The short answer
- The law in the Republic is the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Exposure to Asbestos) Regulations 2006, S.I. No. 386 of 2006, as amended by S.I. No. 589 of 2010 and S.I. No. 632 of 2025. The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) enforces them.
- The 2025 amendment changed the process for notifiable work. A contractor used to notify the HSA and could then proceed. Now a permit has to be applied for and issued before notifiable asbestos work begins.
- The HSA has published a 2025 Code of Practice for the Regulations 2006–2025. Read it alongside the Regulations when you plan roof work.
- An asbestos cement roof does not automatically have to come off. Leaving it in place, encapsulating it and removing it are all options. The survey and the risk assessment decide which is right.
- Northern Ireland is different. The Control of Asbestos Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 apply, HSENI is the regulator, and licensable work needs an HSENI licence.
The Exposure to Asbestos Regulations 2006–2025 in brief
Asbestos at work in the Republic of Ireland is governed by three statutory instruments. They are read together and usually cited as the Exposure to Asbestos Regulations 2006–2025.
| Instrument | Title | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| S.I. No. 386 of 2006 | Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Exposure to Asbestos) Regulations 2006 | The principal Regulations. They revoked the earlier asbestos regulations of 1989 and 1993 and the 2000 amendment. |
| S.I. No. 589 of 2010 | Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Exposure to Asbestos) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 | Gave effect to Directive 2009/148/EC on the protection of workers from the risks of exposure to asbestos at work. |
| S.I. No. 632 of 2025 | Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Exposure to Asbestos) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 | Replaced notify-and-proceed with a permit that must be issued before notifiable work starts. |
Sources: the Irish Statute Book, gov.ie and the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. Links are listed under Sources below.
The Regulations place duties on employers and on anyone carrying out work that could expose people to asbestos. For a building owner, they matter most when you plan work that could disturb asbestos-containing materials. That includes repairing, cleaning, coating, overcladding or stripping an asbestos cement roof.
The HSA enforces the Regulations and publishes the guidance and forms that go with them. The Minister's signature on the 2025 amendment was announced by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment.
General information, not legal advice. The statute text on the Irish Statute Book and the HSA's own pages are the authority. Where this guide and those sources differ, those sources win.
What S.I. No. 632 of 2025 changed
For anyone planning roof work, the headline change is the move from notification to a permit.
| Before the 2025 amendment | Under S.I. No. 632 of 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Notifiable asbestos work | The contractor notified the HSA and could then proceed | A permit must be applied for and issued before the work begins |
| What goes with the application | Notification with a plan of work and a risk assessment | Follow the current HSA notification form and guidance |
| Can work start straight away? | Yes, once notified | No. Work waits for the permit |
Summary of the published legal commentary on S.I. No. 632 of 2025. Check the HSA asbestos notifications page for the current process.
Legal commentary on the change describes the notification going in with a plan of work and a site-specific risk assessment. We have deliberately not quoted a lead time. Take that from the HSA's own notifications page, and confirm it before you fix a start date with a tenant, a production manager or a farm calendar.
What it means in practice
- Build the permit into the programme. Treat it like planning or a building control step: something that has to be in hand before the scaffold goes up, not something arranged on the morning.
- Ask who is making the application. Get it in writing, and ask to see the issued permit before anyone goes onto the roof.
- Treat "we'll just get on with it" as a warning sign. A contractor who skips the permit puts the building owner in a difficult position as well as themselves.
- Keep the paperwork. The survey, risk assessment, plan of work and permit belong in the building file. A buyer, tenant, insurer or lender may ask for them years later.
The amendment also deals with technical matters such as exposure measurement. Those are for the contractor and their occupational hygiene adviser to apply, working from the statute and the Code of Practice.
The HSA 2025 Code of Practice
The HSA has published the 2025 Code of Practice for the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Exposure to Asbestos) Regulations, 2006-2025. It is the HSA's practical guidance on complying with the amended Regulations, and it is the document a well-run contractor will point to when explaining their method.
You do not need to become an expert in it. You do need to ask the right questions:
- How does your plan of work follow the 2025 Code of Practice?
- How will the roof surface be cleaned, and what methods are ruled out?
- How will the work area, the people underneath and the site boundary be protected?
- How will waste from preparation be handled and recorded?
- What records will I receive when the work is finished?
Clear, specific answers are a good sign. Vague answers are not. For a practical comparison of leaving, encapsulating and removing a roof, read our guide to asbestos cement roofs in Ireland.
Planning work on an asbestos cement roof?
Send a few photos and the building address. We will pass it to an approved installer for a free survey that starts with the right regulatory process.
Survey, risk assessment and the competent person
Good asbestos roof projects follow the same order, whatever the final decision:
- Identify the materials. An asbestos survey confirms what the sheets, ridges, closures, rooflight surrounds and gutters are made of, and what condition they are in. Do not assume. Older fibre cement sheets may or may not contain asbestos, and only a survey settles it.
- Assess the risk. A site-specific risk assessment covers the task, the fragile roof, the people and processes underneath, access, and the weather.
- Write the plan of work. It sets out how the job will be done, in what order, with which controls, and how waste is dealt with.
- Apply for the permit where the work is notifiable, and wait until it has been issued.
- Use competent people. HSA information makes clear that activity disturbing asbestos is for a competent person, not a general maintenance crew.
Fragile roofs: asbestos cement sheets will not take a person's weight. Access is planned from day one, with fall protection under and around every work area, before any asbestos question is even reached.
The same order applies whether the building is a dairy unit in County Cork, a warehouse in Dublin or a factory in Limerick. It is also how an approved installer will approach your survey.
Encapsulation or removal: choosing a route under the new rules
The permit system does not change the basic choice for an asbestos cement roof. It makes planning more important whichever route you take.
| Leave in place and monitor | Encapsulate | Remove and replace | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suits | Sound, dry sheets that nobody needs to work on | Sheets sound enough to hold a coating or foam, but leaking, dripping or needing insulation | Broken, fire-damaged or failing sheets, demolition and redevelopment |
| Disturbance | None | Controlled preparation, no cutting or drilling of sheets | Every sheet lifted, handled and disposed of |
| Fixes leaks and condensation | No | Yes, depending on the route | Yes, with a new roof |
| Waste | None | Preparation waste only | A full roof of hazardous waste |
| Permit planning | Not for monitoring alone | Plan for it | Plan for it |
General comparison only. Your survey, risk assessment and the HSA process decide what applies to your roof.
The two encapsulation routes
External: the roof is cleaned without aggressive methods, then sealed with closed-cell roofing foam and a liquid top coat such as GacoFlex U91/U92 urethane or GacoFlex S42 silicone. The Gaco system carries a 20-year manufacturer-backed product warranty when the specified system is applied. See asbestos roof coatings.
Internal: closed-cell spray foam is bonded to the underside of the sheets from inside the building. Nothing is drilled or fixed through the asbestos cement, and the foam insulates and stops the drips at the same time. See asbestos encapsulation services and top-side or underside encapsulation.
On the island of Ireland, the SAICA Warrenpoint case study in County Down shows the external route: closed-cell roofing foam with a GacoFlex U91/U92 top coat. Because the site is in Northern Ireland, it ran under the Northern Ireland regulations described below. Our encapsulation vs removal article covers the trade-offs in more depth.
Duratite supplies these materials and passes survey requests to approved installers covering your county. Every job is priced after a free site survey.