STRICT new laws on asbestos will come into force next month, forcing 500,000 companies in the UK to put in place strategies to deal with the deadly material, at an estimated cost to business of £3.3 billion.

From May 21 anyone with responsibility for the repair and maintenance of buildings is legally bound to manage any asbestos present in the building. There are an estimated 1.5 million workplaces containing asbestos in the UK.

The new rules have been introduced in an attempt to stop deaths linked to asbestos in buildings once and for all. It is also hoped that the rules will help to stem a flood of litigation, as has occurred in the US, forcing up insurance premiums across the world.

Despite controls on asbestos dating back to the 1950s, asbestos-related disease is still the biggest occupational health killer in the UK, claiming 3,500 lives a year.

Although the use of white asbestos in building products was finally banned in 1999, maintenance and construction workers were still being exposed to it because building owners did not know where it was present and took no precautions.

Statistics from the Health and Safety Executive suggest that if no action were taken 9,000 people would go on to die of asbestos over the next 50 years. The new rules are expected to reduce this figure by 4,700.

Many companies have been reluctant to respond to the new regulations, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says. Litigation in the US has also prompted many to ignore the problem.

Ian Brice, chief executive of Opus, the insurance broking and risk management group, said he feared that many companies were not prepared for the incoming legislation. “The older the building, the more there is a chance that there will be asbestos in there. The problem exists but with risk management it can be reduced, if not eliminated,” Mr Brice said.

The first step for most businesses will be to commission a survey that will establish the nature of the asbestos in its building. The change in the law will not force a wave of building demolition. In many cases the best strategy is to leave any asbestos untouched.