Is there an "Asbestos Act"?
No. People searching for "the Asbestos Act" are usually looking for one of two things. The parent statute is the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which creates the general duties on employers and building controllers and gives the Health and Safety Executive its enforcement powers. The specific rules on asbestos are in the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 — regulations made under that Act, not an Act in their own right. If someone quotes "the Asbestos Act" at you, they mean CAR 2012. The full text is on legislation.gov.uk as SI 2012/632.
The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, regulation by regulation
Regulation 4 — the duty to manage asbestos
Whoever has responsibility for the maintenance or repair of non-domestic premises — the owner, the occupying business, the managing agent, or all of them in shares — must find out whether asbestos is present, record where it is and what condition it is in, assess the risk, write a plan to manage it and keep that plan current. In practice that means a management survey, an asbestos register and a review cycle. The duty covers offices, shops, factories, schools, hospitals and the common parts of flats, but not the inside of an individual private home. Our duty-to-manage guide sets out the whole obligation and the management cycle that satisfies it; our domestic versus non-domestic guide explains exactly where the line falls.
Regulation 5 — identify asbestos before work starts
Before any work that could disturb the fabric of a pre-2000 building, the employer carrying it out must either establish whether asbestos is present — normally through a refurbishment or demolition survey — or assume that the most hazardous forms are present and work accordingly. "Nobody told us" is not a defence. This is the regulation that makes a survey a legal step before refurbishment, not a nicety.
Regulations 6 and 7 — risk assessment and plan of work
Where asbestos will be disturbed, the employer must make a suitable and sufficient risk assessment by a competent person, and produce a written plan of work setting out the method, controls and waste handling before the job begins. For licensed work the plan must be kept on site. A contractor who cannot show you a plan of work for your job is not working to CAR 2012.
Regulations 8 and 9 — licensing and notification: the three classes
This is the part of the law that decides who is allowed to do your job. Work with the highest-risk materials — sprayed coatings, pipe and boiler lagging, most asbestos insulating board — is licensable and may only be done by a contractor holding an HSE licence, notified to the HSE in advance. Some lower-risk work that still carries exposure risk — badly deteriorated cement, for example — is notifiable non-licensed work (NNLW), which needs no licence but must be notified and brings extra record keeping and medical surveillance. Everything else, including most work with sound asbestos cement and textured coatings, is non-licensed: no licence, no notification, but the same control measures. Our NNLW guide walks through the middle category, and our licensed asbestos removal page explains what licensed work involves. You can check any contractor's licence on the HSE register.
Regulation 10 — information, instruction and training
Anyone whose work could expose them to asbestos must receive appropriate training — asbestos awareness for trades who might encounter it, and higher levels for those who work on it. Under CAR 2012 that training must be kept up to date, which is why a contractor should be able to show current training records for the operatives on your job, not a certificate from years ago.
Regulation 11 — preventing and reducing exposure
The employer must prevent exposure where reasonably practicable and, where it cannot be prevented, reduce it to the lowest level reasonably practicable and below the control limit of 0.1 fibres per cubic centimetre of air averaged over four hours. Respiratory protective equipment does not count towards meeting the limit — the method has to do the work first. This regulation is why wet methods, sealed enclosures and controlled stripping are legal requirements, not contractor preferences.
Regulation 22 — health records and medical surveillance
Employers must keep health records for employees doing licensable or notifiable non-licensed work and provide medical examinations at prescribed intervals. It is one of the regulations that separates a compliant contractor from a cheap one: the overhead is invisible to the customer but legally required.
Who the law applies to
| You are… | What binds you | Where to start |
|---|---|---|
| A homeowner | Regulation 4 does not apply inside your home. CAR 2012 still governs anyone you employ to work on it, and the waste and duty-of-care rules apply to you if you remove asbestos yourself. | Test suspect materials before any renovation; see our homeowner guides. |
| A private landlord | Regulation 4 applies to common parts of flats you control, not inside individual lets. Housing law adds separate duties. | Our asbestos guide for landlords. |
| A non-domestic duty holder (owner, occupier, agent) | Regulation 4 in full: survey, register, risk assessment, management plan, review. | A management survey and register. |
| An employer or contractor doing work | Regulations 5 to 22: identification, risk assessment, plan of work, licensing or notification, training, controls, health surveillance, waste. | A refurbishment or demolition survey before work. |
| Anyone disposing of asbestos waste | Hazardous waste and duty-of-care rules regardless of who you are. | Our waste paperwork guide. |
The other laws that touch asbestos
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
The parent Act. It imposes the general duty on employers to protect employees and anyone affected by their work, and it is the Act under which asbestos offences are prosecuted.
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015
On construction projects, CDM 2015 makes the client responsible for providing pre-construction information — which for a pre-2000 building means the asbestos survey — and makes designers and contractors responsible for planning around what it finds.
Hazardous waste and duty of care
Asbestos waste is hazardous waste. The Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005 and the duty of care under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 require it to be packaged, labelled, carried by a registered carrier and disposed of at a licensed facility, with a consignment note documenting the movement. The note is your evidence; keep it. Our waste paperwork guide explains each document.
Housing Act 2004
For rented homes, the Housing Health and Safety Rating System treats asbestos as a hazard a local authority can act on. Landlords are not bound by Regulation 4 inside a let, but they are not free of asbestos obligations either — see our landlords guide.
The bans
Blue and brown asbestos were banned in 1985; white asbestos followed in November 1999, closing the use of asbestos in UK construction. That is why "pre-2000" is the legal watershed used throughout the regulations. Our guide on when asbestos was banned has the full timeline.
Enforcement and penalties
CAR 2012 is enforced by the HSE and, for some premises, local authorities. Inspectors can issue improvement and prohibition notices that stop work immediately, and breaches are prosecuted under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act, where penalties can extend to unlimited fines and, for the most serious offences tried in the Crown Court, imprisonment. Beyond the courts, the practical consequences are what most people meet first: a stopped project, a contaminated site, an uninsurable claim, or a sale that falls through when a buyer's survey finds what a seller's paperwork should have disclosed.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main asbestos law in the UK?
The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, made under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and in force since 6 April 2012. It replaced the 2006 regulations and remains the current law.
Do the asbestos regulations apply to my house?
The duty to manage in Regulation 4 does not apply inside private homes. But any contractor working on your home is bound by CAR 2012, the three-class licensing system decides who may remove what, and asbestos waste from your home is still hazardous waste.
What are the three classes of asbestos work?
Licensed work (highest-risk materials, HSE-licensed contractor only, notified in advance), notifiable non-licensed work (no licence, but notification, records and medical surveillance), and non-licensed work (neither, but full control measures still apply).
Is it illegal to remove asbestos yourself?
Removing licensable materials without an HSE licence is illegal for anyone. Householders are not prohibited from working on low-risk non-licensed materials on their own property, but the control measures and the hazardous-waste rules still apply, and getting the classification wrong is where the risk lies.
What is the asbestos control limit?
0.1 fibres per cubic centimetre of air, averaged over a continuous four-hour period. Exposure must be kept as far below it as reasonably practicable, and respirators do not count towards meeting it.
Who enforces asbestos law?
The Health and Safety Executive, and local authorities for some premises such as shops and offices. Both can issue notices and bring prosecutions.
If you are unsure which of these duties bind you, the fastest way to find out is a survey — it identifies what is present and which legal class any work would fall into. We provide free written quotes for surveys and removal, and every removal we carry out comes with the consignment note the law requires. Call 07345 062075 or request a free quote online.