Until 1 July 1993, asbestos was an ordinary building material in the Netherlands. It was cheap, strong, fire-resistant and insulating, and that is why it is present in hundreds of thousands of homes built or renovated before 1994. As long as asbestos is left alone, the risk is small. The problem arises when you renovate: sawing, drilling, breaking and sanding release fibres that you breathe in. That is why there are strict rules on who may survey and remove asbestos, and there are steps you as a homeowner must take before the sledgehammer comes out. This article explains where asbestos is found, why you cannot recognise it with the naked eye, when a survey is mandatory, what you may remove yourself and what to do if you unexpectedly come across it during the renovation.
Where asbestos is found in homes built before 1994
Asbestos was used in dozens of building products. In and around homes it mainly occurs in the following places:
- Corrugated sheets on sheds, garages and extensions, and roof slates made of asbestos cement.
- Roof boarding and sheet material under roof tiles, especially in homes from the 1960s and 1970s.
- Window sills made of imitation marble and sheet material under window frames and in parapet panels.
- Glazing putty and sealant around window frames, and adhesive under tiles.
- Sheet flooring and vinyl tiles with an asbestos-containing backing, often hidden under later floors.
- Stove pipes, flue ducts and ventilation ducts made of asbestos cement, and insulating rope and gaskets around stoves, gas water heaters and old central heating boilers.
- Cavity wall boards and fire-resistant boards in the cavity, behind the meter cupboard, around chimneys and under stairs.
- Ceiling panels, wall panels in sheds and garages, planters, sewer pipes and the soil stack.
Two concepts help you assess the risk. Bonded asbestos is fixed in a binding material, usually cement; as long as you do not work on it or break it, hardly any fibres are released. Non-bonded (friable) asbestos, such as sprayed asbestos, insulating rope, asbestos board and some sheet floorings, releases fibres as soon as it is touched or vibrated and is much more dangerous. Bonded asbestos is the most common type in homes, but renovating is exactly when that material gets worked on, and then the fibres are released after all.
Why you cannot identify asbestos with certainty
Identification tips circulate on the internet: a waffle texture on the back of sheets, a greyish-white colour, a production year in the material. Those tips help you point out suspect material, but no more than that. Asbestos fibres are microscopically small and are incorporated in a material that looks exactly like asbestos-free alternatives from the same period. Whether a sheet, sealant or floor actually contains asbestos can only be established by analysis in an accredited laboratory. The year of construction is a clue, not proof: stocks were still used after the ban, and in homes built before 1994 some removal work has often already been done in later years.
In a home built before 1994, therefore, treat every suspect material as containing asbestos until proven otherwise. Do not drill into it, do not break it, do not sand it, and do not let your contractor or plasterer start on it either until it is clear what it is. A good tradesperson recognises the suspect spots and will ask for a survey themselves before giving a quote.
Asbestos survey: when it is mandatory and who carries it out
An asbestos survey (asbestinventarisatie) is an investigation by a certified company that inspects the home, takes samples of suspect materials and has them analysed, and records in a report where asbestos is present, what type it is, what condition it is in and which risk class its removal falls into. The certification of survey companies and removal contractors is governed by the certification scheme managed by Ascert; on ascert.nl you can check whether a company is certified. Only a report from a certified company is accepted by the municipality and by removal contractors.
The survey is mandatory when you are going to demolish or renovate all or part of a home or building from before 1994 and asbestos can reasonably be expected. So this applies not only when demolishing a shed, but also when removing a ceiling, replacing window frames with old sealant or breaking open a floor. In those cases the report is a requirement for the sloopmelding (demolition notification) you submit to the municipality. The only exception is the limited work that private individuals may carry out themselves, which is covered below. Since 2024, the rules have been set out in the Besluit bouwwerken leefomgeving (Bbl, the Dutch Building Decree) under the Omgevingswet (Environment and Planning Act) and in the Asbestverwijderingsbesluit (Asbestos Removal Decree); the municipality supervises compliance.
The report assigns every application to a risk class. In risk class 1, few fibres are released during removal; under certain conditions that work may be done by an expert company without full containment. In risk classes 2 and 2A, so many fibres are released that removal may only be carried out by a certified asbestos removal company, in an enclosed space under negative pressure, with personal protective equipment and followed by a final clearance inspection by an independent laboratory before the space is released for use. The risk class therefore determines who may do the work and how, and with that also how long the space is out of use.
