As New Zealand continues to renew and expand its built environment, the risks we don’t immediately see are often the ones that matter most. Asbestos in soil is one such risk, well-regulated, widely misunderstood, and increasingly encountered as development, infrastructure upgrades, and post-event recovery disturb legacy materials beneath our feet.
While asbestos is commonly associated with buildings, its presence in soil is often the result of historic construction practices: fragments from asbestos-containing roofing and cladding, demolition debris, or the long-term use of machinery on sites where asbestos-containing materials were once present. Over time, these fibres can accumulate in the ground, creating exposure risks that sit squarely at the intersection of environmental management, worker safety, and project delivery.
New Zealand’s Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016 set clear expectations for managing occupational exposure. However, it was the introduction of the New Zealand Guidelines for Assessing and Managing Asbestos in Soil that provided a critical bridge between traditional building-based asbestos controls and the more complex realities of in-ground contamination. The guidelines recognise that asbestos in soil presents a different risk profile, one that requires context-specific assessment, clear communication, and proportionate management rather than blanket assumptions.
At GWE, we see asbestos in soil not as a compliance hurdle, but as a readiness issue. When identified early and managed well, it becomes a controllable risk. When discovered late, it can derail programmes, undermine confidence, and expose people to harm. This is why early environmental input matters.
Our approach is grounded in listening first – to the site history, the ground conditions, the regulatory context, and the practical realities of construction. From preliminary investigations through to detailed assessment and remediation support, our focus is on understanding how asbestos may behave in a specific soil environment and what that means for those working on and around the site.
That philosophy is reflected in the depth of experience within our team. Colin Jowett, Technical Director at GWE, was a technical contributor to the first edition of the New Zealand asbestos-in-soil guidance and has spent years working alongside regulators, industry specialists, and public and private clients, navigating the complexities of asbestos risk. His involvement in post-earthquake recovery projects following the Christchurch and Kaikôura events reinforced a key lesson: asbestos management is rarely just a technical problem; it’s a people, systems, and assurance challenge.
Effective asbestos-in-soil management relies on collaboration. It requires engineers, environmental specialists, contractors,s and regulators to work together with a shared understanding of risk and responsibility. At GWE, we Team Up with our clients and their delivery partners to ensure that appropriate methods and practices are embedded in contractor performance, not just written into plans, but actively implemented on site.
Innovation in this space doesn’t mean reinventing regulation; it means applying it intelligently. By integrating environmental assessment with construction planning, we help clients avoid over- or under-reacting to asbestos findings. This balance protects health, maintains compliance, and supports momentum – an outcome that benefits everyone involved.
Above all, asbestos in soil demands follow-through. Identifying risk is only the first step. Ensuring controls are maintained, works are monitored, and outcomes remain defensible over time is what turns good advice into good results.
As development and infrastructure activity intensifies across New Zealand, the likelihood of encountering asbestos in soil will only increase. The organisations that succeed will be those that treat environmental risk as part of their strategic foundation, not an afterthought.
That is how insight becomes action, and how planning turns into performance.
Progress Engineered. Problem Solved.