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What it regulates
Regulated asbestos risk prevention from 11 October 2006 until repeal on 24 October 2026 by Royal Decree 847/2026. This historical record supports consultation of earlier exposures, records and plans while distinguishing transitional savings from the current framework.
Who it applies to
Undertakings and workers involved in actual or potential asbestos exposure, prevention services, laboratories and authorities holding the records. New work is governed by Royal Decree 847/2026; this record does not turn old requirements into current instructions.
Key provisions
The historical scope covered work involving actual or possible asbestos exposure, including demolition, removal, maintenance, repair and waste handling. Article 3(2) provided limited exceptions to Articles 11, 16, 17 and 18 subject to cumulative conditions; it was not a general exemption from prevention duties.
Article 3Article 4(1) set the historical limit at 0.1 fibres/cm³ as an eight-hour time-weighted average. It must not be used as the current limit: Article 4(1) of Royal Decree 847/2026 sets 0.01 fibres/cm³ from 24 October 2026.
Article 4Historical assessment included measuring fibres, comparing exposure with the applicable limit and reassessing significant changes. It required advanced-level occupational hygiene specialists and recognised laboratories for fibre counting.
Article 5Respiratory protection supplemented collective measures when those were insufficient. The historical instrument limited use to the necessary minimum, no more than four hours daily, and required breaks appropriate to physical workload and weather; this description does not replace the successor’s current rules.
Article 8Article 11 governed the prior work plan, identification of materials and workers, methods, preventive measures and waste management. It allowed general plans for specified short, irregular jobs and required checking the approved plan when contracting or subcontracting.
Article 11Article 12 provided for approval by the labour authority, technical and Inspectorate reports, and forty-five days to decide and notify. For plans submitted before 24 October 2026, the fourth transitional provision of Royal Decree 847/2026 preserves the previous processing rules until notification of the decision.
Article 12Historical training had to be appropriate, understandable and free of charge, precede the activity and recur periodically or following changes. It covered hazards, procedures, respiratory protection, emergencies, decontamination, waste and health surveillance.
Article 13Article 16 required specific health surveillance, including prior and periodic assessment in the regulated cases, and preventive follow-up after employment ended because of the long latency period. Repeal does not mean that health follow-up disappears under the successor framework.
Article 16Article 18 governed records of RERA registration, plans, exposure assessments and health surveillance. Paragraph 4 required environmental, exposure and health-surveillance data to be retained for at least forty years after exposure ended, with transfer to the authorities if the undertaking ceased activity and protection of confidentiality.
Article 18History and versions
Initial publication: 11/04/2006 · Initial entry into force: 11/10/2006
BOE-A-2006-6474Published on 11 April 2006 and in force from 11 October 2006. The only subsequent change recorded by the BOE is repeal by Royal Decree 847/2026, published on 23 October and effective on 24 October 2026. The retained operative provisions are the 2006 text; the 2026 textual entry is the initial repeal notice, not an amendment to those articles. The successor’s transitional provisions preserve records and processing of plans already submitted.
The sole repealing provision of Royal Decree 847/2026 repeals Royal Decree 396/2006 in full from 24 October 2026. Read it with the successor’s first to fourth transitional provisions and fourth final provision; repeal does not remove all record-retention duties or pending proceedings.
BOE-A-2026-22081All text versions recorded by the BOE
| Publication | Effective date | Official reference | Affected provisions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11/04/2006 | 11/10/2006 | BOE-A-2006-6474 | Preamble, Chapter I, Article 1, Article 2, Article 3, Chapter II, Article 4, Article 5, Article 6, Article 7, Article 8, Article 9, Article 10, Article 11, Article 12, Article 13, Article 14, Article 15, Article 16, Chapter III, Article 17, Article 18, Article 19, Additional provision first, Additional provision second, Transitional provision first, Transitional provision second, Repealing provision sole, Final provision first, Final provision second, Final provision third, Final provision fourth, Signature, Annex I, Annex II, Annex III, Annex IV, Annex V |
| 23/10/2026 | 24/10/2026 | BOE-A-2026-22081 | Introductory note |
Transitional provisions and application notes
The first transitional provision of 2006 preserved retention of records and documents filed under the Order of 31 October 1984 on that legislation’s terms. This historical continuity rule now connects with the first transitional provision of 2026.
Transitional provision firstThe second transitional provision of 2006 preserved the existing RERA registers and their data, waived a new form for already registered undertakings and consolidated multiple registrations. That 2006 arrangement does not exempt an undertaking from renewal under the second transitional provision of Royal Decree 847/2026.
Transitional provision secondThe sole repealing provision of Royal Decree 847/2026 expressly repeals Royal Decree 396/2006 from 24 October 2026. The BOE record marks it as repealed and no longer in force. The continuity rules described here derive from its successor; they do not keep the entire old instrument in force.
Official referenceThe first transitional provision of Royal Decree 847/2026 requires records filed under the 1984 Order and Royal Decree 396/2006 to be retained on the terms of those instruments. Repeal therefore does not permit their destruction; the Article 18(4) data retain their minimum forty-year period after exposure.
Official referenceUndertakings already registered in RERA must request renewal within six months of Royal Decree 847/2026 entering into force, from the authority for their registered office and under its Article 18(5). Failure to apply in time results in removal. That transitional period is still running at the 14 November 2026 cutoff.
Official referenceUntil 20 December 2029, the successor’s third transitional provision allows the specified measurement methods and temporarily disapplies paragraph 3 of its Annex I. This technical transition does not postpone the 0.01 fibres/cm³ limit in Article 4(1) or revive the former 0.1 limit.
Official referencePlans submitted for approval before 24 October 2026 continue to be processed under the previous legislation until the decision is notified. The saving is limited to that processing; it must not be read as a general extension of all duties and exposure limits in Royal Decree 396/2006.
Official referenceThe successor entered into force on 24 October 2026 but postpones, for six months from its publication on 23 October, the formal recognition requirement for laboratories performing qualitative analyses. This does not delay the whole instrument or the quantitative-analysis regime. This period starts on a different date from the RERA period, which runs from entry into force.
Official referenceThe 2006 repealing provision expressly replaced six earlier asbestos instruments from 11 October 2006. Their identifiers are retained in the official relationships; those historical repeals are distinct from this decree’s own repeal in 2026.
Repealing provision soleThe historical text still cites Organic Law 15/1999 on data and Law 30/1992 on procedure. Those citations do not establish their current force. Records and proceedings must be interpreted under the legislation applicable at the relevant time and the successor’s continuity rules.
Article 19
Official BOE legal relationships
Earlier references (8)
- Repeals · BOE-A-1993-20513
- Repeals · BOE-A-1989-4950
- Repeals · BOE-A-1987-28548
- Repeals · BOE-A-1987-23108
- Repeals · BOE-A-1987-891
- Repeals · BOE-A-1984-24732
- Transposes · DOUE-L-2003-80589
- In accordance with · BOE-A-1995-24292
Subsequent references (1)
- Repeal recorded · BOE-A-2026-22081
