The short answer
You don’t have to rip off an asbestos roof the day you discover it. The Asbestos Abatement Regulations, 2020 take a managed approach: find the asbestos, record it, assess the risk, and then keep, repair or remove it based on that assessment, with a plan to phase it out over time. What the regulations don’t allow is ignoring it, or disturbing it carelessly.
Asbestos cement roofs were common on South African factories, schools, apartment blocks and houses until asbestos was banned in 2008. Many are still sound. Many others are now brittle, cracked and weathered, especially after decades of Cape Town sun, wind and winter rain. This guide explains what the rules ask of owners, when a roof should come off, and when it can stay for now.
This is general information to help you understand your situation, not legal advice. For the official text, see the Department of Employment and Labour.
What do the 2020 regulations ask of building owners?
The regulations apply to every employer and self-employed person who may expose anyone to asbestos dust at a workplace (regulation 2). If that’s you, for example as the owner or occupier of a factory, warehouse, office, school or shop, the main duties are:
- Identify the asbestos (regulation 3). A competent person must identify asbestos-containing materials. If it’s unclear whether something contains asbestos, it must either be treated as asbestos or sampled and tested by a competent laboratory.
- Keep an inventory (regulation 4). Every asbestos item goes into an inventory of asbestos in place, with its location, condition and risk category. It must be reviewed at least every 24 months, and sooner if material deteriorates or is removed, sealed, coated or encapsulated.
- Assess the risk (regulation 5). A risk assessment looks at how many people could be exposed, how likely the material is to be damaged or disturbed, and its condition. That risk categorisation is what decides whether each item is kept in place, repaired or removed. An approved inspection authority must review and endorse the inventory and risk assessment at least every six years.
- Write a management plan (regulation 6). The plan sets out how the asbestos will be managed day to day and in emergencies, and includes a policy and plan for phasing it out, as far as is reasonably practicable.
When should an asbestos roof come off?
Removal is usually the right call when:
- The sheets are damaged. Cracked, broken or badly weathered sheets are more likely to release fibres, and the risk assessment will normally point to removal.
- The roof leaks. Leaking asbestos sheets can only be repaired as regulated asbestos work, and a roof that keeps needing repairs keeps being disturbed.
- You’re planning alterations or solar. Solar panels can’t be fixed to asbestos cement, because drilling releases fibres. See solar on asbestos roofs.
- The building is being demolished or renovated. Regulation 24 prohibits demolition work before all asbestos has been identified and safely removed or otherwise controlled.
Removal is regulated work. Anything beyond a very small job is done by a registered asbestos contractor under a plan of work, with disposal at a designated site and a clearance certificate at the end. See asbestos roof removal and our guide to the asbestos clearance certificate.
When can an asbestos roof stay for now?
A roof that’s still sound, isn’t leaking and isn’t going to be disturbed can often stay in place while it’s managed and recorded. In that case:
- Leave the surface alone. No one may clean or prepare the surface of asbestos cement (regulation 24), so no pressure-washing, scrubbing or sanding, and no power tools on the sheets.
- Consider encapsulation. Sealing a sound roof without any surface preparation can protect it for now. See asbestos encapsulation.
- Keep it on the plan. A roof that stays still belongs in the inventory and the phase-out plan, and its condition should be checked when the inventory is reviewed.
What about homes and sectional title schemes?
The inventory, risk assessment and management plan duties are written for workplaces. They don’t apply to a private home in the same ongoing way, but that doesn’t mean the rules disappear. When you commission asbestos work on your home, you become the “asbestos client”, and regulation 11 gives you duties, such as making sure a risk assessment is done and, for removal, appointing an approved inspection authority and co-signing the plan of work.
Sectional title schemes sit in between. Whether and how the workplace duties apply can depend on how the scheme is run and who is employed on site. Trustees should ask an approved inspection authority or their legal adviser, and keep the answer on file.
Selling a property with an asbestos roof
An asbestos roof doesn’t stop a property from being sold. For workplaces, regulation 4 says a copy of the asbestos inventory must be given to the new owner when ownership transfers. For homes, buyers and their inspectors may ask about the roof, and an itemised quote for removal or replacement can help both sides. Speak to your conveyancer about what to disclose.
What to do next
- Confirm what you have. Only an accredited laboratory test can confirm that a material contains asbestos. Until you know, don’t cut, drill, sand or wash it.
- Get the condition assessed. A competent person or approved inspection authority can assess the risk.
- Decide and plan. Keep and manage, encapsulate, or remove and replace.
- Use the right people. Removal and encapsulation are carried out by a registered asbestos contractor.
On our projects, the asbestos work is carried out by our sister company, Indi Maintenance Services, a Registered Asbestos Contractor (Type 2), certificate 2025RAC/CI-180, valid until 26 August 2028. Roof Direct inspects, coordinates the project and installs your new roof, Indi quotes the asbestos work, and the plan of work and asbestos documents carry Indi’s name. See asbestos roof replacement or all our asbestos services.
If you’d like a straight answer about your own roof, book a free inspection. We’ll tell you honestly whether it can stay for now or whether it’s time to plan its removal.