7 asbestos survey companies for UK businesses in 2026

Start with the UKAS register. HSE strongly recommends using an accredited asbestos surveying organisation, and in Great Britain UKAS is the only accreditation body it recognises for them. Then shortlist by fit. Acorn Analytical Services is an independent surveyor with its own laboratory and no links to removal contractors. Lucion Services surveys from eight accredited locations, one of them in Northern Ireland, and SOCOTEC from four across England, Scotland and Wales. Oracle Solutions, EMS and Clearview Environmental offer asbestos removal as well as surveys, and Asbestos Building Surveys works from East Kilbride. All seven hold UKAS accreditation to ISO/IEC 17020 for management surveys and for refurbishment and demolition surveys, checked on the UKAS register on 26 October 2026.

Opus Safety arranges asbestos surveys for its clients through a surveying firm it contracts, and holds no UKAS accreditation of its own, so it sits outside the numbered list. The section after the list explains where we fit.

What the law asks of you

In Great Britain, regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 requires the dutyholder for non-domestic premises to make sure a suitable and sufficient assessment is carried out of whether asbestos is or is liable to be present. Where asbestos is or is liable to be present, the same regulation requires a written plan setting out how the risk will be managed. HSE's guidance is that a building built or refurbished before 2000 should be assumed to contain asbestos, and that in most cases you will need a management survey by a competent asbestos surveyor.

Building work needs a different survey. HSE's survey guide, HSG264, says a refurbishment and demolition survey is needed before any refurbishment or demolition, covering the area where the work will take place, or the whole building if it is being demolished. It is fully intrusive. For final demolition or major refurbishment, regulation 7 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 requires the employer's plan of work to specify, so far as is reasonably practicable, that asbestos is removed before any other major works begin, unless removal would cause a greater risk to employees than leaving it in place.

For surveyors, accreditation is a recommendation. HSE's page on sourcing asbestos surveyors and analysts says there is no legal requirement for asbestos surveyors to be accredited, that HSE strongly recommends surveyors accredited to ISO/IEC 17020, and that UKAS accreditation is the only kind it recognises in Great Britain. Laboratory analysis carries a legal requirement: regulation 21 of the same Regulations requires an employer who asks someone to analyse a sample for asbestos to make sure that person is accredited by an appropriate body as competent to perform work in compliance with ISO 17025.

Northern Ireland has its own Control of Asbestos Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012.

How this list was put together

Every company below appeared in search results or AI answers for UK asbestos survey companies that we recorded in September and October 2026. Each is a UKAS-accredited inspection body under ISO/IEC 17020 whose schedule of accreditation covers management surveys and refurbishment and demolition surveys, which we read on the UKAS register on 26 October 2026. Each shows on its own website or its UKAS schedule that it surveys commercial premises beyond a single town, and we read every company's website the same day. We left out directories, quote-request sites, and accredited companies whose pages either would not load for us or gave no indication of where in the UK they survey. Other accredited companies appeared in the same results. We stopped at seven, chosen to cover different needs and parts of the country, so a company's absence reflects the length of the list. The numbering carries no ranking.

We wrote this list, and we arrange asbestos surveys ourselves, so read it with that conflict in mind. We did not commission surveys from any of these companies, and we have left out their prices, review scores, client numbers and claims about individual staff qualifications. Accreditation numbers are as the UKAS register showed them on the day. Schedules change, so check the register again before you appoint.

The seven at a glance

Company	Based in	UKAS inspection body	Survey locations on its UKAS schedule	Own UKAS testing laboratory	Asbestos removal
Acorn Analytical Services	Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire	0370	Cleckheaton, Northampton	Yes, 2418	Manages removal projects; states no links to removal contractors
Lucion Services	Gateshead	0263	Eight, including Gateshead, Redhill, Rotherham, Runcorn and Omagh	Yes, 2569	Manages removal projects
SOCOTEC Asbestos	Bretby, Burton upon Trent	0148	Bretby, East Kilbride, Romford, Bridgend	Yes, 1089	Manages removal projects
Oracle Solutions	Kettering, Northamptonshire	4600	Kettering	None listed under its name	Yes
EMS (Environmental Management Solutions)	Hereford	4238	Hereford	Yes, 6604, near Cardiff	Yes
Clearview Environmental	Wigston, Leicester	6536	Wigston	Yes, 6536	Yes
Asbestos Building Surveys	East Kilbride	0298	East Kilbride	None; uses a third-party UKAS-accredited laboratory	Its site lists removal by a separate company

1. Acorn Analytical Services, for an independent surveyor with its own laboratory

Acorn Analytical Services is an asbestos consultancy based in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, with offices in London, Northampton, Stoke-on-Trent and Dumfries. UKAS accredits it as inspection body 0370 for management surveys and refurbishment and demolition surveys of domestic, commercial and industrial premises, and for reinspections, all carried out from Cleckheaton and Northampton. Its laboratory holds its own UKAS accreditation, as testing laboratory 2418, so samples are analysed in house.

Acorn describes itself as an independent and impartial surveyor with no links or affiliations to asbestos removal contractors. Besides surveys and reinspections it offers air testing, asbestos removal management and training, and for a management survey it says the report will often include an asbestos register.

Consider them if you want the company that finds the asbestos to have no stake in removing it.

2. Lucion Services, for large estates and sites in Northern Ireland

Lucion Services, based in Gateshead, is UKAS-accredited both as an inspection body (0263) and as a testing laboratory (2569). Its inspection schedule names eight locations, among them Gateshead, Redhill, Rotherham, Runcorn and Omagh in Northern Ireland, and covers management surveys, refurbishment and demolition surveys, priority assessments and reinspections. HSENI's list of UKAS-accredited asbestos organisations in Northern Ireland includes it.

Alongside surveys, Lucion helps clients develop asbestos management plans and manages removal projects. Its survey reports are available through NexGen, its online asbestos management portal.

Choose them if your estate is large or spread out, Northern Ireland included, and you want every survey in one portal.

3. SOCOTEC Asbestos, for a testing and inspection group across Great Britain

SOCOTEC Asbestos belongs to SOCOTEC, which describes itself as a provider of testing, inspection and compliance services. Its schedule as UKAS inspection body 0148 lists four survey locations, at Bretby near Burton upon Trent, East Kilbride, Romford and Bridgend, for management surveys, refurbishment and demolition surveys and reinspections. A separate UKAS accreditation, testing laboratory 1089, covers its asbestos analysis.

SOCOTEC uses the survey findings to build the asbestos register, and its reinspection surveys update both the register and the management plan.

A good fit if your sites are spread across England, Scotland and Wales and you would like one large testing and inspection group to survey them.

4. Oracle Solutions, for the survey and the removal from one company

Oracle Solutions has its surveying head office in Kettering, Northamptonshire, and offices in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Bristol. On the UKAS register it appears as Oracle Solutions Asbestos, inspection body 4600, accredited for management surveys and refurbishment and demolition surveys from the Kettering address.

Besides surveys and reinspections, Oracle offers asbestos removal, air monitoring, sample testing, management plans and an asbestos data management portal. No UKAS testing laboratory is listed under its name, so ask which laboratory will analyse your samples.

Pick them if you would like the survey and any removal work to come from one company with offices across Great Britain.

5. EMS, for sites near Hereford, Worcester, Cardiff or London

Environmental Management Solutions, which trades as EMS, was established in 2003 and works from offices in Hereford, Worcester, Cardiff and London. Its accreditation as inspection body 4238 covers management surveys, refurbishment and demolition surveys and reinspections from the Hereford head office. Its laboratory near Cardiff is accredited separately, as testing laboratory 6604.

Beyond surveys, EMS prepares asbestos management plans, runs asbestos project management, offers online asbestos management software and training, and carries out asbestos removal.

They suit you if your sites are within reach of its four offices and you want the samples analysed by the same company.

6. Clearview Environmental, for the Midlands

Clearview Environmental, in Wigston, Leicester, is UKAS-accredited as an inspection body and as a testing laboratory under the same number, 6536. Its inspection schedule covers management surveys, refurbishment and demolition surveys and reinspections, carried out from Wigston.

Clearview says it works throughout the Midlands and nationally, with local surveys in Coventry, Leicester, Hinckley and Nuneaton, Loughborough, Nottingham and Northampton. Samples go to its own laboratory, the report records where each asbestos-containing material is and its condition, and it can provide a management plan and carry out removal.

Worth a look if your sites are in the East or West Midlands.

7. Asbestos Building Surveys, for sites in Scotland

Asbestos Building Surveys works from East Kilbride and says it has worked in asbestos compliance and consultancy in Scotland for over 20 years, describing its service as UK wide. The UKAS schedule for inspection body 0298 covers the same three kinds of work, management surveys, refurbishment and demolition surveys and reinspections, carried out from East Kilbride. Its samples are analysed by a third-party UKAS-accredited laboratory.

