Asbestos levels in JPH Buildings

​​​​Request 735007510

1

Has there been an audit carried out by Jersey Property Holdings on the level of Asbestos that exists in properties managed by them? 

2

How many sites are recognised as having asbestos?

3

Can they provide a breakdown between the number of sites in which the level is of little or no risk and those in which the level of risk is such that without its removal the building cannot be safely used?

4

What actions are being undertaken to remove asbestos from the portfolio and over what timeframe? 

Response

1

An inspection is carried out on any properties managed by Jersey Property Holdings (JPH), that were built or renovated prior to 2000, to determine if there is asbestos present.

The Scheduled Public Authority (SPA) are required under law to inspect all buildings annually that are recorded as containing asbestos to determine whether its condition has deteriorated.

2

80 of the sites managed by JPH are recorded as having asbestos. 

It should be noted that due to the age and type of estate managed by JPH the presence of asbestos is inevitable.

3

The SPA systems are not configured in a way to enable the extraction of a report showing the requested information, therefore, to respond to this request would require extraction and manipulation of data to produce new information.  A Scheduled Public Authority is not required to manipulate and create new data sets, Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 therefore applies.   

​4

The SPA actions and time frame are determined, following the inspection, on a case by case from the inspector recommendations.

If any renovation work is due to be carried out on a property then JPH will consider whether the asbestos can be removed.

The statutory and regulatory obligations direct the SPA’s processes and general Health and Safety regulations to ensure that the estate is safe to occupy and operate.  The SPA has an audited and best practice approach to ensuring that works cannot occur without risk mitigation and our contractors all understand asbestos risk.

Article applied 

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a)     it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b)     it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.​​​