Asbestos in older Perth homes is a guide, written and published by Dotto, to the Western Australian rules and official advice that apply when work on an older home meets asbestos. HealthyWA says asbestos cement that is in good condition and left alone is generally safe, but that careless handling, cleaning or repair can set harmful fibres loose.
General informationDotto is not a builder, tradesperson or property manager. Dotto holds no builder’s or trade licence. It does not do, offer, contract for or arrange any building, trade or maintenance work. This is general information, not advice.
The places to check what applies to a particular home are WorkSafe WA, HealthyWA and the environmental health officer at the local government.
Asbestos safety
The national Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency says it is “not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself”, and in Western Australia the law sets a limit: WorkSafe WA says a homeowner may take out up to 10 square metres of non-friable material from their own home, and must follow strict safety steps in doing it. The national agency adds that a professional makes the job easier, safer and often cheaper. Its rule for the waste: it goes only to a landfill site licensed to take it, and a household rubbish bin can bring a fine.
No safe level of exposure to asbestos exists, WorkSafe WA says. It reserves friable asbestos in any amount, and non-friable asbestos over 10 m², for a licensed asbestos removalist only, and tells homeowners in WA that the waste has to be handled safely, moved properly and delivered to a licensed asbestos disposal facility.
WA’s health advice and the national agency warn against some methods. HealthyWA says high-pressure water and air cannot be used on asbestos products. The national agency warns against cleaning an asbestos cement roof, or any asbestos material, with high-pressure water or anything abrasive, scrubbing and sanding included. For its own state’s homeowners, Queensland’s government asbestos site lists “Saw, sand, scrape or drill holes in asbestos materials” among things not to do.
Where it sits outside the house
HealthyWA lists where asbestos is found around a home, inside and out. Outside, its list includes:
- Roof sheeting and ridge capping.
- Gutters and downpipes.
- Eaves lining.
- Wall cladding.
- Fences.
- Garden sheds, along with outdoor toilets and dog kennels.
The same list adds the backing of electrical switchboards, garages and carports, and building waste buried in the backyard. The Government of Western Australia says the commonest form in the state was flat or corrugated asbestos cement sheeting, in buildings and in fencing. What can sit inside, behind newer linings, is in the guide to renovating an older WA home.
Why every page has a windsock
Broken or badly cleaned asbestos cement can travel beyond its own block. WA Health says high-pressure cleaning of an asbestos cement roof, which it describes as prohibited under the Health (Asbestos) Regulations 1992, can contaminate several properties and leave them needing specialised clean-up. Among the points it suggests councils make to homeowners is that contamination from a roof damaged by pressure cleaning, fire or storm can spread over several neighbouring properties.
The national agency’s steps for anyone who does decide to remove asbestos themselves include staying off the job on a particularly windy day. So the drawing at the top of each page carries a windsock: hanging limp where the material is whole and left alone, and standing out, with a drift crossing the next roof, where a page is about disturbing it.
Which WA body looks after what
- Department of Health
- Administers the Health (Asbestos) Regulations 1992, which local government enforcement agencies and authorised officers enforce. Its role, it says, is the proper management of possible public health risks from asbestos.
- Your local government
- The Government of Western Australia names the local government environmental health officer for help with handling asbestos products safely, and with removing, transporting and disposing of them.
- WorkSafe WA
- Occupational safety advice, and the asbestos licences. WorkSafe sits in the Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety.
- Department of Water and Environmental Regulation
- Controlled waste, the category that covers asbestos on its way to disposal.
The five guides
Each guide takes one kind of work on an older home and sets out what WA’s laws and agencies say about it, with every source linked at the foot of the page.
- Asbestos cement roofs and eaves in WACleaning, painting, gutters and replacement, in the words of WA’s health department and HealthyWA, and why a pressure cleaner reaches the neighbours.
- Before renovating an older home in WAWhere asbestos can sit behind newer linings, how a house’s age changes the odds, and the WA rules on reusing, selling and moving asbestos cement.
- Who may remove asbestos from a WA homeThe homeowner’s 10 square metres, the two removal licences and the assessor, and what a licensed job brings with it.
- Wrapping, labelling and carrying asbestos waste in WAThe two sets of WA regulations that govern the trip from the house to the facility, and the words the wrapping must carry.
- Asbestos after a storm or fire in WAWho goes in first, who arranges the clean-up, and what WA’s agencies say about debris, smoke and clearance.
For the official word on any of it, HealthyWA’s asbestos in and around the home page and WorkSafe’s asbestos and the law page are the two places these guides start from.