Asbestos in older Crete houses: the roof sheets, the pipes, and the rules for taking them out
Asbestos cement went onto Greek roofs, outbuildings, pipes and flues for decades before the 2005 ban, and plenty of it is still on Cretan houses. When intact material can stay, who may remove it, the notice the Labour Inspectorate must get, how the waste has to travel, what the 2023 EU directive changed, and what to ask the engineer before you buy.
Asbestos is the defect in an old Cretan house that costs least to live with and most to disturb. Intact asbestos-cement sheets on a storeroom roof are, on the national occupational-safety institute’s own account, generally no risk to the people beneath them; the risk starts when someone cuts, drills or breaks them, which is what a new roof, an extension or a set of solar panels does. Greece banned asbestos from 1 January 2005, and taking it out has its own rules: certified firms, notice to the Labour Inspectorate ten working days ahead, and hazardous-waste handling. Checked in October 2026 against the Hellenic Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (ELINYAE), presidential decree 212/2006, the ministerial decisions on removal firms, the EU’s 2023 asbestos directive and the World Health Organization.
I am not an engineer or a doctor, and this is not technical, legal or medical advice. Whether a material contains asbestos is a laboratory question, and what to do about it is a question for an engineer who has seen it.
Asbestos in one minute. Greece banned the extraction, manufacture and sale of asbestos products from 1 January 2005, the date from which EU Directive 1999/77/EC banned all uses; buildings up to 2005 have a high probability of containing it. Asbestos cement, typically 10–15% chrysotile, went into roofs, partitions, water and drain pipes, gutters and flues. Intact material in good condition is usually best left in place, marked and monitored. Removal is work for firms certified by the Ministry of Labour (type A for all materials, type B for non-friable ones such as asbestos cement) under presidential decree 212/2006 and decision 4229/395/2013; the contractor notifies the Labour Inspectorate at least ten working days ahead, and the waste leaves bagged or double-wrapped through a registered hazardous-waste manager. EU Directive 2023/2668 cut the workplace limit tenfold, to 0.01 fibres/cm³, due by 21 December 2025. No Greek grant for private removal was found in October 2026.
Where it is in a Cretan house
The material to look for is asbestos cement, which ELINYAE describes as very common in industrial buildings and rural homes: cement reinforced with chrysotile, usually 10–15% by weight in sheets and sometimes far more. It was used for roofs and ceilings, partitions, water pipes, drain pipes, gutters and flues. The grey corrugated sheet on an outbuilding is the classic case, and the European workplace-safety agency’s construction factsheet adds less obvious places: water supply and drainage pipes, an old toilet cistern, water heaters, ventilation ducts.
Age is the first filter. ELINYAE presumes possible asbestos in buildings built or renovated between about 1950 and 1990, and says everything built up to 2005 has a high probability of containing it. Looking is a start, not proof: where it is inconclusive, the test is a sample analysed by an accredited laboratory, taken by trained people rather than by the owner with a chisel.
Why intact is usually fine
The World Health Organization states that all types of asbestos cause lung cancer, mesothelioma, cancers of the larynx and ovary, and asbestosis, and that occupational exposure kills more than 200,000 people a year. The danger is the fibres released when the material is worked, which is why ELINYAE’s answer to the householder is calm: living with intact asbestos is, as a rule, not a health risk, and material in good condition that is unlikely to be disturbed is better left in place, marked and checked regularly. Damaged or disturbable material has three options: sealing, enclosing or removal.
So the buyer’s question is not “is there asbestos?” but “will my plans disturb it?”. A new roof, a demolition, a cut pipe or solar panels bolted through a corrugated sheet all do.
The rules for taking it out
The framework is presidential decree 212/2006, written to protect workers and still cited in the 2026 decision on removal firms. Before demolition or maintenance, article 10 requires the employer to identify materials that may contain asbestos, asking the owner where necessary. Article 4 requires the main contractor, or the project owner where there is no main contractor, to notify the Labour Inspectorate in writing at least ten working days before work starts, stating the site, the type and quantity of material, the methods and the workers. Article 12 adds a work plan, and the controls come off only once airborne fibres are below 0.010 per cm³. Article 14 limits demolition and removal to licensed firms.
Those firms are the asbestos removal-demolition enterprises of ministerial decision 4229/395/2013, amended in 2017: type A may handle every asbestos material, type B only non-friable ones, a class that includes asbestos cement. Since a June 2026 decision their certificates are issued digitally through the ΟΠΣ-ΗΡΙΔΑΝΟΣ information system, so a contractor can show you one. The European agency’s advice to everyone else is blunt: no removal without the licence and the training.
