You can find asbestos cement in many places inside and outside buildings such as:
These are mainly made up of large sheets of corrugated asbestos cement; they are often found on industrial or farmyard buildings, but also can be found as roofs on garages and sheds. They are usually covered in mosses as they’ve been there for many years.
Shape and structure similar to roof sheeting, and is often found on walls/as walls of buildings with asbestos cement roofs.
Sometimes attached at the end of cement roofs in warehouse type buildings.
This may be found in boiler systems (including domestic) air conditioning and ventilation systems.
Examples include water tanks, fire surrounds and pipes.
Asbestos cement is just ordinary cement mixed with asbestos, in some cases asbestos can make up over a third of the cement. It is a hard, grey material which was moulded and compressed to produce some of the materials listed above.
As the asbestos is held tightly within the structure of the cement not much is given off when this is broken, however more asbestos fibres will be given off if it is sawn or drilled.
You don’t need a licence to carry out work with asbestos cement. Work with any type of asbestos is dangerous which is why we have produced a number of guidance sheets. These sheets will tell you how to carry out work with asbestos cement safely so that you reduce the risk to yourself and others.
WARNING: Asbestos cement can sometimes be found with other more dangerous asbestos materials such as sprayed coatings - make sure you check before you carry out any work. Asbestos cement is also very fragile and deaths and injuries from falls through asbestos roofs are common - do not stand on it!