An asbestos removal quote is only comparable to another one if both describe the same job, and most of them do not. The variables are the material, the volume, the access, the enclosure, the clearance, the waste and the making good, and a quote that names none of them is a number rather than a price. Getting the material identified first is what turns a set of guesses into a set of quotes.
Start from the analysis
A removal price depends on whether the work is licensable, and that depends on what the material is. Send the survey or the analysis certificate to every contractor you ask, so all of them are pricing the same thing. A contractor who quotes without asking to see it is quoting a job nobody has defined.
The seven lines
The material and its licensable status. The quantity. The access method. Whether an enclosure is required and who builds it. Who carries out the clearance and whether they are independent. The waste route, the measure it is charged by, and who holds the consignment note. And what making good is included, from plastering to reinstating the roof covering.
Independence at the end
For licensable work the four stage clearance is carried out by an analyst, and that analyst should not be the removal contractor. Where the contractor arranges the analyst, ask who they are and confirm they are a separate accredited organisation. Certifying your own work is the one arrangement worth refusing.
Timing
Licensable work is notified to the enforcing authority in advance and the notice period is not negotiable, so a contractor promising to start tomorrow on licensable material is either wrong about the material or wrong about the law. Ask when the notification goes in and build the programme from that date.
Questions people ask about asbestos removal quote
How many quotes should I get?
Three is the usual answer and the number matters less than whether all three are pricing the same scope. Send everyone the same analysis and the same question list.
Should the cheapest quote win?
Only when the seven lines match. Where they do not, the cheapest is usually the one that assumed somebody else was paying for the waste or the access.
Do I need to be there?
Somebody responsible should be, at least at the start and the finish, and you should receive the clearance certificate and the waste consignment note as part of the handover rather than on request.
What are asbestos removal costs UK wide made of?
Four things, and the material decides most of it. Whether the work is licensed, notifiable non licensed or non licensed, because a licensed job brings an enclosure, air monitoring, a supervisor and a four stage clearance. Access, which is the difference between a garage roof and a soffit at three storeys. Quantity and disposal, which is charged by weight to a permitted site with a consignment note. And the clearance certificate from an independent analyst on licensed work, which is a separate professional fee. A quote that does not say which category the work falls into has not priced it.
How are asbestos services cost up, from survey to clearance?
As separate purchases, and knowing the sequence stops you buying the wrong one. A management survey is priced on the walk and the samples. A refurbishment and demolition survey is dearer because it opens up. Removal is priced by category, access, quantity and disposal. And on licensed work an independent analyst's four stage clearance is its own professional fee, which is a feature rather than an add on: the analyst is deliberately not the removal contractor. Anybody offering survey, removal and clearance as one price on licensed work has either subcontracted the clearance or is not doing it.