Asbestos on Your Roof? What Homeowners Need to Know

After years of working on roofs across Bromley and South East London, the McColloch Roofing team knows that asbestos is not simply a problem from the past.

The team still encounters it regularly. In fact, based on the company’s experience, suspected asbestos comes up at least weekly during roofing work. It is not something the team goes looking for, but it is something experienced roofers need to be prepared to recognise when it appears.

That is why roofing expertise is not only about knowing how to repair a leak, replace tiles or renew a roofline. Sometimes it means recognising when not to carry on.

The McColloch team is asbestos trained and has a clear approach when suspected asbestos is uncovered: stop work where the material would be disturbed, bring in the appropriate asbestos professional, allow the situation to be assessed and dealt with correctly, and only then continue with the roofing work.

Why asbestos can still appear during roofing work

Asbestos was widely used in buildings and construction products for many years before its use was prohibited in new construction. HSE guidance warns that asbestos can still be present in buildings built or refurbished before 2000 and that fibres can be released when asbestos-containing materials are damaged or disturbed.

For a roofing contractor, that means an apparently straightforward repair can occasionally uncover something completely unexpected.

In McColloch’s experience, asbestos is particularly encountered around soffits, fascias and areas near gutters, as well as some old boiler pipes and chimney structures.

Older properties can therefore require particular care. Our experience is that homes from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s are among those where the team regularly encounters asbestos. We estimate that asbestos is involved in roughly one in ten jobs or sales handled by the company. That is a company experience estimate, not a statistic for UK housing as a whole.

The important point is that the age of a property alone cannot confirm whether asbestos is present.

The problem may be hidden beneath years of paint

One of the difficulties with asbestos during roofing work is that it is not necessarily obvious from the ground.

Materials can have been painted, covered or incorporated into the building years ago. Thomas described situations where several layers of paint had effectively concealed the original material, meaning its characteristics only became apparent once the component was being dismantled.

This is one reason homeowners should not try to identify suspected asbestos based simply on colour or appearance.

If a roofing contractor encounters a material that could contain asbestos, the sensible approach is not to cut into it, break it or remove it simply to find out what it is. HSE guidance similarly advises stopping work where asbestos is suspected and obtaining appropriate information or assessment before proceeding.

Sometimes the discovery is made only once the work has already started. That is precisely why asbestos awareness matters on roofing jobs.

When the job has to stop

Finding asbestos does not automatically mean that an entire property needs to be stripped of it.

The key question is whether the material is likely to be disturbed by the planned work, together with its condition, location and the type of asbestos-containing material involved. HSE guidance distinguishes between different types of asbestos work and the controls required for them. Some work may be non-licensed, while higher-risk work requires an appropriately licensed contractor.

For McColloch Roofing, the practical approach is straightforward: if the roofing work cannot be completed without disturbing suspected asbestos, the affected work stops and an appropriate asbestos professional is brought in.

That is particularly important where a roof tile, fascia, soffit or another component is pressing against, attached to or otherwise likely to disturb the material.

The risk is not simply the presence of asbestos. Damage or disturbance can release fibres into the air, where they can be inhaled.

Knowing that distinction is part of responsible roofing work.

Why McColloch brings in asbestos specialists

McColloch Roofing is a roofing company, not an asbestos-removal business.

That distinction matters.

When asbestos needs specialist attention, the company uses professional asbestos contacts rather than attempting to carry out work outside its own expertise. The asbestos professional can assess the material, determine the appropriate course of action and handle removal or other necessary work where required. The roofing team can then deal with the roof itself.

It is not about adding another service to a roofing quotation. It is about making sure the right person deals with the right part of the problem.

That can also prevent a much more expensive situation later.

What happens if asbestos has already been disturbed?

This is where the situation needs to be handled carefully.

If asbestos-containing material has been damaged or disturbed, the appropriate asbestos professional should determine what further action is required before other work resumes. Depending on the circumstances, this may involve specialist cleaning, assessment, monitoring or clearance procedures.

Air testing is not an automatic requirement for every external roofing situation. Whether it is appropriate depends on the circumstances and the work being undertaken. HSE guidance specifically notes that air monitoring is not generally required for external asbestos work such as soffit work.

In situations where the team has encountered significant disturbance, the specialist company has been responsible for determining whether air testing is required. We do not carry out this testing itself.

This is another reason not to improvise. Once asbestos has been disturbed, simply brushing away visible debris and carrying on is not an adequate approach.

A roofing job that showed why shortcuts are dangerous

One of the worst situations encountered by the team involved a fascia and soffit replacement.

The material turned out to contain asbestos. Rather than dealing with it appropriately, the original roofers had attempted to clad over it with plastic. The underlying material was already deteriorating and began to crumble.

That created a much bigger problem than the original roofing job.

In another particularly concerning case, asbestos-containing material was already breaking apart and had spread across the scaffolding. The workers attempted to clear it using leaf blowers, which risked dispersing particles into the air.

The family had a newborn baby in the property, with the windows open at the time.

We stopped the work immediately. A new roofing firm was brought in and additional cleaning was required before the roofing work could safely continue.

The incident is a good example of why asbestos should never be treated as ordinary building debris. An attempt to clean up quickly can make the situation considerably worse.

Disposal is part of the job, not an afterthought

Removing asbestos-containing material is only part of the process. What happens to the waste afterwards matters too.

Asbestos is classified as hazardous waste, and it needs to be handled and transferred through the appropriate authorised waste arrangements. GOV.UK guidance places a duty of care on those responsible for waste to take reasonable steps to ensure it is handled appropriately and transferred only to authorised persons.

This is why homeowners should be cautious about anyone offering to “take it away” for cash without providing clear information about how the waste will be transported and disposed of.

The question is not simply whether the material has disappeared from the property.

It is where it has gone and whether it has been handled through the correct waste route.

Appropriate waste documentation should be available, and homeowners should be able to establish that the contractor or waste carrier is authorised to handle the waste. GOV.UK guidance also makes clear that asbestos-containing construction waste has specific disposal requirements.

Saving money on removal is not worthwhile if it simply transfers the risk somewhere else.

What should you do if you suspect asbestos on your roof?

If asbestos is suspected during roofing work, homeowners should resist the temptation to investigate it themselves.

Instead:

• Stop any work that could disturb the material.

• Do not cut, drill, break, sand or remove it yourself.

• Keep people away from the affected area where appropriate.

• Ask for the material to be assessed by an appropriately competent asbestos professional.

• Find out whether the proposed work requires a licensed asbestos contractor.

• Ask how any asbestos-containing waste will be packaged, transported and disposed of.

• Keep relevant waste documentation for your records.

There is also an important distinction between leaving asbestos-containing material undisturbed and deliberately disturbing it. If it is sound and outside the area of work, removal may not necessarily be required. The appropriate decision depends on the material, its condition and the work planned.

For a homeowner, the safest approach is therefore not to make that decision based on appearance alone.

What should you do if you suspect asbestos on your roof?

If suspected asbestos is found during roofing work, the safest approach is not to disturb it further. Have the material assessed by a competent asbestos professional and make sure any resulting waste is handled through the correct disposal route. Once the issue has been dealt with appropriately, the roofing work can continue. If you are planning roof repairs, replacement work or roofline improvements, McColloch Roofing provides roofing services across Bromley and South East London.