Asbestos Removal & Surveys in Hertfordshire

Asbestos Specialists Across Hertfordshire

Aircraft building at Hatfield and light engineering across the county used asbestos for heat and fire protection through the middle of the twentieth century.

Stevenage, Welwyn Garden City and Hemel Hempstead were built or greatly enlarged as new towns in the 1950s and 1960s. That's exactly when asbestos insulating board was standard.

Stevenage, Hemel Hempstead and Welwyn Garden City were built or enlarged within one generation. So much of the county's housing shares one building period and one set of materials. Watford and St Albans have older centres, where asbestos more likely came in with later refurbishment than the original build.

More of Hertfordshire's 523,090 properties date from 1945 to 1964 than from any other period before 2000, and about 81% were built before the 1999 ban. Those are the years when asbestos insulating board was a standard building material, which is why surveys in this kind of stock so often find it.

The most common property type in Hertfordshire is terraced houses, at about 29.3% of the stock, followed by flats and maisonettes at 25.8%. In terraced housing built before the ban, extensions, outbuildings and replacement roofs are where asbestos cement and insulating board most often turn up.

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How it works in Hertfordshire

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Managing & Disposing of Asbestos in Hertfordshire

In Hertfordshire that duty runs across 10 separate council areas. The buildings it covers range from town centre shops and offices to public buildings and the shared parts of blocks of flats. What the duty to manage requires is set out in full in our guide for landlords and businesses.

Disposing of asbestos in Hertfordshire

In Hertfordshire, small amounts of bonded white (chrysotile) household asbestos are accepted at the Welwyn Garden City recycling centre on Fridays and the Ware centre on Mondays, one bag (max 20kg) per visit, once a year, and only by prior booking. The service is for Hertfordshire residents only, so bring proof of address, and a van or trailer needs an ePass. It must be double-bagged and taped in UN-approved asbestos packaging (a red inner bag with asbestos warnings plus a clear outer bag); bin bags and torn packaging are refused. The county's page does not state a charge. The council's home collection service ended on 21 February 2025, so if you have more than 20kg, or another type, use a private contractor. (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 Hertfordshire 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.