Companies that remove asbestos will no longer be allowed to appoint the analyst who certifies their work as safe, under new rules announced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The change is designed to remove conflicts of interest from the four-stage clearance process that decides whether a building can be reoccupied after asbestos removal.

What is changing

The HSE will amend regulation 20 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, which covers air testing and site clearance certification. Under the change, the analyst for site clearance certification must not be appointed by the contractor carrying out the removal work. The aim, the regulator says, is to strengthen the independence and impartiality of the clearance process, so that commercial relationships cannot influence the testing that declares an area safe.

When it takes effect

A Statutory Instrument amending the regulations was laid in Parliament on 3 November and comes into force on 24 November 2026, subject to parliamentary procedure. Industry has 12 months to comply, and the HSE says it will begin formal enforcement in November 2027. The regulator will update its Approved Code of Practice, Managing and working with asbestos, and its Asbestos: The Analysts’ Guide later in 2026, and has published online guidance to help dutyholders appoint third-party providers.

The change follows a nine-week consultation that ran from 10 November 2025 to 9 January 2026 and drew 358 responses. Asbestos was banned in construction in the UK in 1999, but the HSE says legacy asbestos remains a risk in buildings constructed before the ban. Sources: Health and Safety Executive and the HSE consultation on the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.