Where the waste goes
Asbestos waste is hazardous waste. The 2013 decision requires the firm to meet the hazardous-waste rules before work starts, to pack the waste in specially marked bags inside sealed sacks, to wrap large pieces twice in 0.25 mm polyethylene, and to hand everything to a manager entered in the register of hazardous-waste managers, unless the firm is registered itself. A sheet that ends up in a ravine or a skip has not been disposed of; it has been moved.
What the 2023 directive changed
Directive (EU) 2023/2668 amended the EU’s asbestos-at-work rules and gave member states until 21 December 2025 to comply. It cut the exposure limit tenfold, from 0.1 to 0.01 fibres per cm³, with a further cut, to 0.002 when counting fibres 0.2–3 micrometres wide, and electron microscopy, due by 21 December 2029. It also obliges employers to identify presumed asbestos before work on buildings older than the national ban, from the owner’s information or, failing that, a qualified operator’s inspection, and it requires member states to publish the list of permitted firms. No Greek decree transposing it appeared in ELINYAE’s legislation index in October 2026, and the institute’s pages still give the 2006 limit of 0.1.
Who pays
You do. No Greek scheme paying private owners to remove asbestos was found: the eligible works of Εξοικονομώ 2025 are windows, insulation, heating and cooling, renewable hot water, energy management and storage, the published description of “Ανακαίνιση Κατοικίας” mentions no asbestos either, and neither is open to a holiday home, as heating and energy grants explains. No non-commercial source gives a price for removal, so treat every figure as a quote.
What to ask the engineer
Put asbestos on the list for the engineer’s check: which roofs, sheds, pipes, flues and fittings look like asbestos cement, what condition they are in, and whether the works you plan will touch them. If they will, ask for a sample analysed by an accredited laboratory before the deposit, and a quote from a certified firm, so that removal becomes a number in the negotiation rather than a surprise in the first month of renovating an old house.
The honest downside
You cannot confirm asbestos by looking, the laboratory and the certified firm cost money, and nothing subsidises them. A seller may not know what an old roof is made of, and the neighbour’s shed is not your decision. No Greek act applying the EU’s tenfold cut in the limit was found, so the rules described here may tighten. And the cheapest moment to deal with asbestos is before the purchase, which is also the moment everyone is least inclined to raise it.
Disclosure: Honest Crete does not sell or list property. Enquiries sent from this section go to a licensed estate agent, not to us; the full statement is below. Nothing in this article names a removal firm, a laboratory, an engineer or any other business; ELINYAE, the Labour Inspectorate, the ministries and the World Health Organization are named as the public institutions they are.
Worth it if the asbestos is intact, outside the parts of the house you plan to rebuild, and priced into the offer after a laboratory has confirmed what it is. Skip it if the plan starts with a new roof, solar panels or a demolition and nobody has checked what the roof is made of: that is the moment asbestos becomes a cost and a health risk at once.
When was asbestos banned in Greece?
Greece banned the extraction, manufacture, processing and sale of asbestos products from 1 January 2005, according to ELINYAE, the national occupational health and safety institute. The same date applied across the EU under Directive 1999/77/EC, a ban now carried in the REACH regulation. ELINYAE says buildings built up to 2005 have a high probability of containing asbestos.
Is an asbestos-cement roof dangerous if it is left alone?
As a rule, no. ELINYAE says that living in a property with intact asbestos is generally not a health risk, and that material in good condition and unlikely to be damaged is better left in place, marked and checked regularly. The danger comes from fibres released when the material is cut, drilled or broken, so the real question is whether planned works will disturb it.
Who is allowed to remove asbestos in Greece?
Only firms certified as asbestos removal-demolition enterprises, under presidential decree 212/2006 and ministerial decision 4229/395/2013. Type A firms may handle all asbestos materials and type B firms only non-friable ones, such as asbestos cement. Since a June 2026 decision the certificates are issued digitally through the ΟΠΣ-ΗΡΙΔΑΝΟΣ information system.
Does asbestos removal have to be notified in Greece?
Yes. Article 4 of presidential decree 212/2006 requires the main contractor, or the project owner where there is no main contractor, to notify the Labour Inspectorate in writing at least ten working days before work starts, with the site, the type and quantity of material, the methods and the workers. A work plan is also required before demolition or removal.
Is there a grant to remove an asbestos roof in Greece?
None for private owners was found in October 2026. The eligible works of Εξοικονομώ 2025 and the published description of the 'Ανακαίνιση Κατοικίας' programme do not mention asbestos removal, and neither programme is open to a holiday home. Budget for removal yourself and check for a new programme rather than assuming one exists.
What did the 2023 EU asbestos directive change?
Directive (EU) 2023/2668 cut the workplace exposure limit from 0.1 to 0.01 fibres per cm³, with a compliance deadline of 21 December 2025 and a further reduction due by 21 December 2029. The directive also requires employers to identify presumed asbestos before working on buildings older than the national ban, using information from the owner. No Greek decree transposing it appeared in ELINYAE's legislation index in October 2026.
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