Wow. Those two pictures are so different, even in their colors, that'd I'd expect them from two different locations. First, can you take a picture that's similar to the earlier one from vantage point? Second, how do you know (I'm asking the first question anyone from a law firm would ask), that vermin didn't cause that? And just out of curiosity; how do you know it's asbestos?

Not trying to be difficult, but 'knowing' something and proving it are very, very different things.

And even if you COULD prove it was the electrician (and that's a big IF), how much do you expect to recover? A hundred bucks?

I doubt he'd be on the hook to pay for the removal and clean up of all of the asbestos insulation (if it is asbestos). It's in the attic, not a living area.

I think this is a case where you have to pick your battles and this battle isn't worth fighting.

I agree with JDS. It doesn't look like typical asbestos-containing material to me. While it is true that you can't look at any material and determine whether it does or does not contain asbestos just from a visual inspection, what you photographed is not a material form that I associate with asbestos; and I have seen a lot of asbestos materials. What evidence do you have that this is asbestos-containing?

If you can confirm it, then I'll be happy to give you further advice, because it would require professional asbestos abatement folks to deal with it. But right now it just looks like standard insulating pipe wrap that has been damaged or has deteriorated.

Thanks for the comments, that definitely puts my heart at ease. The way we heard it was asbestos was from the house inspector while we were under contract, but I think he was indeed referring to the white duct wrapping.

If you do think that there is any chance that the wrap was damaged while the electrician was doing his work, I would make sure that there are no holes or other damage to the actual ducting in that area. My neighbor had a big damaged area in her ducting (definitely asbestos) that went undiscovered for quite a while. I would not want loose asbestos particles blowing through my ductwork.

Jon-
That sounds logical. Also, it looks like the damaged wrap has a brand name on it, so that would possibly be a way to check on what that stuff is, without maybe needing to be doing testing.

It is difficult to tell from the photos if the surface of the duct is bare galvanized steel or a thin wrapping of asbestos. The old asbestos duct insulation was thin and had a canvas wrapping or bands to hold it in place with a paper diamond shaped label. In later years it sometimes had a reinforced foil facing.

Brown batt insulation is usually mineral wool and yellow is fiberglass.

Wrap some duct tape around it and forget about it, or have the electrician do it while he is up there.

More likely a squirrel or coon got up there. Shouldnt be a reason for the electrician to remove insulation from a duct. Would be a waste of their time.

In any case, as noted, the white insulation is possibly asbestos but the brown is probably not. New duct insulation can be placed over the white where the brown was damaged.

Look for droppings.