The best and worst ways to deal with old uralita

Why the method matters more than the material

Asbestos cement is at its least problematic when it is whole and left alone. Almost every bad outcome starts with a well-meant action that breaks, abrades or scatters it. That is why the ranking below is about behaviour, not about the sheets themselves.

The reference point for "doing it right" is simple: under Real Decreto 847/2026, removal belongs to RERA-registered companies working under a plan de trabajo approved by the provincial labour authority, and the waste goes, unmixed, to an authorised manager.

The worst: breaking, cutting and grinding

The most harmful thing you can do with asbestos cement is to turn it into dust. That happens when sheets are smashed with a hammer to fit in a trailer, cut with an angle grinder to shorten them, or drilled to fix something new. Each action creates fragments and fine particles exactly where people are working.

It is surprisingly common in renovations: a builder needs a gap for a new window and cuts through an old fibre-cement panel without a second thought. If you are about to renovate, make sure everyone knows where the asbestos elements are, and have them removed first. Hidden asbestos in interiors is a topic of its own, covered by Demolición Interior Málaga in where asbestos appears in interior renovations.

Also bad: pressure-washing, walking on it, painting over moss

• Pressure-washing strips the surface of the sheets and sends residue into gutters, gardens and pools. It is often done to "freshen up" a roof before a sale.
• Walking on the roof risks a fall through the sheets and cracks them even when nobody falls.
• Painting over moss and dirt after scrubbing combines abrasion with a cosmetic finish that hides the problem from the next owner.
• Patching with offcuts of other old sheets, usually cut to size on site.

All four have something in common: they disturb the material without any of the controls a registered company would use.

The worst for the waste: skips, burial and dumping

Asbestos cement is hazardous waste 17 06 05*, and Ley 7/2022 (art. 30.1) states that asbestos must be handled safely and never mixed with other waste. The worst disposal habits break that rule directly:

The good: leave sound material alone and monitor it

If the uralita is intact, firmly fixed and nobody plans to touch it, the most sensible short-term option can be to do nothing to the material itself – but to manage it. That means checking its condition from a safe position every so often and after storms, telling gardeners, pool technicians and builders where it is, and noting it in the information you give a property manager or a future buyer.

Our post on whether it is worth removing uralita in good condition explains when that kind of monitoring is enough and when it stops being so.

The best: planned removal by a RERA-registered company

The best way to deal with old uralita for good is a planned removal: a RERA-registered company prepares and files the plan de trabajo, wets the material, takes out the fixings, lowers whole sheets, wraps them, and transports them separately to an authorised manager. You receive the waste delivery documents.

Two habits make that approach even better:

1. Group every asbestos element into one job. Roof, tank, downpipes, flue and that pile of old sheets behind the shed can all be dealt with in the same planned intervention. See asbestos pipes and tanks for the smaller elements.
2. Plan it before other works, so that no one is tempted to cut through it in the middle of a renovation.

On our jobs, the asbestos removal is executed by a RERA-registered company that works as our subcontractor; we coordinate the rest of the demolition, the ordinary rubble and the new roof or the clearance of the plot. The details are on our uralita removal and uralita roof removal pages.

What to do if you find uralita after buying

Many owners only discover old fibre-cement after the purchase: a tank in the loft, a downpipe hidden behind a bougainvillea, sheets used as a makeshift roof on the barbecue area, or a pile left by the previous owner in a corner of the plot. The reflex is to "tidy up" before the first summer. That is exactly the moment to pause.

Make a list of everything you have found, photograph it without moving it, and keep children, pets and gardeners away from loose pieces. Then ask for one quote that covers all of it. If the plot also needs clearing after a demolition, the asbestos goes first and the rest follows; Demolición de Piscinas Costa del Sol explains the clearance side on its plot clearance page.

A quick ranking to keep

1. Best: planned removal by a RERA-registered company, all elements together, documents kept.
2. Good: sound material left undisturbed, monitored and clearly communicated to anyone working on the property.
3. Risky: encapsulation done without professional assessment – compare it properly in encapsulate or remove an asbestos roof.
4. Bad: pressure-washing, walking on it, patching, painting over.
5. Worst: breaking, cutting or grinding, and getting rid of it in a skip, a hole or the countryside.

If you recognise one of the bad habits in work already done on your property, the sensible next step is to stop further disturbance and ask a registered company to assess what is left.