The Hidden Costs of Asbestos

BBC Report: Asbestos adds £1m to Abertillery Leisure Centre demolition

Demolition of a leisure centre will cost an extra £1m and has been delayed by 18 months after asbestos was found.

An asbestos survey of Abertillery Leisure Centre missed the brown asbestos. A report said

Blaenau Gwent council said it was considering legal action against MSS Consulting, the firm behind the survey.

A spokesman for MSS Consulting said it had cooperated fully with the council to resolve the issue since it was first brought to its attention.

The matter is now in the hands of its insurers.

Blaenau Gwent council has suspended demolition work until a new firm has removed the asbestos, at the cost of £998,992.

Despite a specialist survey being carried out to check for asbestos, it was not mentioned in the report and was only discovered once demolition work had begun, the council said.

The council said MSS Consulting Ltd was hired to carry out a pre-demolition refurbishment (PDR) survey to identify the presence of asbestos.

A spokeswoman said, “other sources of asbestos not identified within the PDR were discovered within building cavities and other areas”.

She added: “This required a suspension of works to allow a new survey to be undertaken. Based on its findings, a far larger, more complex work was identified and developed before the work could be tendered.

“The authority is currently seeking legal advice regarding potential action and cost recovery against MSS Consulting Ltd.