The terms we use, defined once.
Asbestos work and AI search both have their own vocabulary. This page defines the terms you will meet on our site, in your clearance report and in conversations with buyers, in plain English.
AI visibility
How likely ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews are to name your business when someone asks for an asbestos contractor, surveyor or analyst. Depends on signals the tools can verify: licence numbers in text, consistent business details, reviews and pages that answer specific questions.
ARCA
The Asbestos Removal Contractors Association, a trade body for licensed asbestos removal contractors that runs training, site audits and annual awards. Membership is a credential commercial buyers look for.
ACAD
The Asbestos Control and Abatement Division of TICA, the other main UK trade association for licensed asbestos contractors, offering training and audit schemes.
ASB5
The form a licensed contractor submits to the HSE to notify licensable asbestos work, normally 14 days before it starts. Buyers sometimes ask about a contractor's notification history as a measure of experience.
Four stage clearance
The procedure an independent analyst follows before a licensed asbestos work area is handed back: a preliminary check of site condition, a thorough visual inspection, air monitoring and a final assessment, ending in a certificate of reoccupation. Envirorank's website check borrows the name.
Generative engine optimisation (GEO)
Work that increases the chance of a business being cited or recommended in AI-generated answers rather than in a list of links. Overlaps with SEO but relies more on verification signals and structured data.
HSE asbestos licence
The licence issued by the Health and Safety Executive that a contractor must hold to carry out licensable asbestos work, such as removing sprayed coatings, pipe lagging or asbestos insulating board. The HSE publishes the list of licence holders weekly, and around 400 organisations hold one.
HSG264
The HSE guidance document on asbestos surveys, which defines management surveys and refurbishment and demolition surveys. Searched for around 480 times a month in the UK, usually by people trying to work out which survey they need.
llms.txt
A plain-text file at the root of a website that summarises the business and lists its key pages for large language models. A proposed standard rather than a requirement, but cheap to add and included on every Envirorank site.
Google Maps results
The map and three business listings that appear at the top of Google for searches like "asbestos removal near me". Driven mainly by your Google Business Profile, reviews and proximity to the searcher.
Management survey
The standard asbestos survey for a building in normal occupation, used to locate and assess asbestos-containing materials so they can be managed. The basis of an asbestos register and management plan.
NNLW
Notifiable non-licensed work: asbestos work that does not need a licence but must still be notified to the HSE, with worker medicals and records kept, because it carries more risk than ordinary non-licensed work.
Non-licensed work
Lower-risk asbestos work that does not need an HSE licence, such as removing bonded asbestos cement sheets in good condition, but still requires training, controls and legal waste disposal.
P402
The BOHS qualification for surveying and sampling buildings for asbestos. Naming P402-qualified surveyors on a website is a strong trust signal for survey firms.
Prequalification schemes
CHAS, SafeContractor, Constructionline, SMAS and similar registers that commercial buyers use to filter suppliers before inviting quotes. Worth showing on your website with levels and renewal dates.
Refurbishment and demolition survey
The intrusive asbestos survey required before refurbishment or demolition work, designed to find all asbestos-containing materials in the area so they can be removed before work starts.
Schema markup
Structured data added to a web page so that search engines and AI tools can read facts about a business, such as its licence, address, services and prices, without guessing from the text.
UKAS
The United Kingdom Accreditation Service. Asbestos survey and testing organisations are accredited by UKAS as inspection bodies or laboratories, which is why "UKAS accredited" matters to buyers choosing a surveyor or analyst.
UKATA
The UK Asbestos Training Association, which approves asbestos training providers. UKATA-approved training is a common credential for operatives and supervisors.
Personal review
Envirorank's manual check of a website after the Four Stage Clearance, sent within one working day, covering the things a self-assessment cannot see: readable credentials, mobile speed and what AI tools actually say.
Put it to work on your own website.
The free Four Stage Clearance checks the credentials, signals and pages this glossary describes.
