Asbestos Cement Roof Encapsulation, Secondary School, Barnsley

The Challenge

A Barnsley secondary school operated from two 1970s-built teaching blocks with original profiled asbestos cement (chrysotile-bound) roof sheeting. The roofs had reached the end of their reliable service life, with multiple cracked sheets, failing flashings and confirmed water ingress affecting eight classrooms during the previous winter. A management asbestos survey confirmed the sheeting as Category 2 asbestos containing material in stable condition but degrading.

Removal had been quoted by another contractor at over £540,000 plus a 14-week shutdown during the school summer holiday, too long to complete safely before term resumption. The local authority needed an HSE-compliant solution that avoided removal, kept disturbance of the asbestos to an absolute minimum and could be delivered around the school calendar.

Our Approach

We specified a fully HSE HSG264-compliant encapsulation strategy: minimal preparation by trained operatives wearing appropriate PPE/RPE, application of a penetrating asbestos sealing primer, fleece-reinforced liquid encapsulation membrane and a UV-stable topcoat in the school's preferred colour.

Works were sequenced so that the lowest-risk elements (gable upstands, rainwater goods and accessible eaves details) were carried out during term time on Saturdays and school holidays, while the bulk overlay work over the teaching blocks themselves was completed during the six-week summer break.

Throughout the project we operated under a written CAR 2012 plan of work, with H&S Executive notification submitted in advance, daily air monitoring on-site and full waste consignment documentation for the limited removed elements (corroded fixings, lead flashings, deteriorated felt details).

The Result

All works were completed and signed off two days ahead of schedule, in time for the September term. All ingress has been eliminated and the roofs now present as a clean, uniform, fully waterproof surface. The asbestos remains safely encapsulated in place under a 20-year guarantee.

Total project cost came in at approximately £165,000, less than a third of the original removal quote, with no shutdown of the school's operational programme. The local authority has since instructed us on a similar project at a primary school site in the same district.

Services Used on This Project