Injury Claims For Renovating Old Office Buildings

Written by Tanya Waterworth, Digital Content Writer

About Our Legal Expert: This content is produced with oversight by Michael Jefferies, Managing Director who has over 30 years’ legal experience.

Top Construction and Asbestos Risks in Old Buildings in England and Wales

Renovating an old office building holds its own unique risks for workers and injury claims for accidents while renovating old office buildings are not uncommon. While these buildings will often have an architectural charm, there may be hazards such as ageing materials, outdated systems and hidden structural quirks. These can present their own challenges compared to working on a modern office block. So, if an accident happens, you may be able to file a personal injury claim for an accident at work if you employer was negligent about safety protocols.

You will have to be able to show that the incident was not simply an unavoidable risk of the job. This may include factors such as your employer didn’t carry out a proper risk assessment and or was no PPE when needed.

We look at some of the most common hazards which workers might face and which could lead to a claim for compensation if injured on the job.

1. Legacy Materials That Create Modern Hazards

Older office buildings often contain materials that were once standard but are now recognised as dangerous. Asbestos is the biggest issue and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has strict guidelines on safety procedures around asbestos. The challenge isn’t just about the presence of asbestos, but that it can turn up in places no one expects. Workers regularly find it behind radiators, inside old fire doors, or hidden under decorative finishes.

Lead‑based paint and chemical residues add another layer of risk. These hazards become particularly dangerous when surveys are incomplete or based on outdated information. Renovation teams often start work believing an area is “clear,” only to uncover something that was never sampled.

Real‑life example:

A strip‑out team in a 1970s Birmingham office began removing partitions after being told the asbestos survey covered the area. When they opened the cavity, they found asbestos insulation board that hadn’t been accessed during the survey. Two workers had already disturbed it while unscrewing panels.

2. Structural Instability and Hidden Weaknesses

Old office buildings often hide structural problems that aren’t visible during a quick inspection. Timber floors may have rotted beneath carpet tiles, or steel beams may have corroded behind plasterboard. Concrete may have deteriorated after decades of leaks.

These weaknesses may only reveal themselves when workers start loading floors, removing walls, or shifting materials. Staircases can also fail once handrails or adjacent structures are removed.

Real‑life example:

During a refurbishment in Cardiff, a worker was moving plasterboard across a first‑floor corridor that looked solid. A rotten joist gave way beneath him, sending him through the floor. The building’s original drawings didn’t match the actual layout, and no structural checks had been carried out before work began.

3. Electrical and Mechanical Systems That Don’t Meet Modern Standards

Electrical systems in older offices may have survived decades of tenant changes and undocumented fixes. Workers frequently encounter live cables buried in walls, circuits that don’t match the drawings, and junction boxes hidden above ceilings. Even when a circuit is labelled “isolated,” a forgotten feed from an old sub‑board can still be energised.

Mechanical systems can be just as unpredictable. Ageing boilers, corroded pipework, and pressure vessels may still contain hazardous fluids or residual pressure long after they should have been decommissioned.

Real‑life example:

In Manchester, a contractor cut into what he believed was a dead cable while removing old trunking. A forgotten feed from a 1980s refurbishment was still live. The resulting arc flash caused burns to his hands and face.

 4. Confined Spaces and Poor Air Quality

Many older office buildings contain cramped service areas that were never designed for modern access. Workers may need to enter basements with limited ventilation, or crawl spaces filled with dust, mould, or stagnant water.

Air quality can deteriorate quickly, especially when old insulation or chemical residues are disturbed. Without proper assessments, monitoring, or ventilation, these spaces can become dangerous within minutes.

Real‑life example:

In a London office basement, a worker entered a small plant room to remove redundant pipework. The room had no ventilation, and fumes from an old chemical cleaning system lingered in the air. He became dizzy and collapsed, requiring emergency extraction.

5. Fire Safety Risks Unique to Older Buildings

Renovation work often exposes fire‑safety issues that have built up over decades. Damaged compartment walls, and outdated fire doors are common in older office stock.

When hot works are carried out in these environments, the risk of rapid fire spread increases. Combustible insulation hidden in voids can turn a small spark into a serious incident.

Real‑life example:

A worker on a project on Leeds used a hot‑air gun to remove old flooring adhesive. Heat travelled through a gap in the floor slab into a void filled with old paper insulation. Smouldering began beneath the floor, and smoke only appeared 20 minutes later by which time the fire had spread through several compartments.

6. Falls From Height in Buildings Not Designed for Modern Access

Older office buildings often have fragile roofs, outdated access routes, and plant areas that were never intended for regular use. As a result, skylights may be non‑load‑bearing, roof coverings may have deteriorated, and parapets may be too low to offer protection.

Falls from height happen when fragile surfaces aren’t identified, edge protection is missing, or workers are told to “make do” with whatever access equipment is available.

Real‑life example:

A maintenance worker climbed an old fixed ladder to reach a rooftop plant room in Bristol. The ladder had corroded at the fixings, and one bracket failed as he climbed. He fell onto a fragile felt roof, broke through it, and landed on the ceiling grid below.

When Can an Injured Worker Make a Personal Injury Claim?

A worker injured during renovation may be able to bring a claim if the injury resulted from someone failing to take reasonable steps to keep them safe. Employers are required to adhere to strict safety regulations as laid out in the Health and Safety Act 1974.  Therefore, if a workers has been injured on the job, this usually means:

• the employer didn’t carry out proper risk assessments
• the building owner or principal contractor failed to provide accurate information about hazards
• safety equipment or training was missing
• work was rushed or carried out without proper planning
• legal health and safety regulations were breached

The key legal test is whether the injury was reasonably foreseeable and if the employer failed to take the necessary precautions to keep their employees safe. Therefore, the key is to prove that the employer didn’t meet the standard expected in the circumstances.

Need Help Today?

Renovating old office buildings is a specialist environment with risks that simply don’t exist on new‑build sites. If you’ve been injured in an accident while working in an older building, we partner with personal injury lawyers who are experienced in work accident claims. They offer a free, no-obligation consultation, as well as No Win, No Fee Agreements.

It’s advisable to get advice as early as possible as there is a time limit if three years from the date of the injury. Obtaining evidence is also far easier if it is fresh and it may get lost or be mislaid over time.

So, if you need help today:

Call us at 0333 358 3034 or visit our Contact Us Page today and we can call you back straight away.