Asbestos Removal & Surveys in Dorset

Asbestos Specialists Across Dorset

Portland's naval base and Poole's marine and light engineering works used asbestos for insulation and fire protection all through the twentieth century.

Bournemouth and Poole grew fast between the wars and again after 1945. That left lots of inter-war and post-war housing next to older seaside property.

Bournemouth and Poole between them hold most of the county's flats. Some were converted from large older houses, and some were purpose-built in the 1960s and 1970s. In blocks of that age, asbestos is as likely to be in the shared risers, ducts and panels as inside any one flat.

Roughly 82.1% of Dorset's 379,530 properties went up before the 1999 asbestos ban, a high share for a county of its size, and the biggest single group of those dates from 1965 to 1982. Those are the years when asbestos cement, insulating board and textured coatings were all still normal materials.

The most common property type in Dorset is flats and maisonettes, at about 28% of the stock, followed by detached houses at 21.9%. In flats and maisonettes the material is as likely to be in the communal parts, in service risers, ducts and the panels around them, as it is inside any one home.

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How it works in Dorset

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Managing & Disposing of Asbestos in Dorset

It covers business premises, public buildings and the shared parts of blocks of flats in both of Dorset's councils. What the duty to manage requires is set out in full in our guide for landlords and businesses.

Disposing of asbestos in Dorset

In Dorset, the Dorset Council sites at Blandford, Wareham and Weymouth take bonded asbestos by pre-booked slot only, for small DIY repairs and not a whole roof: a one-off booking of 6 bags, or 4 bags and 1 sheet, or 2 bags and 2 sheets, or 3 sheets, with sheets no bigger than 6ft by 4ft. Dorset Council publishes no price for this. Its hazardous waste policy says asbestos must be double-bagged and clearly labelled. Its site policy says asbestos that is not properly contained cannot be accepted, certain vehicle types cannot unload without a vehicle permit, and you must not come in a van with a hire agreement of more than 3 days, with a trailer bed of more than 1.2m by 1.8m, or on foot unless site staff agree. In the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) area, bonded asbestos counts towards the free weekly DIY allowance (up to 2 bags of 50 litres), then costs £10.50 per bag or £21 per sheet, double-wrapped in tough plastic and completely sealed; take identification showing you live in the BCP area (a current Council Tax bill, photocard driving licence or utility bill). At the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole centres a van needs a valid permit or a hire agreement of no more than three days, and a trailer can be no bigger than 6ft by 4ft; the centre pages also list vehicles that are not allowed, including vans over 3.5 tonnes, vans or pick-ups towing trailers, Luton box vans, flatbed vans and tipper vehicles, and the car entrance at Poole has a height restriction of two metres. Larger amounts need a waste company that deals with asbestos. (council source, verified 2026-10-10)

Check the site's own page before you travel. Recycling centres are often closed on set weekdays, and often set extra rules for vans, pick-ups, trailers and visitors on foot, such as permits, size limits or no access on foot.

Asbestos waste is classed as hazardous (special) waste.So there are rules on how it's wrapped, labelled, carried and recorded. We set them out in full in our disposal guide.

Councils across Dorset set their own rules for households. When we arrange the work, disposal is handled for you. For the rules where you live, see our asbestos disposal by council lookup, or check typical prices in the UK asbestos removal cost report.