A changed legal framework
Royal Decree 847/2026 was published on 23 October 2026 and entered into force the following day. It expressly repeals Royal Decree 396/2006. The new framework covers activities involving actual or potential exposure to asbestos fibres, including removal, maintenance, demolition and certain waste operations. References in older internal procedures need review, but repeal does not permit destruction of historical documentation that must be retained under the transitional provisions and relevant retention requirements.
Identify materials before intervention
Before specified demolition, maintenance or refurbishment work in premises dating from before Spain’s asbestos prohibition, employers must take measures to identify potentially asbestos-containing materials. Obtaining information from owners and registers forms part of that duty. Where information is unavailable, examination by a qualified operator must be ensured. Identification feeds into the construction safety and health study or relevant assessment. Appearance or a photograph alone cannot establish that a material is asbestos-free.
Exposure and preventive organisation
The daily airborne limit is 0.01 fibres per cubic centimetre as an eight-hour time-weighted average. It is not a harmless concentration and does not replace measures to reduce exposure. The decree strengthens assessment, procedures, specific training, health surveillance and work planning. Measurement methods and counting criteria must be read with the transitional provision applicable until 20 December 2029, avoiding a combination of new values and incompatible analytical assumptions when interpreting results.
Registration and work plans are separate
RERA registration concerns the company; a work plan describes an intervention and its measures under the decree. Previously registered companies must request renewal within six months of entry into force. Work plans submitted before that date continue processing under the former rules until notification of the decision. There is no general extension allowing the repealed regime to remain applicable in full to any new work undertaken after the change.
What an affected company should review
Review activities, material information, competence, exposure assessment, training, health surveillance, RERA status and the position of each work plan. Refurbishment commissioned after October 2026 needs this examination before execution. This article explains the regulatory change; it does not authorise work or provide removal instructions. Application requires competent technical involvement and coordination with the relevant labour authority, including attention to the specific transitional position rather than assumptions based on an old registration certificate.
