Testing labs in Grays

Asbestos Consultants Europe Ltd, trading as ACE Consultants, is a leading UK environmental compliance and testing organisation with a heritage stretching back to 1984, when it was founded as Asbestos Consultants to the Environment Ltd. In 2009, ACE formally combined its capabilities with PSI 2000 to deliver a broader and more comprehensive asbestos management and consultancy service under a single banner. For more than 30 years — and now operating from offices in Grays (Essex), Bristol, Halesowen, and Gateshead — ACE has supported companies and organisations across the public and private sectors in meeting statutory and regulatory compliance obligations relating to asbestos, fire safety, and legionella throughout the United Kingdom. ACE's asbestos services cover the full lifecycle of asbestos management in buildings. The company carries out management surveys and refurbishment/demolition surveys in accordance with HSG264 and the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, as well as periodic re-inspections to maintain up-to-date asbestos registers. Consultants prepare asbestos management plans and policies, develop risk assessments and method statements (RAMS) for remediation works, produce technical specifications for licensed removal contractors, and supervise asbestos removal operations on site. ACE also conducts formal 4-stage clearance inspections and issues certificates of re-occupation following licensed removal, providing the independent technical oversight required under UK health and safety legislation. ACE operates UKAS-accredited analytical laboratories — Testing Laboratory No. 0472, accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 — for asbestos bulk sample analysis and air fibre monitoring. Bulk sample analysis is performed using polarised light microscopy (PLM) and, where required, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to identify and quantify asbestos fibre types in construction materials, insulation products, floor tiles, textured decorative coatings, pipe lagging, and other suspected asbestos-containing materials (ACMs). Fibre types routinely identified include chrysotile (white asbestos), amosite (brown asbestos), crocidolite (blue asbestos), and other regulated amphibole forms. The laboratories accept samples from ACE's own survey teams and from third-party clients. Initial laboratory accreditation was granted on 29 October 1986, making ACE one of the longest-established UKAS-accredited asbestos testing laboratories in the UK. A third purpose-built UKAS-accredited laboratory in the Midlands was under development to further expand national capacity. Complementing bulk analysis, ACE provides a comprehensive air fibre monitoring service to quantify airborne asbestos fibre concentrations during and after remediation work. Monitoring programmes include background monitoring (pre-disturbance baseline sampling), personal air sampling to assess workers' occupational exposure, leak monitoring within negative-pressure enclosures, reassurance monitoring for building occupants in adjacent areas, and the full 4-stage clearance procedure mandated before re-occupation of areas where licensed asbestos removal has been completed. Air samples are analysed by phase contrast microscopy (PCM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in accordance with HSE guidance MDHS101 and relevant BOHS/WHO methods, supporting compliance with workplace exposure limits under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. Beyond asbestos, ACE delivers fire risk assessment services and legionella compliance support, positioning itself as a single-source statutory compliance partner for building owners and facilities managers. Fire risk assessments are conducted in line with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 across a wide variety of premises including commercial offices, residential blocks, educational establishments, healthcare facilities, and industrial sites. Legionella risk assessments are carried out in accordance with HSG274 and Approved Code of Practice L8, evaluating hot and cold water systems, cooling towers, evaporative condensers, and other water systems for conditions conducive to Legionella bacteria proliferation and to identify appropriate control measures. ACE holds a dual accreditation structure that underpins the credibility of all its inspection and analytical work. In addition to its ISO/IEC 17025:2017 testing laboratory accreditation, ACE is accredited as a Type C inspection body (Inspection Body No. 0191) in accordance with ISO/IEC 17020:2012 — the international standard governing bodies performing inspection — with initial inspection-body accreditation granted on 2 June 2003. ACE became UKAS accredited for the first time in 1986, giving it one of the longest continuous accreditation records among UK asbestos consultancies. The company is also a corporate member of UKATA (UK Asbestos Training Association) and delivers UKATA-approved asbestos awareness training, non-licensed operative training, and other compliance training courses to client organisations. ACE serves a broad cross-section of the UK economy, including local authorities, NHS trusts, housing associations, facilities management companies, property developers, main construction contractors, commercial landlords, schools, universities, manufacturing facilities, and industrial operators. Its multi-office network enables efficient service delivery to clients with large or geographically dispersed property portfolios. ACE provides electronic asbestos database and register management, giving clients cloud-accessible and audit-ready documentation of their compliance obligations. The firm's industry-recognised expert witnesses cover asbestos, legionella, fire safety, and general compliance matters, providing independent technical opinions and litigation support in legal, insurance, and regulatory proceedings. With dual UKAS accreditations, a laboratory pedigree dating to 1986, a multi-disciplinary service portfolio spanning asbestos surveying and testing, fire risk assessment, and legionella risk management, and a nationwide office network, Asbestos Consultants Europe Ltd is one of the most experienced and comprehensively accredited asbestos testing and environmental compliance consultancies in the United Kingdom. Organisations that own, manage, or operate buildings constructed before the year 2000 — when asbestos was finally banned in the UK — can engage ACE with confidence as both an ISO/IEC 17020-accredited inspection partner and an ISO/IEC 17025-accredited analytical laboratory for asbestos-containing materials identification, bulk sample analysis, and air quality monitoring.

ITS Testing Services UK (Caleb Brett Downstream) is part of Intertek, providing cargo inspection and petroleum/downstream product testing and analytical services.