Asbestos removal and roof replacement in South Africa
Asbestos removal in all nine provinces: we take on asbestos roofs, ceilings, pipes and cladding, done by registered teams to the 2020 regulations. Removal is R150 to R250 per m² and a new steel roof starts at R500 per m²; outside Gauteng, the trip to the nearest licensed landfill is added after the site visit. About three weeks start to finish. Draw your roof below for a price on screen, or skip that and call or WhatsApp us.
- Registeredremoval teams only
- Certificateon every job
- Fixed priceafter the site visit
- 24/7WhatsApp replies
- Registered contractorsDepartment of Employment and Labour, Type 2 and 3
- Certificate on every jobAir monitoring and clearance certificate
- Licensed disposalLicensed landfill, disposal certificate
- Itemised quoteEvery quote itemised line by line
- Prices you can seeR150–R250/m², Gauteng pricing, Sept 2026
Renovating an older home?
Homes built before 2008 often have asbestos-cement roofs. Find out what is above the ceiling before anyone starts cutting. Is my roof asbestos?
Just had one of these? Do this first
Most people look for an asbestos company after something happens. Here is the first step for each, and where the full answer is.
- Hail cracked the roof. Stay off it, don’t sweep or hose the broken pieces, and photograph the damage from the ground for your insurer. What to do after hail
- The insurer wants a certificate. They mean the clearance certificate from an approved inspection authority, plus the landfill’s disposal document. What to ask for
- You’re selling or buying the house. An asbestos roof doesn’t stop a sale; it is legal to own, and buyers price it in. Selling a house with an asbestos roof
- You’re renovating. Find out what the roof and ceilings are made of before anyone cuts or drills. Is my roof asbestos?
Draw the part of the roof that needs to go. Your quote follows.
Type an address and your roof appears from above. Say if all of it goes, or tap the corners of the part that does, and press Generate quote. The area is corrected for the roof’s pitch, and your outline is saved with your quote.
- 1. Type your address, the roof appears
- 2. Tap the corners of the part to remove
- 3. Press Generate quote
- 4. Tell us where to send it
What it costs
Two numbers decide the invoice: the removal rate and the new roof.
Strip and dispose
Wet hand removal, wrapping, licensed transport, landfill fee, disposal certificate, air monitoring and the clearance certificate.
R150 – R250 / m²150 m² house, new steel roof
Strip plus corrugated or IBR steel sheeting installed. Solar-ready the week after the certificate.
R97,500 – R142,500500 m² factory, new IBR roof
Height access, side-cladding, roof lights, working around production. Strip R75,000–R125,000 plus the new roof. Asbestos abatement for businesses.
R325,000 – R575,000Leak, not a replacement? A leaking asbestos roof has its own rules.
Gauteng pricing for single-storey asbestos-cement sheeting, September 2026, VAT included. New-roof band from our current Johannesburg rates (R500–R1,000/m², steel at the low end). Every job is priced after photos and a site visit. Line-by-line costs
What you get
One fixed quote, itemised line by line — scope, registration, disposal, air monitoring and the clearance certificate — so you can see what you are paying for before you sign. You are not phoned by five firms; you get one itemised quote, and you decide.
- Photos or the address. An estimate on WhatsApp in minutes during business hours.
- Site visit, itemised quote. Within 1 to 3 days. The fixed quote is itemised line by line. Nothing starts until you sign.
- 7 days’ notice, 1 to 2 days on the roof. Sheets wetted, lowered whole, wrapped, and taken to the nearest landfill licensed for asbestos (Holfontein, for Gauteng jobs).
- Certificate, then the new roof. Clearance certificate first; steel sheeting in 2 to 4 days.
On every quote
- Contractor
- Department of Employment and Labour, Type 2 and 3
- Itemised price
- Every line priced within the Gauteng band (R150–R250/m² removal, R500–R1,000/m² new roof)
- Notice
- 7 days to the Department before work starts
- Disposal
- Licensed carrier to the nearest landfill licensed for asbestos (Holfontein in Gauteng), disposal certificate issued
- Clearance
- Air monitoring and certificate by an Approved Inspection Authority
- Price
- Per m² rate shown; timber repairs quoted as a rate in advance
- Timeline
- About 3 weeks for a house, 4 to 8 for a factory
Why now
Three things changed a roof people ignored for forty years.
No solar on asbestos
Since 9 November 2022 the Department does not allow panels or over-roofing on asbestos roofs. Replace first, then install.
The solar ruleInventory duty for businesses
Since 10 May 2022 every employer with asbestos in a building needs an inventory and a phase-out plan.
Buyers and insurers ask
Inspectors flag asbestos roofs; some insurers load or decline them. The clearance certificate closes the question.
Not sure it is asbestos?Where we work
We take on asbestos removal jobs in all nine provinces. Every job is done by a removal team registered with the Department of Employment and Labour for that type of work, under a written plan of work. The waste goes to the nearest landfill licensed for asbestos, and we found those in only four provinces, so outside Gauteng the trip to the landfill is the line that moves the price. The licensed sites are on where to dispose of asbestos, and every province is on areas we cover. Roofs are only part of the work: we also handle asbestos removal for pipes, ceilings and cladding, and tanks too.
Johannesburg and the East Rand
Germiston, Boksburg, Benoni, Springs, Alberton, Kempton Park, Soweto, the West Rand and the Vaal. Closest to Holfontein, lowest end of the band.
Gauteng areasPretoria and Centurion
Pretoria West, Hercules, Silverton, Rosslyn, older Centurion. Same rate, transport line for the longer trip.
