Asbestos removal refers to

• dismantling and removal of asbestos-containing structures and technical systems
• encapsulation of remaining asbestos-containing structures
• cleaning of the asbestos removal site
• other work directly linked to the dismantling and removal of structures that may expose workers to asbestos dust.

Work relating to asbestos removal includes

• compartmentalisation and encapsulation
• depositing asbestos waste in a skip in preparation for transport to a landfill.

Asbestos removal work also includes any servicing and maintenance of asbestos-containing structures and systems in buildings and ships that release asbestos dust.

Asbestos removal work requires a licence issued by the occupational safety and health authority. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Western and Inland Finland acts as the licensing authority, handling asbestos removal permits for all of Finland.

To whom and under what conditions

Asbestos removal licences can be granted to private individuals, self-employed persons, limited companies, cooperatives and public bodies.

Asbestos removal licences can be granted to natural persons who

• are at least 18 years of age
• are not bankrupt or of limited legal capacity and who do not have a court-appointed legal guardian
• are not subject to a permanent or temporary ban on business operations
• have access to the kind of equipment and tools needed to safely perform the kinds of asbestos removal work that require a licence as well as facilities where such equipment and tools can be serviced
• have not previously committed such breaches of occupational safety regulations that would render them manifestly unfit to perform the kinds of work that require a licence.

Businesses can be licensed to perform asbestos removal work provided that their executives satisfy the aforementioned requirements and the business has access to the kind of ventilation equipment needed for asbestos removal work as well as facilities where such equipment can be serviced.

The licensing authority charges a fee of EUR 1415 for processing each application.

Proceed as follows

Apply for an asbestos removal licence with the form:

Asbestos removal licence application (pdf)

Make sure that your application contains the following information:

1. Applicant’s details

2. Details of the company contact person

3. Personal details of the company’s executives

The application must include a separate attachment of the personal details of the company’s executives.

• The list must show the name and personal identification number of each executive.

The licensing authority will use the information to check that none of the company’s executives have had their legal capacity limited, that they have no court-appointed legal guardian, that they have not been declared bankrupt and that they are not subject to a business ban. The company must also not be in liquidation.

4. Ventilation equipment for asbestos removal

When applying for a permit, the applicant must demonstrate that they have the capacity to perform asbestos removal work with an enclosure method.

Applicants are required to have at their disposal at least the following types of ventilation equipment for performing asbestos removal work inside an enclosure, including instructions for the safe operation of the same:

• negative pressure unit
• dust extraction arm
• filter
• vacuum cleaner for clothing
• differential pressure meter capable of storing data and sounding alarms.

Please include the product names of the equipment in your application.

Should the applicant not be in possession of the required equipment, they must enclose evidence of an outsourcing agreement that they have in place instead.

5. Maintenance enclosure

All applicants must have access to a maintenance enclosure. The maintenance enclosure must be a separate room that can be ventilated so as to prevent dust from spreading to surrounding areas.

Please specify whether or not you have an in-house maintenance enclosure and, if you do, the address where it is located. Should the applicant not have an in-house maintenance enclosure, they must enclose evidence of an outsourcing agreement that they have in place instead.

The maintenance enclosure must include the following ventilation equipment:

• negative pressure unit
• dust extraction arm
• vacuum cleaner for clothing
  • the dust extraction arm and the vacuum cleaner for clothing can share a duct system.

Please enclose a drawing showing the layout of your maintenance enclosure, including:

• the three-stage airlock
• the product names and locations of ventilation equipment
• water supplies and drains
• bin and coat rack

Please also provide descriptions of:

• the floor and wall finishes inside the enclosure
• the structure of the airlock walls and doors
• the heating system inside the enclosure.

Read more about maintenance enclosure requirements.

6. Consent to the publication of contact information

The licensing authority keeps a public register of asbestos removal licensees. Applicants must confirm their consent to the licensing authority’s including their contact information in the register of persons qualified to perform asbestos removal work, which can be accessed via the occupational safety and health administration’s public website.

The information that will be available to be public includes the company’s:

• name
• Business ID
• registered office
• email address
• website

The licensing authority also keeps a register of asbestos removal licensees for occupational safety and health enforcement purposes, which contains the name or business name of each licensee, their contact details, business ID, registered office, registration number and the date on which the licence was granted, its period of validity and expiry date.

Submit the signed application and its appendices to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Western and Inland Finland primarily by email to [email protected]. Contact information.

We recommend using the Regional State Administrative Agency’s secure email. Use the secure email connection at least for sending documents with confidential or otherwise sensitive information. The maximum size of email attachments is 50 MB. Larger files should be compressed or sent in multiple emails. Please remember that any information sent to us by email is at the sender’s risk.
Send email with the Regional State Administrative Agency’s secure email service.

Occupational safety and health inspection

Prior to granting an asbestos removal licence, the Regional State Administrative Agency’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health carries out an occupational safety and health inspection in order to check that the applicant has access to the kind of ventilation equipment needed for asbestos removal work as well as facilities where such equipment can be serviced.

Periods of validity and renewal of asbestos removal licences

New operators are usually first granted a temporary licence for a period of three years.

Applicants seeking to renew their licence must satisfy the same criteria as when they were granted their first licence.

Prior to renewing a licence, the licensing authority evaluates whether or not the terms of the licence have been satisfied on the basis of data collected in the course of enforcement. Businesses that are proven to have complied with the terms of their licence can be granted a permanent licence.

As long as an application for a renewal reaches the licensing authority at least one month before the previous licence is due to expire, the operator can continue to perform asbestos removal work on the basis of the previous licence until a decision has been made on their new application.

Notification obligations

Asbestos removal licensees have a legal duty to promptly notify the licensing authority if they discontinue performing asbestos removal work or if any circumstances that have a material impact on their eligibility for an asbestos removal licence should change.

