Materials containing asbestos; notification of activities

Activities involving materials containing asbestos must be reported in advance to the responsible trade supervisory office.

If you carry out work with materials containing asbestos, a notification must be submitted to the responsible trade supervisory office. This notification can be company or object-related. Only companies are obliged to notify.

The type and scope of the notification depends on the risk area of the activities.

High risk: Activities involving asbestos in the high-risk area must always be notified on an object-related basis.

Low or medium risk: Activities in the low or medium risk area must be notified on a company-specific basis.

Notes

Asbestos is a carcinogenic hazardous substance and was already banned at national level in 1993. Since 2005, asbestos has also been banned throughout Europe by the REACH regulation. Asbestos products installed before the ban may still be used until the end of their useful life.

Work on asbestos-containing parts of buildings, equipment, machines, systems, vehicles and other products is generally prohibited.

Only demolition, renovation and maintenance work (ASI work - see definition according to No. 2 TRGS 519) is permitted in accordance with the Hazardous Substances Ordinance.

Prohibited are:

• Covering, superstructure and elevation work on asbestos cement roofs and wall cladding
• Cleaning and coating work on uncoated asbestos cement roofs and wall claddings

Materials containing asbestos that arise during demolition, renovation and maintenance work must be disposed of as waste.

The safety requirements of the Ordinance on Hazardous Substances when working with materials containing asbestos and the ban on asbestos also apply to private households.

The information does not claim to be legally binding or complete. They are for illustrative purposes only. For further information, please refer to the currently valid version of the Hazardous Substances Ordinance.

• Risk assessment / work plan

  according to appendix 1.4 TRGS 519

• Supplementary information for demolition and remediation work on weakly bound products

  according to appendix 1.5 TRGS 519

• Operating instructions

  see sample in appendix 1.6 and 1.7 TRGS 519

• Certificate of competence

  according to appendix 3 and 4 TRGS 519

Demolition, renovation and maintenance work on materials containing asbestos may only be carried out by specialist companies. At least one competent person authorized to issue instructions must be present on site during the work. Certificates of competence are valid for a period of 6 years. Further information on the specialist training courses can be found in Annexes 3 and 4 of TRGS 519.

Work with asbestos in high-risk areas may only be carried out by specialist companies that have official approval.

Compulsory occupational health care in accordance with the Ordinance on Occupational Health Care must be carried out for all employees working with materials containing asbestos before work begins.

Property-related notifications must be sent to the trade supervisory office responsible for the location of the property (e.g. construction site).

Company-related notifications must be sent to the trade supervisory office responsible for the company's registered office.

Please use the forms provided to prepare the notification.

Activities involving materials containing asbestos must be notified to the responsible trade supervisory office at least 7 days before the start of the work, either on an object-related basis (Annex 1.3 TRGS 519) or on a company-related basis (Annex 1.1 TRGS 519).

When notifying the place and time (Annex 1.2 TRGS 519) in addition to the company-related notification, no deadline must be observed. This notification can be made at short notice.

In urgent cases, the competent trade supervisory office may agree to shorten the deadline. An application to shorten the deadline can be made via the online procedure. If approval is granted, the applicant will receive a permit from the trade supervisory office to shorten the deadline. Costs will be charged for the approval. Work may not commence until the permit has been received.

Only if the deadline is shortened: at least EUR 150.00 plus expenses

Company-related notifications must be made again in the event of significant changes or after 6 years at the latest.

A copy of the notification must be sent to the responsible statutory accident insurance institution (e.g. BG BAU).