Asbestos removal work is divided into 3 categories:

  • Licensed Asbestos Work
  • Notifiable Non-Licensed Asbestos Work (NNLW)
  • Non-Licensed Asbestos Work

The difference between these 3 categories are as follows:

Licensed asbestos work:

Most higher-risk work with asbestos must only be carried out by a licensed contractor.

Licensable work with asbestos is work:

  • where worker exposure to asbestos is not sporadic and of low intensity; or
  • where the risk assessment cannot clearly demonstrate that the control limit will not be exceeded i.e. 0.1 asbestos fibres per cubic centimetre of air (0.1 f/cm3); or
  • on asbestos coating; or
  • on asbestos insulation or asbestos insulating board where the risk assessment demonstrates that the work is not short duration work, e.g. when work with these materials will take no more than two hours in any seven day period, and no one person works for more than one hour in that two hour period.

Licensed Asbestos Removal Works are notifiable to the Health and Safety Executive (known as an ASB5) which must be submitted at least 14 days before the works are due to commence.

Examples of Licensable Work:

  • Removal of sprayed coating, asbestos insulation board or asbestos insulation
  • Cleaning up of significant quantities of loose/fine debris containing ACM dust

Notifiable Non Licensed Work (NNLW):

If work is not licensable, then you need to determine if it is notifiable non-licensed work or non-licensed work.

The key factors to consider are:

The type of work you are planning to do:

  • Maintenance
    e.g. drilling holes to attach fittings or pass cables through, painting, cleaning etc. Maintenance includes some removal where it is incidental to the main task, e.g. removing an asbestos ceiling tile to allow inspection; or
  • Removal
    e.g. as part of a refurbishment or redesign project; or
  • Encapsulation
    e.g. work to enclose or seal asbestos materials in good condition; or
  • Air monitoring and control, and the collection and analysis of samples

The asbestos type:

Is it friable?

Friable means easily crumbled or reduced to powder. The more friable a material is, the more likely it will release asbestos fibres when worked on and the greater the risk of exposure. Work which disturbs more friable materials e.g. asbestos insulation will tend to be NNLW and work which disturbs the least friable materials e.g. asbestos cement can normally be treated as non-licensed work; and

How firmly is the asbestos bonded in a matrix?

(For removal work only) – Asbestos containing materials (ACMs) where the asbestos is coated, covered or contained within another material, such as cement, paint or plastic are considered to be firmly bonded in a matrix, ACMs of this type in good condition can usually be treated as non-licensed work but where they are significantly damaged, and so more likely to release fibres, they will need to be treated as NNLW.

The material’s condition:

Has the material been damaged or is it in poor condition?

Removal of ACMs in poor condition e.g. due to flood or fire damage, will normally need to be treated as NNLW; and

Will the materials’ matrix be destroyed when worked on?

e.g. deteriorating textured decorative coatings e.g. ‘Artex’ with gel or steam to remove it, will normally need to be treated as NNLW.

Notifiable Non-Licensed Asbestos Removal Works are notifiable to the Health and Safety Executive, however there is no time period required before the works are due to commence.

Examples of Notifiable Non-Licensed Asbestos Removal Work:

  • Removal of textured coating
  • Removal of asbestos insulation board (as part of a refurbishment project)
  • Removal of asbestos paper and cardboard products if not firmly bonded in a matrix
  • Removal of asbestos cement products (e.g. roof sheeting) where the material has been substantially damaged or broken up (e.g. as a result of fire or flood damage)

Non-Licensed Work:

If work is determined as neither licensable nor notifiable non-licensed work, then it becomes non-licensed works.

To be Non-Licensed Work the work must be:

  • Sporadic and low intensity – to be considered sporadic and low intensity the concentration of asbestos in the air should not exceed 0.6f/cm3 measured over 10 minutes
  • Carried out in such a way that the exposure of workers to asbestos will not exceed the legal control limit of 0.1 asbestos fibres per cubic centimetre of air (0.1 f/cm3)
  • Meet at least one of four other conditions:
  1. It is a short non-continuous maintenance task, with only non-friable materials (friability describes how likely an ACM is to release asbestos fibres when worked on, so non-friable materials will only release a small number of fibres during work); or
  2. It is a removal task, where the ACMs are in reasonable condition and are not being deliberately broken up, and the asbestos fibres are firmly contained within a matrix, e.g. the asbestos is coated, covered or contained within another material, such as cement, paint or plastic; or
  3. It is a task where the ACMs are in good condition and are being sealed or encapsulated to ensure they are not easily damaged in the future; or
  4. It is an air monitoring and control task to check fibre concentrations in the air, or it’s the collection and analysis of asbestos samples to confirm the presence of asbestos in a material.

Non-Licensed Asbestos Removal Works are not notifiable to the Health and Safety Executive.

Examples of Non-Licensed Asbestos Removal Work:

  • Removal of asbestos cement and floor tiles
  • Drilling of textured decorative coatings for installation of fixtures/fittings
  • Encapsulation and sealing-in work on asbestos containing materials (ACMs) that are in good condition