Such circumstances include

• any change to the maintenance enclosure and the expiry of an outsourcing agreement
• change of members of the executive team or the managing director
• an operator being placed in liquidation
• a court deciding to limit the legal capacity of the licensee or an executive of the licensee’s business, appointing a legal guardian for them or declaring them bankrupt
• going out of business.

Asbestos removal work may only be carried out and supervised by qualified asbestos removal personnel with a competence-based qualification in asbestos removal.

Asbestos removal requires registration in the register of persons qualified to perform asbestos removal work. Registration requests must be accompanied by evidence of the individual’s having a certificate of the asbestos removal part of a professional degree in the construction sector.

The Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Western and Inland Finland keeps a register of persons qualified for asbestos removal work as the licensing authority.

Proceed as follows

Fill in the form:

Registration of asbestos removal qualifications (pdf, in Finnish)

Depending on the registration request, attach a copy of a certificate of a vocational qualification or a certificate of the completion of a partial qualification.

Sign the registration request form and submit it and its appendices to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Western and Inland Finland primarily by email to [email protected]. Contact information

We recommend using the Regional State Administrative Agency’s secure email. Use the secure email connection at least for sending documents with confidential or otherwise sensitive information. The maximum size of email attachments is 50 MB. Larger files should be compressed or sent in multiple emails. Please remember that any information sent to us by email is at the sender’s risk.
Send email with the Regional State Administrative Agency’s secure email service.

Regional occupation and health authorities, i.e. the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the Regional State Administrative Agency in whose jurisdiction asbestos removals are to be carried out, must be notified of the works in advance. Notice must be given in writing and ideally at least seven days before the works are scheduled to begin.

Works that are necessary to minimise losses or danger in the event of breaks in asbestos-containing materials or pipes can be commenced immediately.

In such cases, the occupational safety and health authorities can accept verbal notice of the works.

However, written notice must also be given as soon as possible.

Asbestos removal notices must include

1. information about the nature of the works, the start date of the works and their estimated duration
2. the address where the works are to be carried out
3. the name and contact information of the client
4. the names of the employees carrying out the work
5. information about the workers’ fitness for asbestos removals, the date of each worker’s most recent health examination and the period of validity of the examination results
6. the main findings of the asbestos survey, the date of the survey and the surveyor’s name
7. information about the techniques to be employed to remove the asbestos or asbestos-containing materials
8. detailed information about the equipment to be used to protect workers and to clean the area afterwards
9. detailed information about the equipment to be used to contain asbestos dust
10. the name of the landfill to which the waste will be taken, and
11. the name and contact information of the author of the notice.

A new notice must be submitted if there are any changes in the working conditions that lead to a considerable increase in the workers’ exposure to dust released by asbestos or asbestos-containing materials. The occupational safety and health authorities also need to be notified if workers other than those listed in the original notice are to be involved in the works.

The fitness of asbestos removers must be checked pursuant to the Finnish Government Decree on medical examinations in work that presents a special risk of illness (1485/2001). The medical certificate issued to each worker must specify that the worker is fit to work with asbestos.

An advance notice of asbestos removals must be posted in a visible place just outside the area where exposure can occur. The notice outside the exposure area does not need to be as detailed as the notice sent to the occupational safety and health authorities. It must, however, contain information about the nature of the works, the start date of the works and their estimated duration, the address where the works are to be carried out and the name and contact information of the author of the notice.

How to proceed

Submit an advance notice of asbestos removal through the local government e-service. The online form is available in Finnish and in Swedish.

Online form in Finnish: Asbestipurkutyön ennakkoilmoitus (Local government e-service)

1. Select Työsuojeluviranomaiselle tehtävät ennakkoilmoitukset (Advance Notices to the Occupational Safety and Health Authorities) from the list on the Palvelut (Services) page.
2. Select Asbestipurkutyön ennakkoilmoitus (Advance Notice of Asbestos Removal Work).
3. Identify yourself in the service by using Suomi.fi identification. Select your preferred method of identification. As an identified user, you will be able to act on the behalf of a business (right to sign), or you can search for the business in the client data repository. Business details fetched from the client data repository will be populated automatically in the advance notice.
4. Please fill out the advance notice carefully. You will be able to save the notice as a draft and continue filling it out later.
5. Submit the advance notice. You will be able to save it if you wish.

You will be notified in the e-service and via email to the address that you have provided once the occupational safety and health authorities have received the advance notice. All advance notices that you have created can be found in the e-service.

Note! Please report any additions to existing advance notices by email to the regional occupational safety and health authorities, i.e. the Occupational Safety and Health Division of the Regional State Administrative Agency in whose jurisdiction the worksite is located (contact information).

Pdf form (in Finnish): Asbestipurkutyön ennakkoilmoitus (Advance Notice of Asbestos Removal Work), pdf in Finnish | Contact Information for Divisions of Occupational Safety and Health

As the licensing authority, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Western and Inland Finland keeps a public register of asbestos removal licences.

The register lists the companies that have a valid asbestos removal licence. Asbestos removal licences are valid across the country.

Information displayed in the register:

• company name
• business ID
• registered office
• email address
• website.

The public asbestos removal licence register is accessible to everyone. The register can be used to verify that a company has a valid asbestos removal licence.

Asbestos removal licence register (in Finnish)

The Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Western and Inland Finland keeps a register of persons qualified for asbestos removal work as the licensing authority. The register is not public.

The following information is recorded in the register

• person’s name
• date of birth
• date of completion of professional degree or an applicable part of it.

Any data on a data subject shall be removed from the register immediately upon request by the data subject or after the licensing authority receives information on the death of the data subject.