Publication of the order regarding asbestos inspection

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Publication of the decree regarding asbestos surveys for certain operations carried out in non-building structures such as civil engineering works, transport infrastructure, or utility networks

Brief background

Following the gradual publication of decrees concerning asbestos survey missions and their implementation procedures in various specific sectors, a final decree was expected.

The decree of June 4, 2024 (Official Journal of June 30, 2024) now regulates the asbestos survey prior to certain operations carried out in non-building structures such as civil engineering works, transport infrastructure, or utility networks.

Survey work is now regulated for the following sectors:

• Buildings;
• Other structures such as land, civil engineering works, and transport infrastructure;
• Railway rolling stock and other transport rolling stock;
• Ships, boats, floating craft, and other floating structures;
• Aircraft;
• Installations, structures, or equipment contributing to the realization or implementation of an activity.

This latest decree is set to come into force on July 1^st , 2026. Only Annexes I and II, relating to the training of survey operators, have been applicable since June 30, 2024.

As a reminder, materials or products likely to contain asbestos are those:

• Whose composition may have included asbestos during certain periods of their manufacture and for which the presence or absence of asbestos has not been proven;
• Containing aggregates likely to contain naturally occurring asbestos.

Objective and scope

First and foremost, the principal, project owner, or owner of unbuilt property must search for, identify, and locate materials and products containing asbestos that are likely to be affected by work and interventions:

1. Involving the removal or encapsulation of asbestos and materials, equipment, machinery, or items containing it, including in cases of demolition;
2. Involving materials, equipment, machinery, or items likely to cause the release of asbestos fibers.

This must be done before any operation involving risks of worker exposure to asbestos.

Examples include wastewater or rainwater drainage networks, electrical grids, gas networks, pipelines, manholes, etc., as well as pedestrian, bicycle, road, rail, port, and airport infrastructure, with the exception of private roads serving built properties (the latter being covered by the NF X 46-020 standard for built properties, made applicable by the decree of July 16, 2019).

Note that an asbestos survey is not required when information recorded in traceability documents or databases provides sufficiently precise details regarding the presence or absence of asbestos in the materials and products likely to be affected by the planned work.

Parties involved in the survey

Article 2 provides a number of definitions, including:

• The principal, which is the natural or legal person who defines and orders work on a civil engineering structure, transport infrastructure, or utility network;
• The survey operator, defined as the natural person who carries out an asbestos survey mission commissioned by the principal.

In the event of an operation involving several sub-sectors of the field of activity (civil engineering structure and/or transport infrastructure and/or utility networks), if the principal commissions several survey operators, they may designate one of them to act as first-level coordinator. This person ensures the consistency of the conclusions drawn from the various asbestos survey missions commissioned by the principal, as well as their consistency with the survey program derived from the planned work program.

When the client's project involves multiple areas of activity (among those listed in the box above), they may appoint a second-level coordinator from among the survey operators selected for each of the relevant areas.

The skills required of the survey operator are specified in the appendix to the order.

The latter must comply with the requirements of standard NF-X 46-102: November 2020 to carry out their assignment.

Note:

Surveys carried out prior to the effective date of this order that comply with the survey methodology of standard NF X 46-102: November 2020 remain valid.

Conversely, surveys carried out prior to the effective date of this order that do not comply with the methodology of standard NF X 46-102: November 2020 must, in the event that new work is scheduled that falls entirely or partially within their scope of investigation, be subject to evaluation by a survey operator and, if necessary, additional investigations by such an operator.

The assignment

The client must provide the survey operator with the resources necessary for the proper execution of their assignment. They must establish a detailed list and schedule of the planned work. They must also provide the survey operator with any plans and bibliographic data in their possession.

The survey operator must then analyze the data provided and establish the scope and program of intervention. They shall then take all necessary measures to ensure the survey is carried out, in particular by establishing their sampling and analysis ordering strategy with complete independence and impartiality.

When it is necessary during the survey assignment to take one or more samples for analysis to determine the presence or absence of asbestos, an appropriately accredited laboratory must be used.

The survey operator may begin their assignment after having ensured:

• The removal or relocation of items in the parts of the civil engineering structure, transport infrastructure, or utility network affected by the planned operation, so that all components covered by the survey assignment program and present within the scope of said assignment can be made accessible and to prevent the contamination of such items by asbestos fibers;
• Evacuation of personnel from the civil engineering structure, transport infrastructure, or utility network. However, investigations that do not generate fiber emissions may be initiated prior to evacuation.

Once the survey is complete, a report is prepared for each structure. This is submitted to the client, who must then update the traceability file for the non-built structure.

Note:

When certain parts of the structure, infrastructure, or network that may be affected by the planned operation are not technically accessible, the operator must explain in their report the reasons why they were unable to conduct the asbestos survey on those parts of the structure and detail the additional investigations that remain to be carried out between the various stages of the planned operation.

Work may then begin only on the investigated areas. Additional investigations must be conducted as the scheduled work progresses, covering any materials and products likely to contain asbestos present within the remaining work area.

When the survey work could not be carried out for one of the reasons strictly listed in the Labor Code^* or due to a technical impossibility to perform the investigations, collective and individual worker protection must be ensured as if the presence of asbestos were confirmed.

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^{* These cases are set out in Article R. 4412-97-3 of the Labor Code:}

• ^{Emergency situations related to a disaster presenting a serious risk to public safety or health, environmental protection, or people and property;}
• ^{When the survey operator deems that the task would expose them to an excessive risk to their safety or health due to the technical conditions or circumstances under which it would have to be performed;}
• ^{When the operation is intended for repair or corrective maintenance and involves both interventions on materials, equipment, or items likely to cause the emission of asbestos fibers and a first-level dust exposure level, meaning a value of less than 100 fibers per liter.}

Photo credit: 487330217 @Francesco Scatena