Hazardous construction waste

What is hazardous construction waste?

Hazardous construction waste is building and demolition waste that the waste catalogue marks as hazardous, so it needs stricter handling than ordinary demolition waste. The regime comes from the waste act, zákon č. 79/2015 Z. z. o odpadoch. The act applies its hazardous waste rules to waste with hazardous substances. The waste must also meet at least one catalogue criterion for hazardous properties (§ 25 ods. 8). The waste holder must classify the waste correctly under the catalogue (§ 14 ods. 1 písm. a)). Slovak texts call it nebezpečný odpad, and the building-site version is nebezpečný stavebný odpad.

The catalogue is decree 365/2015 Z. z. It gives each waste a six-digit code. Hazardous wastes carry the letter N and all other wastes carry the letter O (§ 1 ods. 2 of the decree).

Which fractions in demolition waste are hazardous?

The clearest case is azbest (asbestos). The catalogue lists building materials containing asbestos under code 17 06 05 and insulation materials containing asbestos under code 17 06 01, both marked N. Other fractions are hazardous only when they contain hazardous substances, so a label or a name does not settle the question. The table lists construction codes from group 17 that carry the N marking.

Fraction	Catalogue code	Where to act
Building materials containing asbestos	17 06 05	Identify before work, remove through a permit holder, keep separate and packed
Insulation materials containing asbestos	17 06 01	Same route as other asbestos waste
Bituminous mixtures containing coal tar, coal tar and tar products	17 03 01 and 17 03 03	Check the composition before choosing a disposal route
Soil and stones containing hazardous substances	17 05 03	Sample and classify before excavation, keep separate from clean soil
Wood, glass and plastic containing or contaminated with hazardous substances	17 02 04	Separate at source and classify before collection
Gypsum-based materials contaminated with hazardous substances	17 08 01	Separate from clean gypsum boards
Other construction and demolition waste containing hazardous substances	17 09 03	Do not send to a mixed skip

Whether a particular board, felt or soil belongs under an N code depends on its composition. The originator of hazardous waste must arrange sampling and analysis by a qualified person (§ 25 ods. 5). The exception is waste whose hazard and handling conditions are clear from the product safety data sheet or its documents.

Who may remove and handle asbestos waste in Slovakia?

Only a sole trader or legal person with a permit may remove asbestos from buildings (§ 41 ods. 1 of zákon č. 355/2007 Z. z.). The Úrad verejného zdravotníctva SR (ÚVZ SR) issues the permit and keeps a list of permit holders. The ÚVZ information page states that owners may not remove the material themselves. A natural person also may not handle construction waste containing asbestos from simple or small buildings (§ 12 ods. 6 of the waste act). A residential building is a simple building if it has at most three flats and at most 300 m2 of built-up area. It must also have at most two above-ground floors (§ 2 ods. 6 of zákon č. 25/2025 Z. z.). Many family houses meet these limits.

The ministry methodology of 13 September 2022 adds a second step. When the demolition contractor also dismantles and partly stabilises the material, that work counts as disposal. The contractor then needs a disposal consent from the district office under § 97 ods. 1 písm. b) of the waste act. The contractor also needs the bound trade licence Podnikanie v oblasti nakladania s nebezpečnými odpadmi. The ministry codes the partly stabilised waste as 19 03 04.

Who is responsible for hazardous waste on a demolition job?

The waste originator (pôvodca odpadu) answers for the waste under the act (§ 77 ods. 3). Take work at the seat or place of business of a legal person or sole trader. There the originator is the legal person or sole trader that holds the permit under the building act. For similar work done for natural persons, the originator is the person who does the work (§ 77 ods. 2). A private owner who orders a demolition from a contractor is therefore not the originator. A company that owns the site and holds the permit is.

The 2022 ministry methodology words the first rule differently, as the party for whom the work is finally carried out. The act text above is the later and binding one. Whoever the originator is, ask the contractor in writing who will collect, transport and dispose of each hazardous fraction. A holder may hand waste only to a person authorised to handle it (§ 14 ods. 1 písm. e)).

