Demolition and refurbishment of a building containing asbestos

The Asbestos Regulations require a business or undertaking to identify asbestos or asbestos-containing materials (ACM), before any demolition or refurbishment work on a structure or plant is carried out at a work site if:

• it was constructed or installed before 1 January 2000, or
• asbestos has been identified, or
• asbestos is likely to be present from time to time.

Minor or routine maintenance work or other minor work does not trigger this requirement.

Duty to identify

If your site or structure fits the criteria above, then you have a duty to identify any asbestos before any refurbishment or demolition work. If it is not reasonably practicable to determine if there is asbestos or ACM installed in the structure or plant, then you must assume that asbestos is present.

View Worksafe website with further details on 'Duty to Identify'