What you may remove yourself as a private individual
For private individuals, the law makes a limited exception. Without a survey report and without a certified company, you may broadly remove the following materials yourself, provided they come from your own home or outbuilding and you can remove them in one piece without breaking them:
- Screwed, bonded asbestos cement sheets, such as corrugated sheets on a shed, up to a maximum of 35 square metres in total. Roof slates are not included.
- Asbestos-containing floor tiles or non-glued sheet flooring that you can remove in one piece; the maximum of 35 square metres applies to sheets, tiles and sheet flooring combined.
- Certain loose items such as planters, provided they are undamaged.
Anything that is glued, nailed or damaged, that is non-bonded or that exceeds the limit mentioned falls outside the exception and must be removed by a certified removal contractor. The exact conditions and area limits may differ per situation and the municipality may impose additional requirements; check them on the Omgevingsloket (the government's online permit portal) or with your municipality before you start.
Rules also apply when you remove it yourself. You submit a demolition notification to the municipality in advance via the Omgevingsloket; for this private removal the notification period is at least one week instead of the usual four weeks. Wear a disposable overall and a dust mask of the right type, wet the sheets to bind dust, unscrew them without breaking them and immediately wrap them twice in strong plastic, taped airtight and marked with an asbestos label. Take the wrapped material to the milieustraat (municipal recycling centre); many municipalities accept limited quantities free of charge, sometimes after registration, and provide wrapping material. Check this in advance. Asbestos must never go out with bulky waste, in an ordinary skip or in a rubble bag.
Asbestos found during the renovation
Even with a survey beforehand, asbestos can turn up in a place that was not accessible: behind a stud wall, under a later floor, in a bricked-up fireplace. In that case, proceed as follows:
- Stop the work. Stop sawing, drilling, breaking or grinding immediately. Switch off ventilation and building dryers and close off the room.
- Do not touch the material any further and do not try to clean it up yourself. Do not sweep or use an ordinary vacuum cleaner; that blows fibres into the house. Take off dusty clothing and wash yourself.
- Have the material examined by a certified asbestos survey company. If you suspect fibres have already been released, an air measurement may be needed before the room is used again.
- Bring in a certified removal contractor for removal in risk class 2 or 2A, including the final clearance inspection. Only then does the contractor resume work.
- Keep a record. Write down what happened, take photos and keep the survey and clearance reports with your home's documents. When you sell, you have a duty to disclose known asbestos applications.
Agree with your contractor in advance how they will deal with an asbestos find and who bears the consequences of a stoppage; include this in the contract. A tradesperson who does not have a suspect material in a pre-1994 home examined but simply carries on working puts you, their own staff and the neighbours at risk and breaches the health and safety at work rules. What else needs to be arranged in advance for demolition and structural work is covered in Removing a load-bearing wall: rules, risks and step-by-step plan and When do you need a permit for a renovation.
Keeping the health risk in proportion
Inhaled asbestos fibres can cause asbestosis, lung cancer or mesothelioma decades later. That is the reason for the strict rules, and the reason you should not work on the materials above yourself. At the same time, it is good to see the risk in proportion. The danger depends on the quantity of fibres and the duration of exposure. People who have become ill have, as a rule, worked with asbestos professionally for years. Having been in a room once where an asbestos sheet was broken gives a small additional risk, not a certainty of illness. Asbestos that sits undamaged and undisturbed in your home, in roof boarding or a window sill, does not need to be removed urgently; the risk arises when it is worked on and when it weathers, as with old corrugated sheets that shed fibres into the rainwater and the soil below.
If you have questions about exposure after an incident, you can contact the GGD (municipal public health service) in your region, which has environmental health advisers for this. The RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment) and Milieu Centraal publish independent information about the risks and about dealing with asbestos in and around the home.
Are you planning? For a home built before 1994, have the survey carried out before you request quotes, so contractors know what they need to take into account. On VerbouwPro you post your job free of charge and tradespeople from your region respond with a verified profile and reviews: a roofer to replace an asbestos roof after removal, a contractor for the renovation afterwards. In your job description, state the year the home was built and whether there is a survey report.