What must be checked before demolition starts?

Government regulation 185/2026 Z. z. on protecting employees from asbestos exposure applies from 15 July 2026. Take demolition, maintenance or refurbishment in a building built before 1 January 2005. Before it, the employer must take every available step to identify materials that may contain asbestos. This includes asking owners and other employers for information. If that information is missing, the employer must have the materials examined for asbestos before work starts (§ 8 ods. 1).

The employer must also prepare a risk assessment that covers handling of asbestos waste (§ 2 ods. 2 písm. e)). A work plan is due before demolition or asbestos removal starts (§ 8 ods. 5). The permit holder notifies the public health authority at least 30 days before work starts. The notice includes proof of disposal arrangements for the asbestos waste (§ 3 ods. 1 písm. j)). The workplace limit is 0.002 fibres per cm3 over eight hours for long, thin fibres (§ 2 ods. 4).

Separate waste duties apply to demolition. They include a written notice to the waste authority three working days before demolition and a report within 90 days afterwards. Construction and demolition waste explains them.

How must hazardous waste be separated and stored on site?

The waste act prohibits diluting hazardous waste. It also prohibits mixing it with other types of hazardous waste, with non-hazardous waste, or with materials that are not waste (§ 25 ods. 1). The act allows exceptions only under conditions such as a consent under § 97 ods. 1 písm. i) (§ 25 ods. 2). If mixing occurred, the waste authority may order the waste to be separated again when that is technically and economically possible (§ 25 ods. 3). In practice the hazardous fraction goes into its own container from the first day of stripping.

During collection, transport and storage, hazardous waste must be packed in suitable packaging and labelled (§ 25 ods. 4). For asbestos, the ministry methodology describes the usual approach. Coat the material with a penetrating stabiliser before dismantling. Dismantle with as little breakage as possible. Pack it in marked polyethylene bags, sheeting or big bags. Then collect it for transport to a hazardous waste landfill. A skip of general rubble cannot take these fractions, even in small quantities.

How is hazardous waste different from ordinary construction and demolition waste?

Holders sort ordinary construction and demolition waste for reuse, recycling or recovery where possible, following the waste hierarchy (§ 14 ods. 1 písm. d)). The same hierarchy applies to hazardous waste, but the act adds stricter rules at each step. The two categories occur on the same site, so the separation has to happen before the main demolition, not afterwards. The table compares the two routes.

Aspect	Ordinary C&D waste	Hazardous construction waste
Collection on site	Collected sorted by type (§ 14 ods. 1 písm. b))	Collected separately by type and labelled (§ 14 ods. 1 písm. c))
Mixing	Not prohibited as such	Prohibited, with narrow exceptions (§ 25 ods. 1 and 2)
Packaging	No special rule in § 25	Suitable packaging and labelling (§ 25 ods. 4)
Analysis	Not required by § 25	Sampling and analysis by a qualified person, with exceptions (§ 25 ods. 5)
Handing over	Only to an authorised person (§ 14 ods. 1 písm. e))	Only to an authorised person (§ 14 ods. 1 písm. e))

The act also says that hazardous waste is recovered or disposed of before waste that is not hazardous (§ 25 ods. 6).

Is hazardous waste always more expensive to remove?

This page quotes no price, because no dated public source gives one. The cost depends on the survey, the permit holder's work, the packaging, any sampling and the disposal route. Ask for the hazardous fractions to be priced as separate line items, so you can see what each step adds to the job. Selective approaches such as building deconstruction also help to sort the remaining material for recovery.

What misunderstandings are common about hazardous construction waste?

The first is that a small amount does not matter. Section 25 ods. 1 sets no volume threshold, and the ban on a natural person handling asbestos waste from a simple building has none either. The second is that the demolition contractor always carries the responsibility. The act names the permit holder as the originator for work at a company's premises. The third is that any licensed waste carrier can take asbestos. The permit to remove asbestos and the consent to dispose of it are separate permissions. Check each document before the first sheet is removed and keep the paperwork with the site file.