Legal Requirements

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An asbestos assessor provides air quality monitoring during removal work, inspects the finished job and provides a clearance certificate.

An assessor’s licence is required to carry out air monitoring and issue clearance certificates for all Class A (friable) asbestos removal sites.

Workplace PCBUs with identified asbestos in their workplaces, including in soil or naturally occurring asbestos, must have an asbestos management plan in place. An asbestos management plan sets out how the workplace’s identified asbestos or ACM will be managed.

When demolishing or refurbishing a workplace or home, it is important to determine whether asbestos or ACM is present, and to identify and remove asbestos before the work begins.

Only a licensed assessor should take the samples for analysis because asbestos fibres could be released during the process, increasing the health risk. A poorly-conducted sampling process can be more risky than leaving the material alone, and may give invalid results if the samples are not taken
from representative areas.

The workplace PCBU or the PCBU with management or control of the structure or plant must make sure all asbestos likely to be disturbed by the demolition work is identified and, so far as is reasonably practicable, removed before the work starts. The PCBU may demolish part of a structure
or plant in order to access the asbestos. For example, the PCBU may demolish part of a wall to access asbestos located in the wall cavity so it can be removed before further demolition starts.

Links to relevant Acts of Parliament, Regulations and Approved Codes of Practice:

Approved Code of Practice (ACOP): Management and Removal of Asbestos

Health & Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016

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