Its other services include project management for refurbishment and demolition projects, investigation of asbestos in soil, and asbestos training.

Start with them if your premises are in Scotland and you want a Scottish surveying company.

Where Opus Safety fits

Opus Safety is a health and safety consultancy, not an asbestos surveying company, and we hold no UKAS accreditation. When a client needs a management survey, or a refurbishment and demolition survey before building work, we arrange it. A surveying firm we contract carries out the survey, and the samples are analysed by UKAS-accredited laboratories. That firm is UKAS-accredited for asbestos surveys. From the survey we prepare the asbestos register and the written management plan that regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 requires, so you are left with a plan to act on as well as a report. Our asbestos surveys page sets out what that includes.

A survey is usually a one-off piece of work, and it can be built into the Opus Safety Partnership by agreement alongside the rest of your health and safety. Our guide to the duty to manage asbestos covers who holds the duty, and how it divides between landlords and tenants.

Consider us if you hold the duty to manage across several sites and want one team to arrange the surveys and turn them into a register and a plan. Go direct to a company above if all you need is the survey report. The questions in the next section apply to a survey we arrange as much as to one you commission yourself.

How to decide between them

Decide which survey you need first. HSG264 calls the management survey the standard survey: it locates, as far as reasonably practicable, the asbestos that could be damaged or disturbed during normal occupancy, including foreseeable maintenance and installation. Refurbishment or installation work that disturbs the building fabric needs the more intrusive refurbishment and demolition survey of the areas it affects, completed before the work starts. Then put five questions to each company.

Question	What it tells you
Is the company on the UKAS register as an inspection body, and does its schedule list the survey you need?	Whether the accreditation covers your survey type, and the locations the surveys are carried out from
Will it give you a written declaration of its independence, impartiality and integrity, and copies of its insurance certificates?	HSG264's first stage of checking a surveyor asks for both, covering employer's liability, public liability and professional indemnity
Does it quote for removal too?	HSE asks for a surveyor who can show independence and impartiality. If one company prices both, ask for the removal to be quoted separately
Which laboratory will analyse the samples, and what is its UKAS number?	HSG264 expects the report to include the certificate of analysis with the laboratory's UKAS accreditation number
How many samples does the quote allow for, and how will areas the surveyor cannot reach be recorded?	HSE suggests usually one or two samples per area or room, and any area left uninspected has to be presumed to contain asbestos

Frequently asked questions

Does an asbestos surveyor have to be UKAS-accredited? No law requires it. HSE strongly recommends surveyors accredited to ISO/IEC 17020, and UKAS accreditation is the only kind it recognises in Great Britain. If you use a surveyor without accreditation, HSE says you should make reasonable enquiries about their competence, such as their qualifications, copies of their written procedures and references for recent similar work. Analysis is stricter. In Great Britain, under regulation 21 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, an employer who sends samples for analysis must use an accredited laboratory, and regulation 21 of the Northern Ireland regulations of the same year says the same.

How do I check a company's UKAS accreditation? Search the UKAS directory by company name. Survey companies appear as inspection bodies and asbestos laboratories as testing laboratories. Open the schedule of accreditation: it lists the survey types covered and the addresses the surveys are carried out from, and the number on a survey report should match it.

Should the company that surveys also remove the asbestos? It can. HSE's guidance asks for a surveyor who can show independence and impartiality, and HSG264 suggests asking for a written declaration saying so. Of the seven here, Acorn states it has no links to removal contractors, while Oracle Solutions, EMS and Clearview Environmental offer removal as well. If one company quotes for both, ask for the removal to be priced separately.

What should an asbestos survey report contain? HSG264 expects the certificate of analysis for the samples, giving the laboratory's name and its UKAS accreditation number. HSE suggests checking the report for caveats you did not agree, clear and accurate plans, access to every room and area, and enough samples. Any area the surveyor could not reach needs to be presumed to contain asbestos and managed on that basis until it can be inspected.

What about premises in Northern Ireland? The Control of Asbestos Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 apply there, and HSENI keeps its own list of UKAS-accredited asbestos organisations in Northern Ireland, updated on 21 September 2026. Lucion Services is on it, with an office in Omagh.

Talk to us

If you hold the duty to manage across several sites and want the surveys arranged and turned into a register and a plan, tell us about your premises and we will tell you whether we are the right fit.