Managing asbestos is serious work, and school boards and principals carry the responsibility for making sure it is done safely, by people competent to do it. The hardest part, schools have long said, is knowing which suppliers to trust. Since 1 April 2026 that judgement has effectively been taken off their plate: schools, and the Ministry of Education itself, must now use only suppliers from a national accredited list for any asbestos-related work. It is a significant change — and, the Ministry argues, one designed to give schools confidence rather than more compliance.
What’s on the list
The register — formally the Accredited Asbestos Services List, or AASL, published on education.govt.nz — covers three core service types: 39 asbestos consultancies, 69 asbestos removal companies and 16 asbestos laboratories, enough for national coverage in every region. Each supplier has passed a structured evaluation checking qualifications, experience, systems of work and alignment with the latest WorkSafe good-practice guidance. The point, the Ministry says, is not to create barriers but to guarantee a consistent baseline of competence. Laboratories on the list are independently accredited by International Accreditation New Zealand, and while coverage is already national, the Ministry says it is working to make the register easier to search by region.
Mandatory, not optional
Use of the list is compulsory for all asbestos work — planned or reactive, a small repair or a major project. It applies whether the work is a one-off survey, a clearance test after a leak, or part of a major refurbishment. The reasoning is assurance: every supplier on it has demonstrated they understand the risks and follow good practice. Going outside the list removes that assurance and raises the risk, which is why it is not a matter of preference. For school leaders, the upside is that they no longer need to become experts in vetting asbestos professionals — that work has been done centrally.
A traffic-light system
Accreditation is not a one-off tick. Suppliers are monitored over time using a traffic-light system with four levels. Green means a supplier is performing well. Yellow flags a minor non-conformance. Amber signals a moderate non-conformance and carries a three-month stand-down. Red marks a major non-conformance and means removal from the list. Accreditation, in other words, can be lost as well as earned. Good performance is recognised; concerns raised about a supplier are taken
seriously. Because the register is live and dynamic, schools should check it at the moment they contract, rather than relying on a name they used last year.
If your usual supplier isn’t on it
Some schools have long-standing relationships with suppliers who are not yet accredited. The Ministry’s advice is to encourage them to apply — the process is a chance for a good operator to demonstrate competence, and the details are on education.govt.nz. But if a supplier chooses not to apply, schools should stop using them for asbestos work once the list is mandatory; the risks are too great, and the assurance the evaluation provides is the whole point. Asbestos management is a shared responsibility: schools engage accredited suppliers and follow the right processes, suppliers maintain their competence, and the Ministry manages the list and monitors performance.
