Health and Safety Executive

Do I need a licence to work with asbestos?

Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006, in the vast majority of cases if you are working with asbestos you will need to hold a licence.

If you have no intention of working with asbestos, you do not need a licence.
In addition, under Regulation 3(2) you do not need a licence to work with asbestos if:

  • the exposure of employees to asbestos is sporadic and of low intensity (i.e. the concentration of asbestos in air does not exceed 0.6 f/cm3 measured over a 10 minute period);
  • the control limit is not exceeded (0.1 f/cm3 averaged over a 4 hour period);

and

  • the work involves short, non continuous maintenance activities;
  • the removal of materials in which the asbestos fibres are firmly linked in a matrix; or
  • encapsulation or sealing of asbestos-containing materials which are in good condition; or
  • air monitoring and control, and the collection and analysis of samples to ascertain whether a specific material contains asbestos.

The Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) to the Regulations gives further guidance on these non-licensed work activities. Please note that these work activities are only exempt from licensing, and the rest of the Regulations will still apply.
You will require a licence if you are working with asbestos, regardless of whether the work is within your own premises using your own employees, or as an 'asbestos contractor’ on other person’s premises.
Certain types of 'ancillary’ work will also require a licence (unless Regulation 3(2) applies):

  • setting up and taking down enclosures for notifiable and licensed asbestos work;
  • putting up and taking down scaffolding to provide access for licensable work where it is foreseeable that the scaffolding activity is likely to disturb the asbestos;
  • maintaining air extraction equipment (which includes 'negative pressure’ units);
  • work done within an asbestos enclosure, such as sealing an electric motor in polythene and installing ducting to the motor to provide cooling air from outside the enclosure; and
  • cleaning the structure, plant and equipment inside the enclosure.

Important: We will only grant a licence to those who plan to do work.

Although you may not need a licence to carry out a particular job, you will still need to make sure that you comply with general rules detailed under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 to prevent exposure to asbestos.

Please note: For most jobs, it is an offence to work with asbestos without a licence and you could be prosecuted.

If you wish to apply for a licence or renew an existing licence, and believe you have the required competencies to work with asbestos details on applying can be found on the application pages

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Updated 23.11.11