Guide

Asbestos Responsibilities for Architects and Project Managers

2 September 202610 min readby amianto.info Editorial Team

When asbestos is disturbed on a project, liability rarely stops with the contractor who swung the hammer. In the UK, Australia, France, and Spain, the design professional who commissioned the wrong survey type — or who failed to pass asbestos information to contractors — can face regulatory enforcement and civil claims alongside the employer. Understanding where your duty begins, what it requires, and how to document compliance is not optional: it is a professional obligation that sits alongside building regulations, CDM coordination, and planning approvals.

Also available in: Español, Français

Key takeaways

Architects and project managers have direct legal duties under CDM 2015 (UK), WHS Act (AU), and equivalent regulations in France and Spain — not just advisory responsibilities.
The correct survey type for design and construction work is an R&D survey (UK), detailed asbestos inspection (AU), or RAT (FR) — not a management survey.
Pre-construction information packs must include all known asbestos survey results before contractors tender.
Licensed asbestos contractors must be appointed — and work notified to regulators — before licensed work begins.

Why architects and PMs face greater legal exposure than clients

Clients commission buildings; architects and project managers design and coordinate them. That distinction matters because most asbestos regulations impose duties on whoever controls or influences the way work is planned and carried out — not just whoever owns the building.

In the UK, the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015) make the principal designer responsible for identifying and eliminating or controlling foreseeable construction-phase risks, including asbestos. In Australia, the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 imposes duties on persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) that manage, control, or commission construction work, which courts have applied to design practices. In France, the maître d'œuvre shares duty with the donneur d'ordre for ensuring asbestos information is transmitted before any work begins. In Spain, RD 1627/1997 on minimum safety standards places obligations on the coordinador de seguridad y salud, a role often held by the architect.

The practical consequence: if a worker is exposed during a renovation because no survey was commissioned, the architect or PM who specified the scope of works may be named in the enforcement action or the personal injury claim.

Your professional indemnity insurance may not cover asbestos failures

Many PI policies exclude claims arising from failure to identify or manage asbestos