If your shed or garage has a grey corrugated cement roof and the building predates 2000, assume it contains asbestos until a laboratory test says otherwise. Asbestos cement was used for roof sheets, wall panels, gutters and flue pipes right up to the 1999 ban, and you cannot tell by looking whether a sheet contains asbestos or is a modern fibre cement replacement. Intact asbestos cement left alone is not usually dangerous: the risk comes from breaking, drilling, jet washing or dropping it, which is exactly what happens when an old shed gets pulled apart in a hurry.
This guide is general information, not legal advice.
Where it turns up in a garden
Asbestos in domestic outbuildings is almost always the cement type, bound into a hard grey matrix. Common places to find it:
- Corrugated roof sheets on sheds, garages, lean-tos, coal stores and outside toilets: the classic large-profile grey sheet.
- Flat wall panels on prefabricated concrete sectional garages.
- Gutters, downpipes and hoppers in grey cement rather than plastic or cast iron.
- Flue pipes from old boilers, stoves or workshop heaters, and the collar where a flue passes through a roof.
- Soffits, fascias and barge boards on older outbuildings.
- Asbestos insulating board (AIB) lining a workshop or garden room. Softer than cement, more hazardous, and usually licensed work to remove.
Broken sheets stacked behind the shed, or fragments trodden into the soil under a collapsed roof, are common where nobody has cleared in years.
Why the date matters
The UK banned asbestos in stages. Blue (crocidolite) and brown (amosite) were banned in 1985. White asbestos (chrysotile), the type used in asbestos cement, stayed legal until the Asbestos (Prohibitions) (Amendment) Regulations 1999 completed the ban in November 1999. HSE's position is that buildings constructed after 2000 are unlikely to contain asbestos. So:
- Built before 2000: treat suspect materials as asbestos until tested.
- Built after 2000: unlikely, but a re-roofed shed may have been patched with older sheets, which circulated second-hand for years after the ban.
- Unsure of the date: treat it as pre-2000.
What you can tell by eye, and why testing matters
Asbestos cement is mid to dark grey, hard and brittle, often weathered with moss or lichen, with a corrugated profile and a slightly fibrous broken edge. Modern asbestos-free fibre cement looks almost identical, so age, colour and moss are clues, not answers. Testing is the only way to be certain, and it is cheap compared with the cost of getting it wrong.
HSE advises that sampling be carried out by a suitably trained person and analysis done by an accredited laboratory; UKAS accredits asbestos testing laboratories. Postal kits with gloves, a sealed sample bag, instructions and a prepaid envelope are widely sold, and are fine for a single accessible material if you follow the instructions exactly and create no dust. Use a surveyor where there are several materials, the roof is high or damaged, or anything is friable: they take the samples, record the locations and issue a report you can hand to a contractor. Either way, get the result in writing before anyone books a demolition date.
Licensed and non-licensed work
Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, some asbestos work must be done by an HSE-licensed contractor and some need not be. HSE's guidance on non-licensed work gives removal of asbestos cement products such as roof sheeting and rainwater goods as non-licensed, provided the material is carefully handled and removed without breaking it up.
Non-licensed does not mean unregulated. Whoever does it still needs a risk assessment, training, controls to keep dust down (wet methods, hand tools, no power tools), respiratory protection and correct disposal. Work on asbestos insulating board, sprayed coatings or pipe lagging, or on cement already badly damaged, moves into licensed territory. Homeowners may legally handle asbestos cement at their own property, but the practical answer for most people is a firm that does it regularly and can produce a disposal receipt.
What not to do
- Do not break, snap or drop sheets. Throwing a roof sheet off a garage is the worst thing you can do with it.
- Do not drill, cut, sand or grind it, or take a power saw to it.
- Do not jet wash, scrub or wire-brush it. High-pressure water blasts fibres out of the weathered surface and across the garden.
- Do not sweep up dry debris or use a domestic vacuum.
- Do not put it in your household bin, a hired skip or a garden waste load.
- Do not burn it, leave broken pieces lying about, or reuse sheets elsewhere.
If a sheet is already broken, keep people and pets away, dampen it gently rather than sweeping, cover it and get advice.
Disposal
Asbestos is hazardous waste and cannot go out with ordinary rubbish. Waste asbestos cement should be double-wrapped in heavy-duty polythene, sealed and clearly labelled, then taken to a site permitted to accept it.
Council arrangements vary, and this is where people come unstuck. Some household recycling centres take small quantities of bonded asbestos cement by appointment, with limits on how much per visit and how it is wrapped. Others do not accept it at all: Birmingham's household recycling centres do not take asbestos, and the council runs a separate collection service instead. Solihull, Walsall, Dudley, Sandwell and Wolverhampton each set their own rules, so check your council's page before you load anything into a car, and never turn up unannounced with asbestos in the boot. See also nearest tip in the West Midlands.
What we do when the asbestos flag is ticked
Our quote form asks whether a shed was built before 2000 with a corrugated roof, and separately whether anything is present that is not garden waste, including an asbestos-type shed roof. A "not sure" is treated as a yes. Tick either and the enquiry is flagged: we give no instant online price for asbestos work and we do not send a general clearance crew to strip a suspect roof. The job goes to a free survey, and any asbestos element is quoted and handled separately.
Getting the shed removed
Once the roof is confirmed asbestos-free, or the asbestos has been dealt with, the structure itself is straightforward. On our price card, shed removal runs at about £150 for a small shed, £220 for a medium one and £300 for a large one, waste included. A concrete base, or a mix of fencing and rubble, adds roughly 20 per cent. Prices are in the garden clearance cost guide, and if the shed is part of a wider job see overgrown garden clearance. We are an introducer: we pass your enquiry to one local specialist covering your area, who confirms a fixed price from photos or a visit.
Questions
How do I know if my shed roof contains asbestos?
You cannot know by looking. Grey corrugated cement sheeting on a building put up before 2000 should be treated as asbestos until a UKAS-accredited laboratory analyses a sample.
Is it illegal for me to remove an asbestos shed roof myself?
Removing intact asbestos cement at your own home is not licensed work, so it is not in itself unlawful, but it must be done without breaking the material, with dust controls and protection, and the waste must go to a permitted site. Most people are better off paying someone who does it regularly.
Can I take asbestos to the tip?
Only where your council accepts it, usually by appointment, double-wrapped and labelled, with a quantity limit. Birmingham's household recycling centres do not accept asbestos and the council offers a collection service instead.
Is an asbestos cement roof dangerous if I leave it alone?
Undisturbed asbestos cement in good condition presents a very low risk, which is why leaving it in place is often sensible. The risk rises sharply once it is broken, drilled or pressure washed.