New obligation to locate asbestos

Owners or tenants of installations, structures or equipment dating from before 1997 (asbestos ban in France): it is now compulsory to carry out an asbestos survey before any work or intervention.

Please note: for equipment purchased and imported from a country where the asbestos ban is later than the French ban, this pre-construction survey must also be carried out (UK ban in 1999, Spain in 2002; EU ban in 2005).

Although thedecree on asbestos detection in such equipment dates from July 22, 2021, it came into force on July^1, 2023.

Scope and purpose of asbestos detection in equipment

This involves searching for, identifying and locating asbestos-containing materials and products in installations, structures or equipment involved in the performance or implementation of an activity, prior to any operation involving the risk of worker exposure to asbestos.

Examples of equipment that may contain asbestos: furnaces, overhead travelling cranes, tanks or elevators (in elastomer seals, brake linings, foam insulation, etc.).

If asbestos is found to be present in the installation/structure/equipment, specialist companies should be called in to carry out the work or operations:

or a "sub-section 3" company (for the removal or encapsulation of asbestos or asbestos-containing materials);
or a "sub-section 4" company (for work on materials likely to emit asbestos fibers).

Reminder: logigram 2 of DGT note no. 15/79 of March 4, 2015 provides assistance in distinguishing whether operations exposing equipment to asbestos fall within this sub-section 3 or sub-section 4.

Locating methods

A mandatory "NF X 46-100: July 2019" standard

The order of July 22, 2021 requires compliance with standard NF X 46-100: July 2019 "Location of materials and products containing asbestos in installations, structures or equipment contributing to the performance or implementation of an activity - Mission and methodology"; in particular:

Appendix A lists the materials and products that must be searched for as a minimum. The surveyor must also take into account the detailed list and schedule of work drawn up by the client;
§ 4.3.1 and 4.3.2 set out the requirements for the client to ensure that the surveyor has the resources needed to carry out the work properly.

It should be noted that surveys carried out before July^1, 2023 in accordance with this standard are deemed to be surveys under the new regulations. For surveys carried out before July¹ but not complying with this standard, they must, if new work is planned, give rise to an assessment and, if necessary, additional investigations complying with the technical procedures set out in the standard.

Technical specifications

Depending on the purpose of the operation, and particularly in the case of dismantling or rehabilitation, the client must take the necessary steps to ensure that the survey is carried out after :

removal or relocation of elements which may (i) impede access to all components covered by the inspection program and (ii) be contaminated by asbestos fibers;

Note: if it is impossible to access certain parts of the installation/structure/equipment (e.g. due to the absence of an authorized person), the operator must inform the client in writing and ask him to take the necessary steps to rectify the situation. If the situation persists, the inspection operator will draw up a preliminary report specifying the parts not inspected, the reason for this and the investigations still to be carried out.

evacuation of personnel from the facility/structure/equipment (except for research which does not generate fiber emissions).

Please note: the surveyor's judgment can never be used as a criterion for concluding whether asbestos is present or not in a material or product likely to contain it. Thus, if no information is available concerning the materials and products in question, or if there is any doubt as to the quality of the information available, the surveyor must take one or more samples for analysis, in order to be able to conclude on the presence or absence of asbestos in the materials or products likely to contain it.

Locating operator's skills

Asbestos surveyors must be able to provide proof of their asbestos detection skills, acquired through a training organization. Appendix I of the decree sets out the minimum requirements for training organizations, while Appendix II sets out the minimum requirements for surveyors.

Regulations do not prohibit an employee of the client company from acting as a spotting operator, but they do require an organization to be set up to ensure independence and impartiality in the performance of this task.

Documents resulting from the survey

The surveyor must draw up a report for each installation, structure or piece of equipment, to which his insurance certificate is attached. This report (as well as the pre-report in the event of persistent inaccessibility as described above) must comply with Appendix D of standard NF X 46-100: July 2019.

The client retains the report describing the conditions under which the asbestos survey was carried out and its conclusions, and updates the traceability file or database containing the data resulting from the survey in question. The report must be made available at the request of the authorities (labor inspectorate, CARSAT),

If the client is not the owner of the plant/structure/equipment, he is obliged to pass on the documents to the owner.