Managing asbestos

Large amounts of asbestos-containing materials were used for a wide range of construction purposes in new and refurbished buildings until 1999 when the use of asbestos was banned..

There are six types of asbestos:

• white asbestos (also called chrysotile or serpentine)
• brown asbestos (also called amosite or grunerite)
• blue asbestos (also called crocidolite or riebeckite)
• anthophyllite
• tremolite
• actinolite

Asbestos may be found in the floor, wall, ceiling or roofing materials of any building built or refurbished before 2000, or in contaminated soils.

You should carry out a survey to identify if asbestos is present and which type of asbestos it is.