Asbestos regulations applicable to building owners

Owners of buildings constructed before July 1, 1997 are required to identify asbestos, take action in the event of its presence, keep an up-to-date technical file and comply with prefect's injunctions.

Marie Faucon
EHS Consultant
Update : 
12.09.2025
Publication: 
07.07.2014
Contents
Example H2
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Articles R. 1334-14 to R. 1334-29 of the French Public Health Code (CSP) define the compulsory steps to be taken by owners of built-up buildings to prevent risks associated with the presence ofasbestos. This applies to both private and public buildings for which a building permit was issued before July 1, 1997. The obligations can be divided into 4 parts:

  • Identification of asbestos-containing materials and products
  • What to do if asbestos is present
  • Files to be compiled and kept up to date
  • Intervention by the departmental prefect

Identification of asbestos-containing materials and products

Owners of the buildings concerned (see above) must check for the presence of asbestos in the materials and products listed in the three lists A, B and C of appendix 13-9.
For information, the lists correspond to different materials or products (indicative list):

  • List A: Flock Insulation / False Ceilings
  • List B: Vertical walls / Floors and ceilings / Ducts, pipes and interior components / Exterior components
  • List C: Roofing and waterproofing / Facades / Interior vertical walls and ducts / Ceilings and false ceilings / Floor and wall coverings / Ducts, pipes and equipment / Lifts and hoists / Miscellaneous equipment / Industrial installations / Lost formwork

The requirements for identifying these materials and products, and the documents that need to be drawn up and kept, depend on the owner's profile in relation to the type of building concerned.

Each list of materials corresponds to a different detection program. Various decrees specify the procedures to be followed:

  • Decree of December 12, 2012 on the criteria for assessing the state of preservation of list A materials and products containing asbestos (flocking, lagging, false ceilings) and the content of the spotting report.
  • Decree of December 12, 2012 on the criteria for assessing the state of preservation of list B materials and products containing asbestos (floor tiles, sprayed coatings,...) and the risk of environmental degradation, as well as the content of the location report
  • Order of June 26, 2013 comes to define the modalities for the location of list C materials and products containing asbestos (roofs, interior vertical walls and coatings.....) which must be carried out before any destruction, as well as the contents of the location report.

The survey must be carried out by a technical inspector or construction technician who has taken out professional insurance for this type of assignment. This is the only person who can certify the presence or absence of asbestos.

What to do if asbestos is present

In the event of the presence of materials or products on lists A, B and C, and if there is any doubt about the presence of asbestos, samples must be taken for analysis by an accredited body.

For example, where list A asbestos is present, the survey report recommends that building owners take the following action:

  • periodic assessment of the state of conservation of asbestos-containing materials and products;
  • airborne dust measurement
  • asbestos containment or removal work if dust levels exceed 5 fibers/liter of air

The assessment of the state of conservation of list A materials and products is carried out by the technical inspector using an assessment grid in accordance with the aforementioned Order of December 12, 2012.

Depending on the diagnostic results obtained from the evaluation grid, owners can take various actions, such as checking the state of conservation or carrying out asbestos containment or removal work.

Asbestos-containing materials and products resulting from removal work must be transported and disposed of in accordance with waste legislation. Once the work has been completed, and before the treated premises are returned, the owner must ensure that :

  • a visual inspection of the condition of treated surfaces by a technical inspector or inspection technician;
  • and a measurement of dust levels after dismantling the containment system, by an approved body.

Dust levels must be less than or equal to 5 fibers/liter of air.

Files to be compiled and kept up to date

Owners of communal areas of buildings other than dwellings must compile, keep and update an "asbestos technical file" containing :

  • asbestos-containing materials and products survey reports;
  • dates, nature, location and results of periodic state-of-conservation assessments;
  • dates, nature, location and results:
  • dust measurements ;
  • removal or containment of asbestos-containing materials and products;
  • conservation measures implemented ;
  • general safety recommendations for these materials and products, in particular intervention procedures, including waste management and disposal procedures;
  • a summary sheet.

This file is made available to the occupants of the building concerned, employers, employee representatives and occupational physicians when the building includes workplaces. These persons must be informed of the procedures for consulting the file.

Upon request, owners provide this file to various bodies, such as health and social action inspectors, labor inspectors, inspectors from the Caisse d'assurance retraite et de la santé au travail (CARSAT, formerly CRAM), as well as to any person required to carry out work in the building, and keep a written record of this communication.

Within one month of its creation or updating, they communicate the summary sheet of the "asbestos technical file" to the occupants of the building and to employers, if the building contains workplaces.

Asbestos surveys and technical files carried out before February 1, 2012, when the decree came into force, remain valid. However, owners must ensure that any materials on list B that have not been identified prior to this date (in principle, only exterior elements should be concerned) are the subject of an additional asbestos survey:

  • in case of sale ;
  • at the same time as the next assessment of the state of conservation of List A materials, if any;
  • prior to any work involving list B materials;
  • no later than February 1, 2021.

Intervention by the departmental prefect

Implementing the French Hospital Reform Act of July 21, 2009, which strengthens the role of the Prefect in preventing asbestos exposure, articles R. 1334-29-8 to R. 1334-29-9 set out the procedure for intervention by the Prefect of the département to compel owners to meet theirasbestos exposure prevention obligations.

The prefect can impose the following requirements on owners or operators ofbuilt-up properties:

  • in the event of non-compliance with asbestos-related obligations, to take the measures required by regulations, or to arrange for a survey to be carried out;
  • in the event of an emergency, to carry out the surveys, diagnoses or expert appraisals required by regulations, and to implement the necessary conservation measures.

All these actions will be at the owners' or operators' expense.

Note: this article on the building owner's obligations does not cover the regulations applicable to companies and workers carrying out asbestos surveys and work. For the sake of completeness, we should also mention texts such as (non-exhaustive list):

  • Labor Code - Articles R. 4412-97 to R. 4412-148: Risks of exposure to asbestos
  • Order of February 23, 2012 defining the procedures for training workers in the prevention of asbestos-related risks.
  • Order of August 14, 2012 on the conditions for measuring dust levels, the conditions for monitoring compliance with the occupational exposure limit value for asbestos fibers and the conditions for accreditation of the bodies carrying out these measurements.
  • Decree of December 14, 2012 setting the conditions for certification of companies carrying out work involving the removal or encapsulation of asbestos, materials, equipment or articles containing it.
  • Order of March 7, 2013 on the choice, maintenance and verification of personal protective equipment used during operations involving a risk of exposure to asbestos.
  • Order of April 8, 2013 on the technical rules, prevention measures and collective protection means to be implemented by companies during operations involving a risk of exposure to asbestos.

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