Asbestos clearance certificate

An asbestos clearance certificate is a document issued after asbestos removal confirming that the area is safe to re-occupy. It is the sign-off that the removal site has been cleaned, inspected, and (for higher-risk work) air-tested, so people can go back in. The area must not be reoccupied until the certificate is issued.

Who can issue it depends on the removal class. For Class A (friable) removal, only an independent licensed asbestos assessor can issue the certificate, and only after a visual inspection of the removal and surrounding area plus air monitoring confirming a fibre concentration below 0.01 fibres per millilitre of air; the enclosure stays up until then. For Class B (non-friable) removal, the certificate can be issued by an independent licensed asbestos assessor or a qualified competent person, with a visual inspection as the primary method and air monitoring at the assessor’s discretion.

For a builder, the clearance certificate matters at two points. After a demolition or strip-out that involved asbestos, the site cannot be handed over or reoccupied, and the next trade cannot start, until the certificate is issued. And where asbestos removal occurred on a project, the clearance certificate is commonly required in the occupation certificate document set as evidence the site was made safe. Keep it with the project records, because it is the document that proves the area was cleared, not just that the panels were taken away. See asbestos removal pathways.

Also known as: Clearance certificate, asbestos clearance, re-occupation certificate.

Category: WHS / Asbestos.

Related

• Asbestos removal pathways
• Air monitoring

See also

• Demolition contractor
• Occupation certificates
• ACM (asbestos-containing material)

References

• Safe Work Australia: How to Safely Remove Asbestos Code of Practice (verified 2026-05-07)
• Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011 (verified 2026-05-07)

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Last updated: 2026-05-30. Verified: 2026-05-07. Quarterly review for currency.