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FAQS · REMOVAL & PROCESS
How do I choose an asbestos removal contractor?.
Choosing an asbestos contractor is a paperwork exercise before it is a price exercise. Five documents tell you almost everything: the HSE licence (for licensed work), insurance that specifically covers asbestos, the Environment Agency waste carrier registration, a site-specific RAMS rather than a generic template, and evidence of comparable completed projects.
A contractor who produces all five without being chased is usually a contractor who runs their sites the same way.
Written by the Innov8 UK Group asbestos team · Technically reviewed by our Contracts Director · Last reviewed July 2026
VETTED
Check the licence — properly
For licensed materials (AIB, lagging, sprayed coatings), ask to see the HSE licence itself and check the company name matches the one quoting. The HSE publishes a register of licensed contractors you can verify against. For non-licensed work no licence is needed, but training records and method statements still are — 'it's only cement' is not a method statement. Our licence (No. 242606081) is published in full on our accreditations page.
Insurance, waste and paperwork
Ask for the public and employers' liability certificates and check asbestos work is not excluded — on many general builders' policies it is. Ask who carries the waste and to see the carrier registration; if the answer is vague, your waste may be heading somewhere that becomes your problem. And ask what documents you receive at the end: the right answer includes consignment notes and, for licensed work, the independent clearance certificate.
Read the quote like a contract
A compliant quotation itemises removal, disposal, air testing and any scaffold separately, names the notification category (licensed, NNLW or non-licensed), and states what reinstatement is included. Beware day rates with no scope, quotes dramatically below the pack, and anyone who can start licensed work 'tomorrow' — the 14-day notification makes that impossible legally.
Judge them on evidence
Ask for recent comparable projects and look for real detail — materials, controls, photographs — not stock imagery. Our project case studies are published on this site for precisely that reason: scope, controls and outcome, project by project.
