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05 Oct 2026
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Asbestos cement roofing was fitted on garages, sheds, workshops and flat-roofed extensions across the UK right up until the material was banned in 1999.
If your property dates from the 1960s to the 1990s and has an outbuilding or a flat-roofed extension you haven’t touched since, there’s a real chance asbestos is up there now.
That’s not an emergency on its own. Asbestos cement that’s intact and left alone is low risk. The problem starts the moment someone plans to repair, replace, or even pressure-wash that roof, because disturbing the material is what releases fibres.
This guide covers what the law actually requires, what you can safely do yourself, when you need a licensed contractor, and what a proper job costs in 2026.
Asbestos cement was cheap, fire-resistant and easy to install, which is exactly why it ended up everywhere between the 1960s and the 1999 ban.
It’s rarely on the main house roof of a typical semi, but it’s common in a few specific places.
Corrugated grey or profiled asbestos cement sheeting is the classic garage roof material from this period. If your garage roof still looks original and the property was built or extended before 1999, assume it’s asbestos until a test says otherwise.
Older felt flat roofs sometimes used asbestos-reinforced roofing felt as an underlay or as the felt itself, particularly on 1960s and 1970s kitchen extensions. Garden sheds and workshop roofs built from the same era often used the same corrugated sheeting as garages.
Less commonly, older soffit boards and guttering were also made from asbestos cement. These are usually lower risk day to day since they’re rarely disturbed, but they matter if you’re planning fascia, soffit or guttering replacement alongside roof work.
Asbestos cement sheeting is also still common on older commercial and industrial roofs across Berkshire and the wider Thames Valley: warehouses, workshops, small factory units and farm buildings built before 1999 very often used the same corrugated sheeting as domestic garages, just at a much larger scale.
A commercial roof of this age needs the same survey-first approach as a garage, usually with a wider-reaching risk assessment given the size of the area involved.
Asbestos cement that’s weathered but intact and left undisturbed isn’t an urgent problem. It becomes one the moment a roof is due for repair, replacement, or removal.
Asbestos fibres cause harm when they’re breathed in, and that only happens in meaningful quantities when the material is broken, cut, drilled, jet-washed or dropped. A solid asbestos cement sheet sitting quietly on a garage roof isn’t releasing fibres into the air.
That’s why the Health and Safety Executive’s own guidance focuses on managing asbestos in place where it’s safe to do so, rather than insisting on blanket removal.
The risk calculation changes completely the moment you’re planning work on it, which is the point most homeowners miss until a roofer flags it.
It’s worth understanding why the HSE takes such a firm line once disturbance is on the table.
HSE’s own guidance links asbestos exposure to mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung lining that’s almost always fatal, as well as asbestos-related lung cancer and asbestosis, a scarring condition that can seriously affect quality of life even when it isn’t fatal.
The difficult part is the timeline: symptoms can take anywhere from 15 to 60 years to appear after exposure, which is exactly why the regulations are built around preventing exposure in the first place rather than treating it after the fact.
The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 sets out three categories of work, and which one applies determines who’s legally allowed to do the job.
This is the part that trips people up most, because it isn’t a simple “always call a specialist” rule.
Carefully removing or handling asbestos cement that’s weathered but not substantially damaged, without breaking it up, generally falls under HSE’s non-licensed work rules. It still has to be done properly: a risk assessment, the right training, and controls to stop fibres becoming airborne.
This is the category most straightforward garage roof removals sit in, provided it’s handled correctly rather than smashed off and skipped to landfill.
Some non-licensed jobs still have to be notified to the relevant enforcing authority before work starts, using HSE’s notifiable non-licensed work (NNLW) rules and official online form.
Workers on NNLW jobs need health records and medical surveillance, including a chest examination and lung function test repeated at least every three years, and the contractor has to keep exposure records for 40 years.
A larger-scale or higher-risk garage or outbuilding removal can fall into this category even without needing a full licence.
Once asbestos cement is going to be substantially broken up or will generate significant dust and debris, such as dropping a roof rather than carefully dismantling it, the work becomes licensable and has to be carried out by an HSE-licensed contractor.
This is also where friable materials like old asbestos insulation board or sprayed coatings usually sit, which is a different and higher-risk category from cement sheeting.
| Category | Typical example on a roof | Who can do it |
|---|---|---|
| Non-licensed work | Careful removal of weathered, intact asbestos cement garage roofing | A trained, competent contractor with the right controls in place |
| Notifiable non-licensed work (NNLW) | Larger-scale or higher-risk cement sheet removal | A trained contractor who notifies the authority and keeps health records |
| Licensed work | Substantially damaging, breaking up, or dropping a roof; friable materials | An HSE-licensed asbestos removal contractor only |
The practical takeaway: a good roofer should be able to tell you which category your job falls into before any work starts, and should never guess. If there’s any doubt, that’s what a survey is for.
You can’t tell whether a sheet is asbestos cement, a later fibre-cement replacement, or something else just by looking at it, especially once it’s painted or weathered.
A proper asbestos survey, carried out by a UKAS-accredited surveyor, takes a sample and has it analysed in a lab rather than relying on a visual guess.
A standard domestic survey for a garage or outbuilding roof typically costs £200 to £500, according to Checkatrade’s 2026 asbestos removal cost guide. It’s a small outlay against the cost of either paying for unnecessary licensed removal you didn’t need, or disturbing genuine asbestos without the right precautions.
For a straightforward non-licensed garage roof removal, the job generally follows the same sequence every time:
A typical garage roof removal takes one to two days from survey to final clearance, weather and access allowing.
Encapsulation, where the sheets are sealed and coated rather than removed, is sometimes offered as a cheaper short-term fix, but it doesn’t solve the underlying problem if the roof needs replacing anyway.
