Demolition and renovation keep a lot of BC contractors busy year-round. They also carry the biggest hidden liability in the trade, because much of BC’s building stock put up before the 1990s can contain asbestos — in drywall compound, vinyl flooring, pipe and duct insulation, vermiculite attic insulation, textured ceilings, and roofing. Disturb it without the right process and you are exposing your crew, your client, and your business.
This is a practical overview of how asbestos rules shape demolition and renovation work in British Columbia, written for small and mid-sized contractors. The core document is Part 6 (Substance-Specific Requirements) of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, B.C. Reg. 296/97, sections 6.1 to 6.32, administered by WorkSafeBC.
Why asbestos still matters in 2026
Canada’s comprehensive ban on manufacturing, importing, and selling asbestos and asbestos-containing products came into force in 2018. The ban does not remove the asbestos already inside the existing building stock. Asbestos is a health hazard when fibres become airborne — which is exactly what cutting, drilling, breaking, and tearing out materials during demolition and renovation does.
In BC, "asbestos-containing material" has a specific legal test: a material (other than vermiculite insulation) that would be determined to contain at least 0.5% asbestos by an approved analytical method. Vermiculite insulation is treated more strictly — it counts as asbestos-containing if it would be determined to contain any asbestos at all (OHSR s. 6.1).
BC is stricter than most provinces: certificates and licences
Since January 1, 2024, under amendments enacted by B.C. Reg. 204/2023, BC requires certification and licensing for asbestos abatement:
- No person may carry out asbestos abatement work without a valid asbestos certificate for that type of work (s. 6.2.1).
- The employer must verify each worker holds a valid certificate, record the certificate details, and ensure work follows the certificate’s conditions (s. 6.2.2).
- The owner and the prime contractor must ensure any asbestos abatement contractor they engage holds a valid licence (s. 6.2.3).
For a GC handing off abatement to a sub, that licence check is now your legal duty, not the sub’s problem. Hiring an unlicensed abatement contractor is your exposure too.
The inventory and risk assessment come first
Before demolition or reno work, the employer and the owner must ensure a qualified person samples suspect materials and prepares an inventory of all asbestos-containing materials in the workplace (s. 6.4). Two details contractors miss: a suspect material that cannot practicably be sampled must be treated as asbestos-containing unless a qualified person determines otherwise (s. 6.4(2)), and a current copy of the inventory must be readily available at the workplace and kept current (s. 6.4(4)–(6)).
A risk assessment by a qualified person — considering condition, friability, accessibility, and potential for fibre release — is required before any demolition, alteration, or repair where asbestos-containing material may be disturbed (s. 6.6(1)–(2)). Rule of thumb: no inventory and no risk assessment, no breaking things.
Classify the work: low, moderate, or high risk
Before any work with or near asbestos-containing material begins, a qualified person must classify the activity (s. 6.6(3)):
- Low risk — the material is not being cut, sanded, drilled, broken, ground down, or otherwise disturbed, and no PPE or engineering controls are needed to prevent exposure.
- Moderate risk — the material is being disturbed (or may release fibre), and PPE or engineering controls, or both, are necessary.
- High risk — a high level of control is necessary to prevent worker exposure, such as removing friable insulation under full containment.
The class drives everything downstream: containment, decontamination, respirators, and air monitoring. Calling a job "low risk" when it is really high risk is one of the most expensive mistakes a contractor can make.
What high risk work requires
High risk activity triggers the full apparatus (OHSR ss. 6.12–6.19): a containment with a connected decontamination facility and shower, inspected at least daily (s. 6.16); ventilation flowing from clean areas into the contaminated area, exhausted outdoors through HEPA filtration (s. 6.17); air monitoring during the work with results provided to workers within 24 hours (s. 6.12); and, before the containment comes down, visual inspection and clearance air sampling showing no more than 0.02 fibres/mL (s. 6.12(4), 6.16(5)).
Work practices that are flat-out prohibited
A few hard rules from the regulation that inspectors look for:
- Pressure spraying equipment of any type must not be used to remove asbestos insulation or other asbestos-containing material (s. 6.9(3)).
- No compressed air to clean up asbestos dust, and no dry sweeping or dry mopping (s. 6.9(4)).
- Material to be removed must be effectively wetted before and during the work, whenever practicable (s. 6.22).
- All asbestos waste — including disposable coveralls and cleanup materials — goes into sealed containers labelled as containing asbestos (s. 6.25), with written waste-removal procedures prepared by a qualified person before the work starts (s. 6.27).
Asbestos waste does not go in a regular demolition bin. It goes to a receiving site authorized to take it.
Notice of Project: 48 hours, in writing
Before asbestos work starts, the owner or prime contractor and every employer responsible for the activity must ensure WorkSafeBC receives a written Notice of Project (NOP) at least 48 hours before the work activity begins (OHSR s. 20.2.1(1)). It applies to moderate and high risk asbestos work, and to the alteration, repair, dismantling or demolition of any building in which asbestos-containing material has been processed, manufactured or stored (s. 20.2.1(2)).
The notice must name the employers, owner and prime contractor, give the location, scope, start date and duration, and set out the safe work procedures that will be used (s. 20.2.1(4)). A copy must be posted at the worksite before the work begins and stay posted for the duration of the project (s. 20.2.1(5)). Site inspections to identify hazards, determine tasks or estimate costs do not need a NOP (s. 20.2.1(3)) — but the abatement itself does, and genuine emergencies still require the notice as soon as possible (s. 20.2.1(6)).
A separate general construction NOP, 24 hours ahead, applies to bigger jobs — including any demolition of a building more than 2 storeys or 6 m (20 ft) high, and any project over $100,000 in labour and materials (s. 20.2(1)). The form is submitted through WorkSafeBC’s Submit a Notice of Project page.
Records you must keep — 10 years
The employer must maintain, for at least 10 years, records of risk assessments, inspections, air monitoring results, worker instruction and training, and incident investigations (s. 6.32). The asbestos inventory itself must be kept until all asbestos-containing materials are removed from the workplace (s. 6.4(7)).
Build compliance into the job file
The contractors who handle this well make it part of the project record: licence and certificate numbers verified before mobilizing, inventory and risk assessment attached before the quote, work classification documented, NOP confirmation saved, training and air-monitoring records on hand, waste manifests and clearance results filed. When everything lives in one project file instead of a glovebox and three phones, a WorkSafeBC inspection becomes a five-minute answer instead of a panic.
It protects your margin, too. Abatement is billable, specialized work — when it is scoped and documented before demolition starts, not discovered halfway through and absorbed as an unpriced surprise.
This article is general information, not legal or safety-compliance advice. Always confirm current requirements with WorkSafeBC and a qualified asbestos professional before starting work.