How Much Does Asbestos Testing Cost in 2025?

Asbestos Testing Cost Factors 

Several cost factors will drive the final price of getting asbestos testing performed in your home, such as the property’s size, the location of suspected asbestos, and the overall condition of the home.

Property Size 

Size is among the most important factors affecting asbestos testing costs. In general, the larger the building, the higher the cost. This is thanks to the number of samples required to ensure an asbestos-free home. 

Property Location 

Asbestos often hides in old siding, drywall (both ceilings and walls), floors, attics, roofing materials, pipes, or HVAC duct connectors. It was also commonly used in vinyl tiles and caulk. Smaller confirmations are more affordable, but this will depend heavily on your location—both the asbestos infestation and where you live. Asbestos testing can cost more in densely populated areas than in rural areas.  

Home Condition 

A property in poor condition may make it harder for a professional to locate potential hazards, increasing costs. The longer it takes to access areas of concern, the more you will pay to get a comprehensive test 

Labor

Labor is included in your asbestos testing pro's quote, but bear in mind that costs will increase if you have a particularly large home, if asbestos was used widely throughout the home, or if the areas in need of testing are particularly hard to access.

Additional Testing Costs 

You might need additional testing, depending on what the professional finds. For instance, if you're inspecting your pipes, you'll need water testing. Depending on the project's complexity, you might also need subfloor or insulation inspections, which come with additional costs. 

Asbestos Inspection Cost 

The cost of an asbestos inspection is between $250 and $850 for both residential and commercial properties. This test confirms the presence of the material to justify professional asbestos removal costs. The price includes: 

• Visually inspecting for common risk factors

• Gathering samples from places like the walls, roof, and insulation

• Testing the samples in a lab

• Delivering reports on the findings

During a Home Inspection

If you hire a pro separate from your home inspector, asbestos assessments during a home inspection range from $250 to $850. However, if you hire an asbestos-certified home inspector, they might attach a smaller fee to the average cost of a home inspection, which is around $340. 

Asbestos Refurbishment or Demolition Surveys

The cost of an asbestos refurbishment or demolition survey for a standard single-family home is $600 to $1,500 or more. Commercial buildings usually cost around $2,000, while large industrial buildings can cost between $2,000 and $5,000. Only a licensed inspector can conduct a pre-demolition survey.

Asbestos refurbishment and demolition surveys involve inspecting all areas hidden within a building that might contain asbestos, including textured coatings, cement sheets, flue and soil pipes, and insulation. Sometimes, specialists like electricians, structural engineers, or licensed contractors assist. This inspection must happen before a property is fully or partially demolished or renovated to make sure that any disturbances to the structure won't release dangerous asbestos fibers into the air.

Cost of Asbestos Air Quality Testing 

Testing the air is an additional cost to inspecting the building's materials. Testing the air for asbestos can range from $300 to $1,000, depending on the building's size, but the average cost is around $650. These costs are the same as typical costs of indoor air quality tests, which sometimes include asbestos in the list of sought contaminants.

Asbestos Testing Lab Prices

Asbestos inspection costs usually include the price of an asbestos lab test and an asbestos report. During an inspection, your pro will gather samples and send them to the lab. For example, they might take a few scrapings from your textured ceiling to see if you need popcorn ceiling removal. Other common lab tests include air testing, dust analysis, or even water testing.

After the lab test, you'll receive a report that confirms or denies the presence of hazardous fibers. You should provide this data to an abatement pro to indicate where to find the fibers in your home.

Asbestos Surveys 

Overall, identifying surveys by "type" is a thing of the past. Instead of Type 1 and Type 2 asbestos surveys, pros now refer to asbestos surveys as "asbestos management surveys." A fancy word for inspection—these surveys cost between $250 and $850.

Today, asbestos surveys are broadly categorized as either asbestos management surveys or asbestos refurbishment and demolition surveys. Both inspections look for visual signs of asbestos, collect samples, perform lab tests, and provide reports afterward, but refurbishment and demolition surveys usually involve more comprehensive sample collection and testing.

Budgeting for Asbestos Testing

Testing for asbestos is absolutely essential to ensure your health, but it doesn’t change the fact that it can be an unwelcome expense. Here are a few ways you can reduce the costs of asbestos testing:

• Look into bundling an asbestos inspection with a regular home inspection to save money.

• Invest in a comprehensive asbestos inspection upfront to avoid repeatedly paying for various lab tests in the future.

• If your inspection reveals asbestos, check if you qualify for federal or local government financial assistance to have it removed.

• See if you can have the asbestos safely encapsulated, as this is usually less expensive than removing it.

How HomeAdvisor Gets Its Cost Data

No place is more important than your home, which is why HomeAdvisor connects homeowners with local pros to transform their houses into homes they love. To help homeowners prepare for their next project, HomeAdvisor provides readers with accurate cost data and follows strict editorial guidelines. We surveyed thousands of real customers about their project costs to develop the pricing data you see, so you can make the best decisions for you and your home. We pair this data with research from reputable sources, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, academic journals, market studies, and interviews with industry experts—all to ensure our prices reflect real-world projects.