NBN Co has apologised to a West Australian family after asbestos was dug up from an underground telecommunications pit metres from their home and without adequate warning.

Key points: A father of three who lives opposite a school says "at no stage" was asbestos mentioned by workers until a danger sign was erected

A father of three who lives opposite a school says "at no stage" was asbestos mentioned by workers until a danger sign was erected NBN Co policy gives residents at least 48 hours notice before on-site work begins

NBN Co policy gives residents at least 48 hours notice before on-site work begins The telco says its expectation is that all partners comply with rigorous standards when it comes to asbestos management

Sean Kelly said he was left dumbfounded on Monday morning when contractors working on the Government's National Broadband Network rollout in Albany erected danger tape and barriers across his driveway, began extracting the deadly material from a pit, then sealed it in bags.

"It was a really bizarre situation. The first time I found out about the asbestos was when they put up the [danger] sign," he said.

"To be quite honest I wanted to get out of there as quick as I could with my kids. They were smashing it up. I didn't really want to hang around."

Mr Kelly, who works as a carer, said at around 8:30am a site worker asked him if he would be around the house that morning.

The father of three said he told him the man he would be because he was looking after his young children while his wife was at work and "at no stage" was asbestos mentioned.

Mr Kelly, who lives opposite Mount Lockyer Primary School, said shortly after this conversation a worker, wearing a white protective body suit and a mask, began digging the hazardous materials up from the underground concrete pit next to his driveway.

"It was before school time so there were school kids around. You'd think everybody would be notified [of] what's going on," he said.

The telecommunications pit is metres from Mr Kelly's front door. ( ABC Great Southern: Kit Mochan )

"It's nothing to do with the workers. It's just about having a process if you're about to do something that could affect other people.

"If they turn off the water or electricity in the street you usually get something in your letter box.

"Wouldn't it be worthwhile informing [the homeowner] that you're actually going to be breaking up asbestos in front of their house?"

NBN to investigate

The removal of asbestos is tightly regulated in Western Australia.

Additionally, NBN Co has its own guidelines and frameworks around its removal by contractors including a policy to give local residents at least 48 hours notice before on-site work begins.

In a statement, head of NBN Local WA Jane McNamara said they were investigating why that policy was not followed in this instance.

"The safety and wellbeing of our community is NBN's first priority and we take the management of asbestos very seriously," she said.

"We are working closely with our delivery partner to establish the facts as part of an investigation into the issue to understand why communication was only issued less than 24 hours in advance to residents.

"We apologise to residents for the concern this matter will have caused, and wish to underline that our expectation is that all delivery partners working on our behalf comply with rigorous standards when it comes to asbestos management."

After speaking to the ABC on Monday afternoon, Mr Kelly said he found a leaflet in his letterbox warning of the asbestos removal which he said was not there the day before.

Mr Kelly said he found a leaflet in his letterbox warning of the asbestos removal after speaking to the ABC on Monday afternoon. ( Supplied )

He said he was concerned it could happen at other sites.

"[What if] it wasn't a one off? What if they had done that sixty times this week?" he said.

In 2013, the rollout of the NBN hit a major snag when it was discovered old Telstra telecommunications pits being refitted for the network rollout had asbestos in them.

At the time, the then-federal workplace relations minister Bill Shorten estimated 10 to 20 per cent of the telco's eight million underground concrete pits could contain the cancer-causing material.

The $51 billion national network is estimated to be around 85 per cent complete with the project's chief executive confident it will be finished by June 2020.