Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous material with high thermal resistance, excellent electro insulating properties and resistance to chemicals. It was broadly used in chemical and construction industries in 70ties and 80ties of the last century. In buildings (including apartment ones), two groups of asbestos-contg. materials (ACM) were used. The first group consisted of fragile loose materials made of weakly bound asbestos fibers. During demolition of ACM containing constructions, the materials were damaged and asbestos fibers were released to the air. The second group consisted of hard materials, in which asbestos fibers were tightly bound. At the normal use of the ACM, the fibers were not released. They might, however, be release at mech. operations (crushing, sawing, abrasion) of the materials. The occurrence of asbestos in public buildings was one of the topics in the EU program "Intelligent Energy - Europe". The public buildings with the ay. size up to 500 m(2) were included in the study. The results confirmed (at least in some cases) higher concns. of asbestos in the air of internal spaces than allowed.