Display activities with asbestos on an object-related basis

Asbestos is a carcinogenic hazardous substance. Companies and private individuals are not permitted to manufacture, use or process materials containing asbestos.

Exemptions apply for the following purposes:

• Demolition work
• renovation work
• maintenance work, except for
  • fixed coverings, superstructures or elevations on asbestos cement roofs, asbestos cement wall and ceiling cladding, floor coverings containing asbestos
  • Cleaning and coating work on asbestos cement roofs that are not fully coated and exterior wall cladding made of asbestos cement
• Research, analysis and testing work

If you as a company wish to carry out this work and materials containing asbestos are involved, you must notify the relevant health and safety authority before starting the work.

Only companies are obliged to notify.

The notification can be company-related or object-related.

• You can submit company-related notifications for stationary or temporary workplaces. Your activities must be in the area of low or medium risk.
• You must submit object-related notifications for changing workplaces (construction sites) if you carry out activities in the high-risk area.

You submit the object-related notification to the competent authority. You must also send a copy of the notification to the responsible statutory accident insurance institution. Before you start working with asbestos, you must determine whether you must comply with low, medium or high risk protective measures.

In Germany, the risk of exposure to asbestos in buildings is divided into three categories:

• low risk: asbestos fiber dust exposure below 10,000 fibers per cubic meter
• medium risk: asbestos fiber dust exposure between 10,000 and 100,000 fibers per cubic meter
• high risk: asbestos fiber dust exposure over 100,000 fibers per cubic meter