Asbestos clearance analyst must be independent of removal firm

Licensed asbestos removal work in England, Wales and Scotland will need an independently appointed clearance analyst.Legislation The Control of Asbestos (Amendment etc.) Regulations 2026 substitute regulation 20 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012Legislation so that the person who assesses whether premises are clean enough for reoccupation cannot be appointed by the employer that was required to clean themLegislation, in practice the licensed asbestos removal contractor.

The 2012 Regulations require the employer of the workers carrying out asbestos work, or the self-employed person, to ensure premises or parts of premises are thoroughly cleaned on completion under regulation 17(b). Where the work is licensable, the removal contractor carries out a visual inspection and hands the site to an analyst for the four-stage clearance process ending in a final assessment after the enclosure is dismantled. The analyst then issues the site clearance certificate for reoccupation confirming the area is thoroughly clean and safe to return to the owner or occupier.

Under the new regulation 20, anyone measuring asbestos fibres in the air must meet criteria equivalent to the relevant paragraphs of ISO 17025, and anyone commissioning such measurement must use a person accredited by an appropriate body as competent in ISO 17025. A person appointed to assess cleanliness for a reoccupation certificate must be accredited as competent in the relevant paragraphs of ISO 17020 and ISO 17025, covering organisation, quality systems, personnel, test methods, equipment and reporting, among other specified matters. The new element is paragraph (4)Legislation: the employer that had to ensure the cleaning cannot appoint the assessorLegislation. The appointment must instead come from another party, ordinarily the client or dutyholder with repair, maintenance or access obligations for the premises.Legislation

The change gives statutory force to a long-standing recommendation. The Approved Code of Practice on managing and working with asbestos has for nearly 20 years said the organisation carrying out the four-stage clearance should be sufficiently independent to act impartially, and the Analysts' Guide likewise states that the organisation should have the necessary independence to act completely impartially, following the Work and Pensions Committee's April 2022 recommendation that the client or dutyholder appoint the analyst. Health and Safety Executive licensing data for June 2024 to September 2025 shows the recommendation is not met in just over half of licensable jobs, with 53% of analysts still appointed by the removal contractor, creating a risk of pressure to release sites and of workers and building users being exposed after removal. The new prohibition is enforceable through the existing health and safety regime: contravening a requirement imposed under health and safety regulations is an offence under section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

The instrument also makes consequential provision: the reference in regulation 31 to the 2001 Order applying the 1974 Act outside Great Britain becomes the 2013 Order, and the spent entry for the revoked Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 is omitted from Schedule 3.

A nine-week public consultation drew 358 responses, with 71% of those answering supporting the mandate for analyst independence. The annual net direct cost to business is estimated at 1.9 million, comprising familiarisation and operational costs of independent appointment arrangements, below the threshold for a full Impact Assessment. Guidance supporting the 2012 Regulations has been updated, with targeted stakeholder communication to follow.

Legal basis: sections 15, 18 and 82 of, and Schedule 3 to, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and the Control of Asbestos (Amendment etc.) Regulations 2026 (2026 No. 1153) amending regulation 20, regulation 31 and Schedule 3 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.