In most states, homeowners may perform their own asbestos removal only if they occupy the home themselves and have no tennants. All abatement in public buildings (including residential buildings with more than four units) must be done by professionals. A good place to start looking for referrals to abatement professionals is a local building department. Some contractors will have different roles to perform, and depending on local and state regulations, almost anyone can do abatement. So before allowing anyone to provide abatement work, you need to know about those regulations.

Doing it yourself may be the easiest way to stay free of regulation, but it also carries the greatest risk. This is because of the lack of experience with procedures and equipment, as well as restrictions on where and how you can get help with what you do not know. For instance, you may be able to get the help of relatives and friends, but only if you do not pay them. No matter how willing and helpful friends may seem at the time, you have little protection if they later feel they have been exposed to hazardous materials.

A plumbing or electrical contractor may make a tempting offer, but if they are not licensed to do asbestos abatement, the contractor may be putting their trade licenses, as well as the owner's liabilities and family at risk. The best resource is a specially trained and licensed contractor. Check with the agency in each state that is responsible for oversight of asbestos handling to see if there are a list of contractors as a starting point. Often, agencies will offer several with different specialties:

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality provides a 2006 directory that includes just five general abatement contractors (one with two offices) in Phoenix, Yuma, Tempe, and Tucson; twelve demolition/wrecking contractors, presumably qualified to handle asbestos-containing materials, in those cities plus Gilbert, Mesa, and Williams; and twelve waste transporters.

From http://www.adeq.state.ar.us/air/ you can reach several databases of Arkansas contractors, consultant firms, and individuals licensed to provide asbestos and lead abatement.

Colorado's page, http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/ap/asbestos, offers a link to the Colorado Environmental Professionals Association, but their Web site was under construction in May 2007 and had a link to only one contractor, a testing laboratory.

For Connecticut, on the other hand, at http://www.dph.state.ct.us/BRS/Asbestos/asbestos_program.htm you can link directly to a seven-page list of contractors.

Illinois, http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/asbestos.htm, also seems to have an easy-to-use database of asbestos licensees, which you can search according to the specialty you need. There are more than 150 records for contractors. <.li>

Iowa's database, at http://www2.iwd.state.ia.us/LaborServices%5CLabrAsbs.nsf/MainPage?OpenPage, includes all of the workers licensed for asbestos abatement in the state.

The Kentucky list, Kentucky Asbestos Abatement, and runs seven pages in two columns and includes contractors from neighboring states, such as those in Bay City MI, Evansville IN, Strawberry Plains TN, St. Louis MO, and Theodore AL.

Louisiana's State Licensing Board for Contractors, at http://www.lslbc.state.la.us/, has a searchable database, but it doesn't allow searching specifically for asbestos qualifications.

Maine has a list of 23 in-state contractors and twenty as far away as California, with phone numbers, at http://www.maine.gov/dep/rwm/asbestos/pdf/contractorslists.pdf

Maryland's twelve-page list of contractors, at http://www.mde.state.md.us/assets/document/licensed_contractors.pdf, including some from neighboring states and some within school-district authorities, helpfully indicates whether or not each contractor accepts "small jobs."

The Massachusetts Department of Labor, Division of Occupational Safety, at http://www.mass.gov/dos/forms/index.htm#Lists, has a wealth of information on concerns about working with asbestos (and lead), forms to apply for permits and licenses, and a list of more than 150 licensed contractors, in and out of state, that is updated monthly.

Missouri has a six-page list of contractors in several states at http://www.dnr.mo.gov/env/apcp/docs/contractors.pdf

Nebraska lists 29 licensed contractors, including those from neighboring states, at http://www.hhs.state.ne.us/puh/enh/asbestos/businessentities.htm

The New Hampshire list is at http://www.des.state.nh.us/ARD/pdf/asbestos_contractors.pdf

North Dakota lists just more than forty contractors, of all types, at North Dakota Asbestos; some of the companies that do removal also do inspections, but you should hire two independent contractors for these tasks.

Ohio's listing of licenses, at pubapps.odh.ohio.gov, will not extract more than ten cities or telephone area codes at a time.

Oregon's list of forty contractors at http://www.deq.state.or.us/aq/asbestos/docs/F-contr.pdf includes a checklist for determining contractor qualifications.

Though Pennsylvania's list is updated daily at http://www.dli.state.pa.us/landi/lib/landi/bois/asb_lead_ucc_updates/asbcontr.htm, it is a list of licensed individuals and massive.

Rhode Island has a well-arranged list of contractors from Pennsylvania to New Hampshire

South Carolina lists some 150 individuals and companies.

A single list for South Dakota is located at South Dakota Asbestos, includes eleven inspection contractors, four that do removal, and a dozen contractors who do both, and many of the listings include links to the contractors' Web sites or e-mail.

The Texas listing, for abatement in public buildings, is five dense pages at http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/asbestos/pdf/RemediateAlpha.pdf

Utah's list of some seventy contractors of all types, at http://www.airquality.utah.gov/HAPs/ASBESTOS/lists/currentcert.pdf, includes a few that work only for their own organizations.

Vermont's list of a couple dozen contractors, at http://healthvermont.gov/enviro/asbestos/asb_commercial.pdf, ranges as far away as Maryland and Ohio.

Virginia allows only a check of the licenses of contractors - and disciplinary actions taken against them - at http://www.dpor.state.va.us/regulantlookup/,

Washington has almost a hundred abatement contractors listed, some with easy links to e-mail them, at http://www.lni.wa.gov/Safety/Topics/AtoZ/Asbestos/contractorlist.asp; the list is also available as a pdf file.

West Virginia has more than a hundred contractors listed at http://www.wvdhhr.org/rtia/allcon.cfm

Wisconsin has a list of more than a hundred general contractors at Wisconsin Asbestos and a separate list of thirty or so contractors (some are on both lists) that specifically deal with asbestos-containing roofing materials, at http://dhfs.wisconsin.gov/asbestos/AsbCompanies/AsbestosRoofing.pdf