PretoriaCape Town
Waste goes to Vissershok off the N7. The Western Cape has more registered asbestos contractors than any other province.
Cape TownPort Elizabeth (Gqeberha)
The Aloes landfill is in town; East London jobs travel there too.
Port ElizabethGeorge and the Garden Route
No local landfill takes asbestos yet, so the waste goes to Gqeberha or Cape Town.
GeorgeFree State, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West
No licensed asbestos landfill in these provinces; the nearest are in Gauteng.
Every provinceNorthern Cape
Vissershok or Gauteng, depending on the town. Transport is quoted after the site visit.
Every provinceGot an asbestos roof? What you can and can’t do
Asbestos-cement roof sheets are mostly cement with about 10% asbestos fibre bound in (Occupational Health Southern Africa, 2021). Homes, schools and factories put up before 2008 still have them. Owning one is legal; the work on it is controlled. These are the questions owners ask most.
Is my roof asbestos?
If the fibre-cement sheets went up before 2008, treat them as asbestos until a lab test says otherwise. Before 1985 they almost certainly are.
How to tell from the groundIs it dangerous to live under?
Intact and left alone, it is low risk because the fibres are locked in the cement. Breaking, cutting, drilling or pressure-washing the sheets is what releases them.
When an asbestos roof turns dangerousCan I paint or seal it?
Painting without surface preparation is allowed. Scrubbing, sanding or pressure-washing it first is not, and that rules out most waterproofing systems.
Painting an asbestos roofIt’s leaking. Can it be fixed?
A leak usually means a cracked or weathered sheet, and a damaged sheet is where the risk starts. Patching it is regulated work.
Fixing a leaking asbestos roofCan I sell the house?
Yes. Nothing forces you to replace the roof before a sale, but buyers, banks and insurers will ask about it.
Selling with an asbestos roofWhat does replacing it cost?
In Gauteng, R650 to R950 per m² all in with a new steel roof, or about R97,500 to R142,500 for a 150 m² house.
Asbestos roof replacement costHow to choose an asbestos removal company
Plenty of companies will quote; fewer are allowed to do the work. Before you sign with anyone, check these five things. Every job we take on meets all five.
- On the register, for the right type. The company must be on the Department of Employment and Labour’s register of asbestos contractors, registered for the work in front of it: removing roof sheets, pipes or ceiling boards is Type 2. Check the expiry date as well: 72 of the 670 entries had lapsed by 12 October 2026.
- Seven days’ notice and a plan of work. The Department is notified at least seven days before work starts, and you co-sign a written plan of work. Here is how asbestos roof removal works, step by step.
- Nothing cut or broken. Sheets are wetted and lowered whole, with no power tools that cut or grind.
- A licensed landfill, with paperwork. The waste goes to a landfill licensed for asbestos, and you get the disposal document. See where asbestos may be disposed of.
- A clearance certificate at the end. An approved inspection authority checks the site and issues the asbestos clearance certificate. Keep it: buyers and insurers ask for it.
If one quote is far below the rest, ask which of these five it leaves out, and compare it with what asbestos removal costs when it is done properly.
Questions people ask before they send a roof
How much does asbestos roof removal cost in Johannesburg?
In Johannesburg and the rest of Gauteng, stripping and disposing of an asbestos roof costs R150 to R250 per m² in September 2026. A 150 m² house is R22,500 to R37,500 to strip, and about R97,500 to R142,500 with a new steel-sheeted roof. A 500 m² factory runs R325,000 to R575,000 all in.
Is it illegal to have an asbestos roof in South Africa?
No. Owning one is not illegal and nothing obliges you to remove it. What has been banned since 28 March 2008 is making, importing, selling or using asbestos material, so a roof put up before then may stay. The law controls the work on it: removing, repairing or sealing asbestos cement needs a registered contractor, seven days' notice to the Department and a clearance certificate, and the sheets may never be sold, reused or given away. The 2020 regulations in plain English.
How long does it take?
About three weeks for a house: a 7-day notification period, 1 to 2 days of removal, the clearance certificate, then 2 to 4 days of new roofing. A 500 m² factory roof is typically 4 to 8 weeks including the new roof.
Is the price itemised?
The fixed quote follows a site visit and is itemised line by line: that the scope is strip-only or all-in and says which, that disposal and the clearance certificate are priced in, and how the rate compares with the R150 to R250 per m² removal range published on this site. The 7-day notification, licensed disposal and the clearance certificate appear on it.
What does the roof finder actually do?
It geocodes your address, shows the satellite and street view of the building, reads the roof area and pitch from Google’s aerial model, and lets you outline just the section you want removed. Your quote is worked out from that area, and the outline is saved with it. It cannot tell you whether the roof is asbestos; that is confirmed from photos and a site visit.
Can I just put a new roof or solar panels over the asbestos?
Not any more. The Department of Employment and Labour instruction of 9 November 2022 covers over-roofing sheets as well as solar panels, because fixing anything through an asbestos roof releases fibres and exposes the installers. Replace first, then install.
Asbestos roof removal in South Africa is done by a registered asbestos contractor under the Asbestos Abatement Regulations, 2020, with a clearance certificate at the end. In Gauteng it costs R150 to R250 per m² to strip and dispose of, a new steel roof starts at R500 per m², and a 150 m² house runs R97,500 to R142,500 all in over about three weeks. Outside Gauteng, transport to the nearest licensed landfill is quoted after the site visit. Type the address above to see your roof and its price.
Get a fixed, compliant quote for your roof
Send the address or a photo on WhatsApp, or call. An estimate in minutes during business hours, then a fixed quote, itemised line by line, after a site visit. No call centre, no obligation.