Asbestos Removal in Leeds and West Yorkshire

We are not a removal contractor and we do not take a commission on the work. This page exists so you can see who is legally allowed to do the job, and check it for yourself.

Found asbestos in Leeds? Do this before you ring anyone

If you have found something you think is asbestos, the chances are you are not in danger this minute. Asbestos in good condition, sealed and left alone, is generally not releasing fibres. The danger comes from disturbing it: drilling, breaking, sanding, or sweeping up the dust.

• Do not touch it, drill it or break it. Every one of those releases fibres that were sitting harmlessly a moment before.
• Do not sweep or hoover any dust. A domestic vacuum spreads fibres around the room and out of the exhaust.
• Do not put it in a skip or your bin. Asbestos is hazardous waste and it has to be disposed of through a licensed route.
• Do not take a sample yourself. Taking the sample is the moment the fibres get released.
• Close the door and keep people out of the area if the material is already damaged or crumbling.

Then get it identified. You cannot tell whether something contains asbestos by looking at it, and neither can anyone else, including us. It takes a laboratory test.

Every HSE licensed asbestos contractor covering Leeds

These are the eleven companies holding a Health and Safety Executive asbestos licence with a registered address in West Yorkshire. The licence number and expiry date are exactly as they appear on the HSE register, so you can check any of them yourself in about thirty seconds.

Contractors travel, so a licensed firm in Bradford or Batley will normally work in Leeds without any difficulty.

10 of the 11 can take a removal job. The others hold a maintenance or scaffolding licence, which are narrower and do not cover full removal. They are listed because they are on the register, and marked so you do not waste a phone call.

Two things on the Leeds list worth knowing

How to check an asbestos licence yourself

Not all asbestos work needs a licensed contractor

This trips people up, so it is worth being precise. The law splits the work into three groups.

• Licensed work covers the higher risk materials, most obviously sprayed coatings, lagging on pipes and boilers, and insulating board where the work is more than short duration. Only a company holding an HSE licence may do it, and the work has to be notified to the HSE in advance.
• Notifiable non-licensed work sits in the middle. No licence is needed, but the work still has to be notified, records kept, and health surveillance provided.
• Non-licensed work covers the lower risk materials in good condition, such as asbestos cement sheets on a garage roof, and some textured coatings.

That last group is why you will see firms advertising asbestos removal in Leeds without holding a licence. They may well be operating legally on the lower risk materials. The problem is that you cannot tell which group your material falls into until it has been identified, and a company that shrugs at that question is telling you something.

Our honest position: if you do not yet know what the material is, start with someone qualified to survey it rather than someone keen to remove it.

Getting rid of small amounts in Leeds

If the material turns out to be a low risk type in good condition, and the quantity is small, you may not need a removal contractor at all. Leeds City Council runs an asbestos disposal service for householders. Check their current rules, quantity limits and booking process on their own page before you move anything, because those change and theirs is the version that counts.

What you must not do is put it in a household bin, a skip, or the back of a van to a general tip.

What asbestos removal in Leeds is likely to cost

We are not going to invent a figure, because the honest answer is that it depends on the material, the quantity, the access and how it has to be disposed of. A garage roof and a boiler room are different jobs with different rules.

What we will say is this: get more than one quote, get them in writing, and make sure each quote states the licence number of the company doing the work and confirms how the waste will be transferred and documented. A quote that covers those things is worth more than one that is fifty pounds cheaper and vague.

Asbestos removal in Leeds: questions people ask

Is it dangerous to live in a house with asbestos in it?

Millions of British homes built or refurbished before 2000 contain some asbestos. Undisturbed and in good condition, it is generally left in place and managed rather than removed. It is disturbance that creates the risk, which is why the advice above is mostly about leaving it alone.

When was asbestos banned in the UK?

Blue and brown asbestos were banned in 1985. White asbestos followed in 1999. Any building worked on before 2000 may contain it, so age of the property is the first thing to consider.

Can I remove a small asbestos garage roof myself?

Legally, a householder may handle some lower risk materials on their own property. Whether it is a good idea is a different question, and it depends entirely on what the material actually is and what condition it is in. Get it identified first. If it turns out to be insulating board rather than cement sheet, the answer changes completely.

How do I know if a contractor is really licensed?

Ask for the licence number and check it against the table above or the HSE register directly. A licensed contractor will hand the number over without hesitation, because it is the thing that gets them the work.

Why are there so few companies?

Because the HSE licence is hard to get and hard to keep. There are fewer than 400 licensed contractors in the whole of the United Kingdom. A share of 11 for West Yorkshire is normal for the population.

Do you take a fee from these companies?

The list above is the complete HSE register for the area and every company on it is there because the HSE licensed it, not because it paid us. If that ever changes for any part of this page, it will say so plainly on the page itself.

Getting a quote from a Leeds contractor

Ring any of the companies above directly. Their numbers are on the HSE register and we have not altered them.

If you would rather describe the job and have licensed local firms come back to you, use the form below. We pass it on and nothing else happens to it.

Not in West Yorkshire? See all areas we cover.