buildings that have not been properly surveyed and managed represent a genuine risk — both to occupants and to the duty holder responsible for their safety.
What types of asbestos survey are required under UK law?
The Control of Asbestos Regulations and HSG264 identify two main survey types. A management survey is required for buildings in normal occupation and use — it locates and assesses the condition of ACMs that could be disturbed during routine maintenance. A refurbishment and demolition survey is required before any work that will disturb the building fabric, including renovation, structural alteration, or demolition. Both must be carried out by competent, qualified surveyors.
How often should an asbestos management plan be reviewed?
There is no single fixed interval prescribed by regulation, but HSE guidance is clear that asbestos management plans should be reviewed regularly — typically at least annually — and whenever there is a change in the condition of known ACMs, a change in building use, or planned works that could disturb asbestos-containing materials. An outdated plan that does not reflect the current state of a building provides inadequate protection and may not satisfy a duty holder’s legal obligations.
Can asbestos surveying protect against legal liability?
A properly conducted and documented asbestos survey is one of the most effective tools a duty holder has for demonstrating compliance with the Control of Asbestos Regulations. In the event of an HSE investigation or a civil claim, evidence of a current, HSG264-compliant survey and a maintained management plan demonstrates that the duty holder took reasonable steps to identify and manage risk. Conversely, the absence of a survey — or reliance on an outdated one — significantly increases exposure to prosecution and civil liability.