Municipal asbestos census: what it is and what it means for you

What the municipal census is

The 14th additional provision of Spanish Act 7/2022 on waste requires town councils to draw up a census of installations and sites with asbestos, including a timetable to plan its removal. Both the census and the timetable are public and are sent to the regional health, environmental and labour authorities, which inspect that the asbestos is removed and taken to an authorised waste manager.

Removal is prioritised according to how hazardous it is and how exposed the most vulnerable people are. In any case, public installations or sites with the highest risk must be dealt with before 2028.

The Catalan census of asbestos-containing materials

Law 8/2026 creates the Catalan census of asbestos-containing materials (Cens català de materials que contenen amiant), a public register of the asbestos materials identified in Catalonia, organised at least by municipality. The specific data it holds will be set by regulation (art. 19).

• Municipal censuses are integrated into the Catalan census (art. 20.1), and town councils must send theirs to the Catalan Government (art. 45.1).
• While a municipality has no census of its own, the Catalan census information for that municipality serves as its municipal census (art. 20.2).
• Information about a property or infrastructure can be consulted once it has been verified (art. 19.5).

Who reports to the census

• Anyone must inform the authorities of places with asbestos they know of (art. 11.b).
• Property managers must report asbestos in the buildings they manage to the owners and to the Catalan census (art. 12.1.a).
• Asbestos management and removal companies must report it as soon as they detect it (art. 10.c).

Failing to report the presence of asbestos to the Catalan census when obliged to is a serious offence (art. 52.c). Penalties will apply once the decree implementing the penalty regime is approved (seventh final provision).

What it means for you as an owner

Your building appearing in the census is not a penalty and does not stop you selling or renting. What you do need, if the property was built before 2002, is to provide the asbestos presence or absence certificate: the law says it is provided regardless of checking the Catalan census data (art. 21.2), so one does not replace the other.

Once asbestos has been identified, the owner must maintain the property and take measures to remove it (art. 11.d). The law sets no date for private owners: deadlines will be set by the competent institutions (fourth additional provision). If the asbestos is in common elements such as the roof, the decision lies with the owners’ association.

How to consult it

Law 8/2026 provides for a portal on asbestos-containing materials that must give access to the Catalan census and, where applicable, to municipal censuses (art. 22.1.d). In the meantime, ask your town council whether it has published its census, which under Act 7/2022 is public.

To get an idea of your area, the Catalan Institute of Cartography and Geology (ICGC) publishes the fibre cement roofs detected from the air as open data. We summarise them on our “Where we work” page.

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