Found asbestos in Swindon? Do this before you ring anyone

Swindon grew fastest in the two decades when asbestos use was at its peak. The railway works, the Pressed Steel and later Rover plant at Stratton, and the estates built to house the people who worked in them all went up while asbestos board, cement sheet and pipe lagging were ordinary building materials. Walcot, Park North and Penhill date from that period. So do thousands of prefabricated garages with cement sheet roofs, which is the single most common thing a Swindon householder finds.

Every HSE licensed asbestos contractor covering Wiltshire

There are four firms holding a licence here, and three of them are in Swindon itself. That is unusual. In most counties the licence holders are scattered and the nearest one is an hour away.

One firm here holds a scaffolding licence, not a removal one: Abbey Scaffolding (Swindon) Limited in Swindon. A scaffolding licence covers putting up and taking down scaffold around asbestos work, not removing anything, so those are not who you ring about a garage roof.

Two things on the Wiltshire list worth knowing

• Swindon Borough Council is on it. The council holds an HSE asbestos licence in its own right, which is why it can run a collection service rather than just pointing you at a contractor. Very few councils do.
• Four firms is a short list, and that is normal here. Expect firms from Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Bristol to quote for Swindon work as well. Widening the search usually gets you a keener price rather than a worse job.

Swindon gives residents free disposal

Swindon Borough Council is licensed to dispose of asbestos waste, so it takes cement bonded asbestos from residents at the Household Waste Recycling Centre. There is a limited amount of free disposal.

• You have to be a Swindon Borough resident and bring proof of address, a driving licence, passport or recent utility bill.
• Up to 12 sheets, none bigger than 1.5m by 2.5m. Do not break a sheet to make it fit, because breaking it is exactly what releases the fibres.
• Everything double wrapped in heavy duty polythene or bags and sealed with tape, and no single item heavier than 25kg.
• It has to be from your own property. A shed roof, drainpipes, a water tank.
• Bring help. Staff cannot assist you, and you need your own protective equipment.
• Book your slot first. The recycling centre runs on appointments.

If a builder removed it, or it came from a business, or it is anything other than cement bonded, the free route is closed. The council will still deal with it, but as a paid service.

What the council charges to come and collect it

Swindon runs a collection and disposal service with its own staff, which is a real alternative to hiring a contractor for a small job.

• Call out charge of £45.00 an hour.
• Legal consignment note, £30.00. That is the paperwork that proves the waste was disposed of properly, and you want it.
• £7.90 a bag including VAT, and £10.00 a roof sheet including VAT.
• Wrapping can be done for you at an extra charge, quoted at the time.

You request it through the council’s online form and an agent rings you back within 48 hours to quote properly. Prices read off the council’s own asbestos disposal page.

The South West sits just above the national mesothelioma rate

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

Swindon’s railway works employed thousands of men in trades that handled asbestos daily, lagging boilers and pipework, and the carriage and wagon shops used it for fire protection. Mesothelioma can take forty years to appear, so a rate measured today reflects work done in the 1960s and 1970s.

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

What asbestos removal in Swindon is likely to cost

Swindon has one advantage most towns do not. For a small cement job you can compare a contractor’s quote against the council’s own published charges, which gives you a floor to argue from. Very few places let you do that.

Asbestos removal in Swindon: questions people ask

Will the council remove asbestos from my house?

Swindon Borough Council will collect and dispose of it, which is more than most councils offer, and it holds an HSE licence to do so. It charges £45 an hour plus £30 for the consignment note and a price per bag or sheet.

Can I take asbestos to the tip in Swindon?

Yes. Cement bonded asbestos only, from your own home, up to 12 sheets no bigger than 1.5m by 2.5m, double wrapped and sealed, with proof that you live in the borough. There is a limited amount of free disposal.

Am I allowed to remove asbestos cement myself?

For low risk cement material in good condition the law does not require a licensed contractor. That is not the same as it being a good idea. Breaking a sheet is what releases the fibres, and most damage is done at the point somebody tries to make it fit in the car.

My builder found asbestos. Who pays to get rid of it?

Normally the builder. Waste created by a contractor is legally theirs to dispose of unless your contract says otherwise. Swindon’s free tip route is closed to material a builder removed, so this matters.

How many licensed contractors are near me?

4 hold a current licence with a Wiltshire address, three of them in Swindon. Firms in Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Bristol work across Swindon too, so your real choice is wider than the table.

Getting a quote from a Swindon contractor

Firms in the neighbouring counties bid for this work routinely. To widen the field, see the licensed contractors covering Oxford and Oxfordshire, Gloucester and Gloucestershire or Bristol.

Not in Swindon? See every area we cover.