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What Is Non-Licensed Asbestos Removal

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  • 21-03-2023
What Is Non-Licensed Asbestos Removal

Are you considering: what is non-licensed asbestos removal? Astec Consultants Ltd offer Asbestos Awareness Training throughout Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. We look at the difference between licensed and non-licensed asbestos removal and what type of asbestos removal you will need? 

What Makes Licensed Asbestos Removal Different From Non-Licensed Asbestos Removal?

Asbestos is present in constructions around the country and offers a variety of useful construction properties, including fire resistance and low cost. 

Yet, it may be exceedingly detrimental to the health of personnel. Marking asbestos removal as licensable or non-licensed is one risk management method.

This enables the required processes and actions to be carried out; this will have an effect on both the protective measures put in place and the credentials required to remove it. 

Non-Licensed Asbestos Removal still necessitates training, however, a licence isn't required owing to fewer related hazards. The term "licensable asbestos removal" refers to actions that pose a substantial danger, risk, or public concern" and must be carried out by a licensed professional.

Licenses can be given by the HSE, which stipulate that all work involving this sort of activity must be brought to the notice of the "relevant enforcement authority. 

Failing to recognise and follow licencing laws can have serious ramifications for your firm, for instance, the HSE recently penalised a firm and imprisoned its director for, among other things, neglecting to subcontract asbestos removal to a licenced company.

 Licensed Removal

If the work is notifiable to the Health and Safety Executive, it will be subject to a 14-day notification period; this means the asbestos-containing material is of higher risk and only licenced asbestos removal contractors are able to complete these works; these works must be fully compliant to ensure exposure levels are controlled and strict Health and Safety Executive guidelines are followed.

 Non-Licensed Removal

Non-licensed tasks have a lesser risk of exposure and are solely performed on non-flammable materials, and their work commonly includes asbestos cement, floor tiles, textured ornamental coating, encapsulation of good-condition ACMs, and removing asbestos loose debris - non-licensed asbestos work also includes the safe management of asbestos that is not being removed.

If the work area is extensive (for example, huge quantities of textured coating removal) or the asbestos is in poor condition, the removals may be non-licensed but notifiable (asbestos cement sheeting that is badly broken for example). To carry out these works, you do not need to be a licenced contractor, but you must ensure appropriate control mechanisms are in place and inform the local council.

What Type Of Asbestos Removal Do I need:

Asbestos friability refers to how quickly it may be broken down into tiny bits; the more friable the asbestos, the more likely it is to be breathed and cause injury to those nearby. 

Certain asbestos-containing materials (ACMs), for example, such as sprayed coatings, are frequently exceedingly friable and can have concentrations of up to 85%; loose powders and insulation can also be readily disturbed and breathed by employees.

When kept in excellent condition, several types of asbestos-containing products, including cement sheets and floor tiles, will be non-licensed. Nevertheless, some kinds may become more brittle when worked on, necessitating notification to the proper regulatory agency; this is known as notifiable non-licensed removal.

The frequency and intensity of the worker's asbestos exposure are critical factors in its categorization. For example, if the individual needs to operate with more friable asbestos-containing materials for more than one hour per week, a licenced contractor may be necessary.

What Is Non-licensed Work With Asbestos?

Most higher-risk asbestos work must be performed by a licenced contractor, although the decision on whether a given operation is licensable is based on the risk. 

To be excluded from the requirement of a licence, the job must be: deemed intermittent and of low intensity, and the concentration of asbestos in the air must not exceed 0.6f/cm3 measured over 10 minutes.

The removal procedure must comply with at least one of the following four standards and ensure that worker asbestos exposure does not rise beyond the legal limit of 0.1 asbestos fibres per cubic centimetre of air (0.1 f/cm3).

The four standards are: it is a quick, one-time maintenance task that uses only non-flammable 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).

Who Is In Danger Of Asbestos Exposure?

What Is Non-licensed Asbestos Removal? Asbestos Awareness Training Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire

Asbestos fibres that are securely confined inside a matrix, such as when the asbestos is coated, covered or contained within another substance like cement, paint, or plastic, and the ACMs are in reasonable condition and are not being purposefully broken up, must be removed. 

It could be a job where the ACMs are in good shape and being sealed or encapsulated to prevent future damage, or it could be an air monitoring and control job to check the amount of fibres in the air, or it could be the gathering and analysis of asbestos samples to confirm the presence of asbestos in a material. 

The removal of small amounts of loose or fine debris containing ACM dust (where the work is intermittent and of low intensity, the control limit will not be exceeded, and the work is of short duration) is considered to be unlicensed asbestos work. 

Other unlicensed asbestos work includes drilling textured decorative coatings for fixture/fitting installation or encapsulation and sealing-in work on good-condition ACMs.

Non-licensed maintenance work typically includes asbestos cement products (roof sheeting, tiles, and rainwater goods), asbestos in ropes, yarns, and woven cloth, asbestos gaskets, or asbestos rope cords (including removal as part of repair and upkeep of equipment), provided that this can be done without significant breakage.

What Is Non-licensed Work With Asbestos? Asbestos Awareness Training Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire

Asbestos-containing thermoplastic and vinyl floor tiles, bitumen roof felt, shingles, damp-proofing coatings, mastics, felt and paper, plastic paint coatings, PVC floors, panels, sealing compounds, conveyor belts/drive belts, bonded rubber, electric cables, resin-based ACMs such as friction products (brake linings), and painting or repainting good-condition AIB.

This includes work with weathered but not significantly damaged asbestos cement, small areas of textured decorative coatings using suitable dust-reducing methods, to support other activities such as the installation/replacement of smoke alarms and light fixtures, textured decorative coatings provided that this can be done without breaking up the material.

Asbestos cement materials may also be included in unlicensed removal; reattaching the panels once the work is completed, as well as employing an AIB door with asbestos fireproofing, fall into this category.


 Are you looking for asbestos training in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire? For any extra information regarding asbestos training, you can follow the links below to find out more: