How We Check
Every claim on this site should be one you can check yourself. This page sets out where the information comes from, how often it is refreshed, and what it does and does not mean.
Where the data comes from
There is one source for the contractor listings: the register of licensed asbestos removal contractors published by the Health and Safety Executive.
The HSE is the regulator. It grants the licences, it sets the conditions, and it is the only body that can say whether a company holds one. The register is distributed as a spreadsheet through the Construction Industry Advisory Committee, and that file is what this site reads.
The file is dated on that page, and it changes as licences expire, get renewed or are newly issued. You can download it and check anything here against it.
That register is public. This site takes it in full, sorts it by area, and puts it on the page for that area.
- Nothing is added. If a company is not on the HSE register, it does not appear on an area page.
- Nothing is left out. Every licensed contractor with an address in an area appears on that area page, whether it has ever heard of this site or not.
At the last check there were 362 licensed contractors in the whole of the United Kingdom.
How often it is checked
Daily, automatically, and the whole register rather than a sample. The site downloads the published spreadsheet every day and rebuilds every area page from it.
This matters more than it sounds. Licences expire. A company that held one last year may not hold one now, and a directory that copied the register once in 2024 is still showing that company as licensed today. The check date is printed at the top of every area page.
Where a licence is close to expiry, the area page says so next to that company. Not as an accusation, because licences are renewed all the time, but because it is a fair thing to ask about before you book work.
What the licence types mean
- Standard licence. The full licence, covering higher risk removal work. This is the one most people need, and it is what the great majority of firms on the register hold.
- Maintenance licence. Narrower, covering short duration maintenance work rather than full removal. A company holding one is properly licensed, but not for everything.
- Scaffolding licence. Narrower again. A firm listed under this type is licensed for scaffolding work connected with asbestos, not for removing it.
All three types are shown on the area pages, in the Type column, because a firm with the wrong licence for your job is a problem even though its licence is perfectly real. If you are having asbestos removed, Standard is the type to look for.
What the licence is
A standard licence is the HSE’s assessment that the firm can do licensed removal. A maintenance licence is narrower. The Type column is the thing to match to the work. A licence is not a review of the last job they did, and it will not tell you what your garage roof is made of. That takes a laboratory test.
How the guidance on this site is sourced
Anything on this site that describes the law, or what you should and should not do, is taken from the Health and Safety Executive and the regulations themselves, and linked so you can read the original. Where something is my opinion rather than a rule, it is written as an opinion.
There is no do it yourself section on this site and there will not be one. Explaining how to disturb asbestos is not something a website should be doing, however much traffic it might bring.
Mistakes
If something here is wrong, tell me and I will fix it and say what changed. If the HSE register itself is wrong, the correction has to come from them, and I will tell you that rather than quietly editing the data to suit a complaint.
Email info@theasbestospeople.co.uk.