Costs vary with roof size, access, and whether you’re removing cement sheeting or something more complex like asbestos insulation board. These are realistic UK ranges for the jobs homeowners ask about most.
| Job | Typical UK cost (2026) |
|---|---|
| Asbestos survey and testing | £200 – £500 |
| Garage or small outbuilding roof removal | £950 – £3,750 (average around £2,100) |
| Asbestos cement removal, per m² | Around £225 |
| Encapsulation (sealing in place), per m² | Around £33 |
| Typical total project, including survey and disposal | Around £1,750 |
Replacing the roof once the old sheeting is gone is a separate job and cost on top of removal, usually quoted alongside the removal itself so you’re not paying for two separate site visits.
Removal is only half the job. What you do with the waste afterwards is just as regulated, and it’s where cutting corners causes the most legal exposure for homeowners.
Asbestos is classified as hazardous waste, and the rules on moving it are strict regardless of how small the job is.
Under GOV.UK’s hazardous waste rules, whoever removes it has to use an authorised, registered waste carrier to collect and dispose of it, and has to complete a consignment note, keeping a copy and giving the rest to the carrier. Records have to be kept for three years.
If you’re hiring a contractor, ask to see evidence the waste went to a licensed site through a registered carrier, not just a verbal assurance. A legitimate contractor will have this documentation as a matter of course.
One that can’t produce it, or suggests “sorting it themselves” to save money, is a red flag worth walking away from.
The scenario we see more often than a planned garage removal is asbestos turning up unexpectedly partway through an unrelated job: a re-roof that uncovers old asbestos felt underlay, or a loft conversion that exposes an outbuilding roof nobody had tested.
How a contractor handles that moment tells you a lot about them.
The correct response is to stop work on the affected area immediately, not carry on and deal with it later. A professional roofer will isolate the area, explain what they’ve found and why they’ve stopped, and arrange testing before touching it again.
This can mean a short delay to the wider project while a survey and, if needed, a licensed or notifiable removal is arranged.
A contractor who carries on working around a suspected asbestos find rather than stopping to test it first isn’t saving you time. They’re taking a risk with your health and their own licence.
It’s a fair question to ask any roofer upfront, before work starts, on a property old enough to be at risk: what’s their plan if they find something unexpected. A clear, confident answer is a good sign. A shrug isn’t.
If you’re selling a property with an asbestos garage, shed, or outbuilding roof, it’s worth knowing this comes up directly in the conveyancing process.
The Law Society’s standard TA6 Property Information Form, completed by sellers as part of most UK residential transactions, specifically asks whether the seller is aware of asbestos in the property.
Answering honestly, based on what you actually know, is the safe approach.
You’re not expected to commission a survey just to sell the house, but knowingly hiding a known asbestos issue can create real legal problems after completion if it later comes to light.
Buyers sometimes ask for a survey or a price adjustment once asbestos is flagged, which is a normal part of the process rather than something to be alarmed by.
Most roofing mistakes cost you money to put right. Getting asbestos removal wrong can mean a legal breach, a contamination problem in your garden, or a genuine health risk to your family or neighbours.
This is exactly the kind of job where checking a contractor’s credentials properly, rather than just picking the cheapest quote, actually matters. Before you hire anyone for asbestos work on your roof, it’s worth asking:
A contractor with nothing to hide will answer all five without hesitation.
We’re members of the Confederation of Roofing Contractors, and every job we take on is backed by an insurance-backed guarantee, so you’re covered if anything goes wrong long after we’ve left site.
For the specific question of asbestos, what matters is whether the contractor can tell you plainly which category your job falls into, show you their waste transfer paperwork afterwards, and isn’t guessing.
If you’re not sure what else to check before signing off on any roofer, our full guide to choosing a roofing contractor covers the full vetting checklist, and our guide to insurance-backed guarantees explains exactly what that cover means in practice.
If asbestos removal is just one stage of a wider garage roof replacement, it’s worth reading up on pitched roof garage conversions too, since removing an old flat asbestos cement roof is often the point homeowners decide to switch to a pitched roof instead of replacing like for like.
And if planning permission is a question for your project, our guide to planning permission for roof replacement covers when you need to apply and when permitted development rights cover you.
Once the old roof is off, it’s also a sensible moment to think about insulation while the structure is open.
Our guide to roof insulation and your EPC rating explains what upgrading at this stage can do for your energy bills and your property’s rating.
And if you’re planning timings around other work, our guide to how long a roof replacement actually takes gives realistic day-by-day figures.
No. If it’s intact, weathered but not damaged, and you’re not planning any work on it, you’re generally not required to remove it. The legal duties kick in once you plan to repair, replace, or disturb it.
Technically, DIY removal of asbestos cement from your own domestic property isn’t illegal in the way hiring untrained labour would be, but it’s genuinely not recommended.
You still need the right PPE, the correct handling method, and crucially, a registered carrier to take the waste away legally.
Most people find it isn’t worth the risk or the hassle compared to a contractor who already has all of this set up.
You can’t tell by looking, especially once a sheet is painted or weathered. A UKAS-accredited surveyor takes a sample and has it tested in a lab, typically for £200 to £500 for a domestic job.
Encapsulation is cheaper up front, at around £33 per m² against roughly £225 per m² for removal, and can be a reasonable short-term option if the roof isn’t due for replacement.
It doesn’t solve the underlying issue, though, and if the roof needs replacing anyway, you’ll pay for both the seal and the eventual removal.
It has to be double-wrapped, labelled, and collected by an authorised, registered hazardous waste carrier for disposal at a licensed site, with a consignment note completed for the transfer. Ask your contractor for this paperwork once the job’s done.
