Asbestos rules 2026: can you remove asbestos yourself?

Authorisation: who may demolish asbestos?

Since 1 January 2025, the company carrying out asbestos demolition must be authorised, except for brief work of a minor nature. The Danish Business Authority issues the authorisation. The company must have an approved quality management system and an approved responsible professional. Personal approval does not replace company authorisation.

So ask about the authorisation when you request quotes. Trained workers, or one approved person, is not the same as an authorised company.

The requirement also applies to private individuals. You may not demolish asbestos yourself beyond the small jobs described below. Those are the Working Environment Authority's rules in 2026, even though the June 2026 government platform proposes making it easier for private owners. The proposal has not been enacted.

Timeline: what changed when

The rules came in stages. These four dates decide what applies to your house today:

The exception: brief work of a minor nature

The executive order exempts brief demolition work of a minor nature from the authorisation requirement. The Working Environment Authority gives these examples of what it covers:

• Taking down 4–6 asbestos-containing roof sheets to fit one roof window. 8–12 sheets for two roof windows require an authorisation.
• Individual tiles that break when you drill into them, for example to mount a cabinet.
• Taking down 1–2 pipe bends with asbestos-containing insulation, when they are removed whole without cutting into the insulation.

A larger job may not be split into small ones to get around the authorisation. A whole roof is never brief work of a minor nature, however many weekends you spread it over.

For the exempt work, the other rules still apply: the material must not be broken, cut, sanded or drilled more than necessary, it must be wetted, and the waste must be packaged and delivered correctly. Private individuals are not covered by the training requirement for the exempt work.

Training: who may work with asbestos?

Since 21 December 2025, every person carrying out asbestos work must have completed an occupational health and safety qualification. For demolition, the work that requires authorisation, it is the 4-day AMU course in asbestos demolition. For other asbestos work, such as encapsulation and minor repairs, it is a 2-day course.

The requirement applies to employees and companies. Private individuals doing the exempt work on their own home are not covered by the training requirement. You still may not demolish more than the exception allows.

Notification to the Working Environment Authority and to the municipality

The employer must notify asbestos work to the Working Environment Authority before the work begins, as far as possible at least 3 days in advance. The notification is the company's responsibility, not yours. A few tasks with short, low-level exposure are exempt, such as sampling to find out whether a material contains asbestos, encapsulating material in good condition, and brief maintenance.

As the building owner you have a notification of your own to make. Before demolition, renovation or major maintenance affecting over 10 m² or producing over 1 tonne of waste, the waste rules require you to screen the building for problematic substances such as asbestos, PCB, lead and chlorinated paraffins, map the findings and notify the municipality of the waste. That includes an asbestos roof. We help with the details, but the notification is in your name.

How the work must be carried out

The executive order on asbestos in the working environment requires working methods that create as little dust as possible. For a roof, that means the sheets are wetted and taken down whole, without cutting, sanding or drilling. Indoors, where asbestos dust in significant amounts is the rule, the area must be sealed off with an airlock and kept under negative pressure, and the extracted air cleaned before it is led outside.

After the work, the area must be thoroughly cleaned and ventilated, and the sealing may only be removed after that. Only an air measurement can document that the limit value has been met. That is why we offer a clearance measurement by agreement for indoor removal.

High-pressure washing of asbestos-containing material is prohibited, and the dispensations professional roof cleaners previously held lapsed on 1 July 2026. An asbestos roof may be cleaned with a soft brush and ordinary water pressure. For a company, that is still asbestos work, which must be notified and carried out by trained people. Painting does not remove the asbestos.

Asbestos waste: packaging, labelling and the recycling centre

All asbestos-containing waste must be stored and transported in suitable, closed packaging, and the packaging must be labelled as asbestos. Dusty waste must be wetted. Asbestos waste must be kept apart from all other construction waste and landfilled separately. It must never go into a container with anything else.

Whole, packaged roof sheets count as non-hazardous waste (asbestos-containing construction materials, EWC code 17 06 05). Dusty asbestos waste counts as hazardous waste (EWC code 17 06 06). The rules on packaging and labelling apply regardless of class.

Companies typically deliver to a landfill or a collector designated by the municipality. Private individuals can in many cases deliver smaller amounts of correctly packaged asbestos at the recycling centre or use a municipal collection scheme. Packaging and quantity requirements vary, so ask your municipality before you drive.

Fines for breaking the rules

The Working Environment Authority's starting fine for asbestos demolition without authorisation is DKK 30,000 for businesses, increased to DKK 50,000 for serious violations and up to DKK 100,000 for particularly serious ones. For private individuals demolishing asbestos that requires an authorisation, the starting point is DKK 15,000, increased to DKK 30,000 for serious violations or financial gain. Repeat offences increase it further.

A company without authorisation can also be punished for any other breaches of the working environment rules it commits along the way.

So what may you do yourself, and what must you have done?

There is still plenty you may do yourself. You may do the following without authorisation and without training:

• Look. You may check whether the roof has a sheet number, whether the ceiling panels are soft, or whether the pipes in the basement are wrapped in cloth. Just leave it untouched.
• Contact a laboratory and get guidance on taking a sample, or book an asbestos survey so someone else takes it.
• Take and submit a sample following the laboratory's guidance, wetted, with gloves and without sanding or sawing.
• Take down 4–6 roof sheets to fit one roof window, drill into individual tiles, and take down 1–2 whole pipe bends, provided you wet the material, avoid breaking and sanding, package the waste and deliver it as your municipality instructs.
• Pack legally removed asbestos waste in closed, labelled packaging and drive it to the recycling centre yourself, if your municipality accepts it.
• Clean your roof with a soft brush and ordinary water pressure, never high pressure.
• Get quotes and ask whether the company is authorised for asbestos demolition.

What you may not do yourself: take down a whole roof, a whole ceiling, a whole floor or a whole pipe run; cut, sand, drill or break asbestos-containing material beyond what the exception allows; put asbestos in a container with other construction waste; or pressure-wash the roof. The demolition must be carried out by an authorised company that notifies the Working Environment Authority, uses trained people and documents the disposal.

If you are unsure whether a material contains asbestos, leave it alone and have a sample taken. The Working Environment Authority's rule is that the work must be treated as asbestos work if there is the slightest reason for suspicion.