Asbestos Removal in Bristol and Avon

This page lists every firm the HSE currently licenses in Bristol and Avon for asbestos removal. Avon is the old county tag the HSE still uses, so Bath and Weston-super-Mare firms sit on the same list. Bristol Waste will take cement-bonded asbestos at a household reuse and recycling centre if you book, wrap the sheets and pay. They will not take it off the building.

Ring 0117 922 2100 first and ask whether there is space in the skip. They will only take cement-bonded asbestos, double wrapped in heavy polythene and sealed with tape. Staff will not unload it. Current limits and the charge per sheet are on Bristol City Council’s recycling-centre page. Bath, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire run their own sites with their own rules. A trader cannot use any of this.

Swipe the table on a phone.

6 of the 6 hold a standard licence, which is the one that covers removal. The rest are on the register with a narrower type. The Type column is there so you do not ring the wrong one.

How to read the licensed contractor list for Bristol

• Watch the expiry dates. None of the Bristol and Avon firms hold a licence expiring in the next 6 weeks. If the date is close, ask whether they have renewed.
• Watch the type. Every firm on this list holds a standard licence, which is the type that covers removal work.

Ask for the licence number before you appoint anyone and match it to the table. The register is published by the Construction Industry Advisory Committee with the HSE.

The recycling centre will not identify the material

Bristol Waste takes cement-bonded sheets from a householder. Insulating board, lagging and anything that is not cement-bonded is refused. If you are not sure what you have, do not take it to the tip to find out. That is a survey or a sample, not a skip booking.

Do not break the sheets to make them fit. Do not sweep the dust. Do not put them in a general skip. A trader who tries to use the household site is turned away.

Where asbestos turns up in Bristol houses

A cement garage roof on a south Bristol terrace is the job most people ring about. Later kitchens and bathrooms in those houses often have old floor tiles or textured coating as well. Insulating board around a boiler or in a cupboard is a different material and the recycling centre will not take it.

1960s and 70s infill, prefabs and converted industrial buildings around the river are a different stock again. Fire-stopping and old board in those buildings is licensed work more often than a garage roof is.

Not every job needs a licensed firm

Cement-bonded garage sheets in good condition can be a householder job if you can take them off whole, wrap them, and the council will still accept them. Lagging, insulating board and anything broken is not that job. If the material is licensed work, the firm on the table is the one you ring, not a general builder.

The South West sits just above the national rate

• South West: 57.6 deaths per million
• Great Britain as a whole: 55.9

A little above Great Britain as a whole. Bristol’s docks, aircraft manufacturing and engineering all used asbestos, and the figures measured today reflect work done decades ago.

The risk has shifted. The HSE says the people most at risk now are those who worked in the building trades while asbestos was still in use, carpenters, plumbers and electricians. The risk in Bristol today is in the housing, not the aircraft works.

Figures from the HSE’s mesothelioma statistics for Great Britain.

What asbestos removal costs in Bristol

Most domestic jobs in the UK land somewhere between £400 and £3,500. A single garage roof is usually the lower end of that. Insulating board, a whole roof, or a job that needs an enclosure is the other end. Get more than one quote, in writing, and ask whether disposal and the consignment note sit inside the figure.

The recycling-centre charge is only for a householder dropping off already-wrapped cement sheets. It is not a removal price.

Hampshire and Oxfordshire firms on those lists quote this way as well, and they travel: Hampshire, Oxford.

Kingswood, Bath and Weston are not one tip

People in South Gloucestershire often assume Bristol Waste will take their sheets. They will not, if you are not a Bristol resident using a Bristol site. Bath and North East Somerset and North Somerset publish their own recycling-centre rules. Read the council that collects your bins, not this page’s Bristol number.

A terrace garage roof in Bedminster is a different access job from a detached garage on a North Somerset plot. Say which it is when you ask for quotes. Scaffold or a narrow rear lane is what usually moves the price, not the city name on the invoice.

How to check an asbestos licence yourself

Every firm in the table has a licence number. Ask for it, then match it to the row. You can also search the same register the table is copied from. If the number they give you is not on the current HSE list, stop. If the type is not Standard and the job is licensed removal, stop and ask why they quoted.

A builder who “knows a man with a licence” is not the licence holder. The named contractor on the licence is the one who has to do the licensed work.

Questions about asbestos removal in Bristol

Can I take a garage roof to the tip myself?

Cement-bonded sheets, double wrapped, booked, paid, from your own home: that is what Bristol Waste will look at. Ring 0117 922 2100 and read the council page on the day you go. If the sheets are broken, or you cannot get them off whole, use a firm from the table.

Bath is on this list. Will they work in Bristol?

The HSE files them under Avon. Firms on this table routinely work across Bristol, Bath and North Somerset. Ask how far they travel before you take a quote as local.

Is a cement garage roof licensed work?

Often not, if the sheets come off whole. Broken sheets, cutting, and insulating board are a different job. If you are not sure, get a sample tested before you book Bristol Waste or a contractor. The recycling centre will not test it for you.

What should a written quote include?

The licence number, whether the work is licensed or not, what happens to the waste, whether a consignment note is included, and whether access equipment is in the figure. VAT. A one-line email with a price is not enough to compare.

Landlords in named Bristol wards need a property licence

Bristol runs mandatory HMO licensing citywide, additional HMO licensing, and selective licensing in named wards. Selective licensing covers ordinary rented houses, not only HMOs, in places the council has designated. Current wards and the map sit on Bristol’s property licence page. Check that before you assume your street is in or out. Bishopston and Ashley Down, Cotham, Easton, Bedminster and Brislington West have all appeared on that map. The boundary is the council’s, not this page’s.

A licence inspection is often how a landlord first hears about a garage roof or old board. The licence does not replace a laboratory test, and it does not write the removal job. If the council has told you to deal with asbestos, use a firm from the table for licensed work, or a competent contractor for cement-bonded sheets that can come off whole.

Getting a quote from a Bristol contractor

Ring anyone in the table. Those numbers come straight from the HSE register.

Not in Bristol? See the licensed firms covering Exeter and Devon, Gloucester and Gloucestershire, or all areas we cover.