WorkSafe ACT has given a Canberra company 24 hours to properly dispose of a bag of asbestos which has been lying on work site in Civic since last week.

A Canberra Times reader reported seeing a bag clearly marked as asbestos at the site of the second stage development of Uni Pub on London Circuit in Civic.

Work Safe inspected the site on Tuesday morning and confirmed that while the asbestos had been correctly bagged, it could not be left in that state on the site as there were strict requirements about hazardous waste storage.

The asbestos is in a bonded form, and was contained within putty which was removed from window seals.

It has been left outside on the site but is secured by a temporary 1.8 metre fence.

ACT Work Safety Commissioner Mark McCabe said the licensed removals had acted correctly in double bagging the putty and had sought the appropriate clearance certificate before commencing the work.

But Mr McCabe said it was illegal to store bagged asbestos at a site if it was not stored in a solid waste drum, bin or skip.

"Certainly the bags cannot be left out in the open like this," he said.

Mr McCabe said the operator had informed inspectors that when the putty had been removed from the window last Wednesday, he had not been able to book a drop off time at the Mugga Lane asbestos disposal centre because of a backlog of appointments caused by heavy rain last week.

The removalist has been given a direction to dispose of the asbestos within 24 hours or face potential orders from WorkSafe which could lead to a fine.

Mr McCabe said WorkSafe inspectors would follow up the case on Wednesday.