The regulations
Class A, Class B,
and what counts as minor.
The Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016 decide who can lawfully remove asbestos in New Zealand. There are three categories. Reading them in order is the single most useful thing an owner can do before phoning a contractor.
Context · 2016
Why 2016 is the year that matters
The 2016 Regulations sit under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA). They closed the front door — banning the import, supply, and manufacture of asbestos-containing materials — and at the same time tightened the back door, creating the modern licensing regime. Pre-2016, the line between friable and non-friable removal was looser. After 2016, every job above 10 m² of non-friable material, and every friable job at any size, sits inside a clear licence-class box.
WorkSafe NZ administers the licensing register and the notification system. 8 of our listed operators hold a current Class A licence; 12 hold Class B (in both cases, A+B licensees count toward both totals).
Class M · Non-notifiable
Unlicensed-permitted (homeowner)
Minor works (under 10 m²)
Non-friable, under ten square metres — unlicensed-permitted, but rarely worth DIY.
The 2016 regulations permit owners or competent persons to remove up to 10 m² of non-friable asbestos without holding a licence, provided appropriate PPE, RPE, decontamination and disposal are followed. In practice, the cost difference versus a Class B operator is rarely worth the risk — and the disposal docket alone proves the work was done lawfully.
Read full Class M brief →
Class B · Non-notifiable
Class B licensee required
Class B — non-friable
Non-friable removal above 10 m² — bonded asbestos in cement, vinyl, eaves.
Class B work is the bread-and-butter of NZ residential asbestos removal: super-six roofing, fibrolite cladding, vinyl floor sheet, asbestos-cement eaves and bath panels. The matrix is bonded — the material cannot be crumbled by hand pressure when dry. Above 10 m² across the property, a Class B licensed removalist is required by regulation 12 of the 2016 Regulations.
Read full Class B brief →
Class A · Notifiable to WorkSafe
Class A licensee required
Class A — friable / notifiable
Friable removal — pipe lagging, textured ceilings, contaminated soil, contaminated dust.
Class A work covers any friable asbestos removal — pipe lagging, sprayed coatings, vermiculite ceiling insulation, asbestos-contaminated soil, and any work the LAA classifies as friable. The 2016 Regulations require a Class A licensee, five working days' notice to WorkSafe before site start, full negative-pressure containment, independent licensed asbestos assessor (LAA) air monitoring, and a written clearance certificate before re-occupancy.
Read full Class A brief →