April ushers in important change by HSE to notification submissions

On April 1st the HSE are introducing a major change: Asbestos Licence Holders will no longer be required to submit a copy of their licence with notifications.

The change is being made because the requirement to demonstrate a license is held is redundant due to the current Asbestos Licences being available to view on the HSE website.

As the HSE explains:

"Licence holders will still have to keep their original licence, display a copy at each site and produce a copy when requested by HSE or other enforcing authority.

The Asbestos Licencing Unit will be informing the trade associations and Local Authorities about this change. ALU will also stop adding this requirement to new licences from that date. It will not be necessary for licence holders to return their licence for amendment – licences will simply be amended on renewal or if another change is necessary, such as a change of address or trading name.

Legal advice is that the condition on current licences can be dis-applied by formal declaration by the licencing authority. ALU will be doing so by the statement that it makes. ALU will write to all licensees next week to inform them of this change.

There is a separate project to develop a direct, web-based notifications database. When this is available (later this year), we anticipate that it will not be possible for a licensee to submit a copy of their licence."