Asbestos Removal in Auckland
Asbestos is rarely the job you set out to do. It is the thing that stops the job you were already doing.
A roof repair, a bathroom refit, a soffit replacement, a section of old vinyl lifted in a hallway - any of these can turn into an asbestos job the moment the material is identified. Work stops. A separate contractor has to be found, scoped and scheduled. The original job waits. On an occupied site, so does everyone using the building.
NPM Management removes asbestos across Auckland, for commercial and residential property, as part of the same team that carries out the rest of the work. That means a maintenance or renovation job that turns up asbestos does not have to become two contracts, two contractors and two programmes.
We have been working in Auckland property for over ten years, across more than 3,000 completed projects, for clients including Metlifecare, Oceania, BUPA, The Selwyn Foundation, Haumaru Housing and AA Home. We hold Totika health and safety accreditation.
When asbestos turns up mid-project
This is the situation we are built for, and it is worth being specific about why.
A specialist asbestos contractor removes the asbestos and leaves. You are then holding an open wall, a stripped ceiling or a half-finished roof, and you need your original trades back on site to close it up. The gap between those two things is where the delay lives - and on a tenanted or occupied building, that gap is the part that generates complaints.
Because we carry out the removal and the carpentry, roofing, cladding, plastering and painting that follow it, the building gets closed up as part of the same programme. One scope. One point of contact. One team accountable for the whole sequence.
For property and facilities managers, that is usually the difference between a three-day disruption and a three-week one.
Asbestos surveys and identification
You cannot plan around asbestos until you know what is there.
During our initial site visit we advise on any asbestos-related issues and can arrange a full survey, identifying what is present, where, and in what condition. That determines everything downstream: whether the material can safely be left in place and managed, whether it needs removing before other work starts, and what the removal will actually involve.
Not all asbestos needs to come out. Material that is in sound condition and will not be disturbed can often be managed in place and recorded in an asbestos management plan. Removal is the right answer when the material is damaged, deteriorating, or sits where work needs to happen. We will tell you which situation you are in rather than defaulting to the more expensive one.
Asbestos management plans
If you manage or control a workplace, WorkSafe guidance is that you must have an asbestos management plan for any structure that has, or is likely to have, asbestos material. Buildings built before 1 January 2000 are likely to contain it. The requirement applies to businesses and organisations, not to people living in their own home.
The plan identifies where the asbestos is, records the decisions about how its risk is managed, and sets out what happens if the material is disturbed in an incident or emergency. It is based on an inspection by a competent person, and it must be reviewed at least every five years, and whenever asbestos is removed, disturbed, sealed or enclosed.
That last trigger is where the plan meets maintenance work. Every time asbestos in the building is removed or disturbed, the plan has to be brought up to date, so we give you a record of what was removed, from where, and the clearance that followed. Where the plan shows material that is deteriorating or sits where work is coming up, we can scope and price its removal and carry out the rest of the job around it.
What we remove
Asbestos-containing materials were used widely in New Zealand building stock for decades, and they turn up in predictable places:
Roofing sheets, ridging and roof penetrations
Wall cladding and exterior sheet materials
Soffits, eaves and fascia linings
Ceilings, ceiling tiles and textured ceiling coatings
Wet area linings in bathrooms, laundries and kitchens
Vinyl floor coverings and the backing and adhesive beneath them
Fencing and outbuildings
Pipe and boiler lagging in plant areas
We remove asbestos from commercial buildings and residential property, and dispose of it appropriately, ahead of demolition, renovation, maintenance work or as a standalone job.
How the work runs
Assessment
We assess the property and the surrounding area for risks, and identify what asbestos is present and where.
Scope and price
You receive a documented scope and a clear price before anything starts. Planning follows pricing, not the other way round.
Isolation and controls
The work area is isolated and controlled before the material is touched. On an occupied site this is the step that determines whether everyone else can carry on as normal, and we plan it around your building's use.
Removal and disposal
The material is removed and disposed of appropriately, with the site left clean.
Reinstatement
The building gets closed back up - roofing, cladding, linings, plastering, painting - by the same team, under the same job.
Occupied buildings, and why it matters here
Most of our work happens in buildings that stay open while we are in them: retirement villages with residents, aged care facilities with care staff working around us, schools during term, social housing with tenants in place, and offices and retail trading normally.
Asbestos work in an occupied building is a different proposition from asbestos work in an empty one. Isolation has to be genuinely effective rather than nominal. Access routes have to keep working. Residents, tenants, staff and families need to be told what is happening and when. The building has to be handed back clean and usable, not left as a site.
This is also where asbestos is most likely to be found. Older retirement villages, aged care facilities, schools and community housing are exactly the building stock that contains it - and exactly the client list NPM already holds. Very few general maintenance contractors can work in those environments, and very few asbestos specialists can carry out the rest of the building work afterwards.
Commercial demolition
Where a building or part of a building is coming down, we handle the demolition as well as the asbestos.
Demolition starts with the same two questions: what is in the structure, and what is around it. We assess the property and surrounding areas for safety risks, identify and remove any asbestos, confirm that gas, electricity and water are isolated, then carry out the demolition itself. We work across brick, tile, concrete, blockwork, tarmac, plasterboard and plastics, and we clear and dispose of the material afterwards.
Partial and internal demolition - taking out part of a building that is staying in use - is common in the maintenance and refurbishment work we do, and carries the same occupied-site constraints as everything else above.
Compliance and safety
Asbestos removal in New Zealand is regulated under the Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016 and overseen by WorkSafe New Zealand.
Removal of more than 10 square metres of non-friable asbestos, measured cumulatively across the whole project for a site, must be carried out by a licensed removalist. So must any amount of friable asbestos. There are two licence classes: Class B covers non-friable asbestos and asbestos-containing material, and Class A covers any type or quantity, including friable asbestos and asbestos-contaminated dust.
Clearance differs by class. On Class A work, a licensed assessor carries out air monitoring and issues the clearance certificate. On Class B work, the clearance certificate can be issued by an independent competent person.
We hold Totika health and safety accreditation and manage safety through Safe365.
How old does a building have to be?
Older than most people assume - and newer buildings are not automatically clear.
Importing raw blue and brown asbestos into New Zealand was banned in 1984. But asbestos-containing products remained legal to import until 1 October 2016, when the Imports and Exports (Asbestos-containing Products) Prohibition Order 2016 came into force. That is far more recent than most building owners expect.
In practice, that means pre-1990s building stock very often contains asbestos, and buildings constructed or refurbished well after that cannot be ruled out on age alone. A survey settles it; a construction date does not.
Why NPM
Removal and reinstatement from one team
the building gets closed back up by the people who opened it
Experienced in occupied and sensitive buildings
retirement villages, aged care, schools and social housing, with residents and tenants in place
Totika health and safety accreditation
and safety management through Safe365
Scoped and priced before work starts
documented clearly
Over ten years and 3,000+ completed projects
in Auckland property
100% repeat clients
our published figure
Common questions
Our Key Clients
Talk to us
If you have found asbestos, suspect it, or want a building assessed before work starts, we will come and look at it.
Call 09 600 2212 or send us the details.