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Understanding the Risks for Commercial and Industrial Property Owners in NSW, ACT & Queensland
If you own, manage or occupy a commercial or industrial building constructed before 1990 in NSW, ACT or Queensland, asbestos is not an abstract concern. It is a concrete, present risk that carries serious health consequences, significant legal obligations and substantial financial liability if it is not managed correctly.
Yet despite decades of public awareness campaigns and some of the strictest asbestos regulations in the world, asbestos remains widely misunderstood. Many property owners and facility managers do not know what asbestos looks like, where it is likely to be found in their buildings, what their legal obligations are, or what to do if they suspect its presence.
This page answers those questions clearly and practically. Because when it comes to asbestos, what you don't know can genuinely hurt you — and the people who work in or visit your building.
Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral that was mined extensively throughout the 20th century for use in construction materials, insulation products and a wide range of industrial applications. Its appeal was practical and economic — asbestos fibres are exceptionally strong, heat-resistant, chemically inert and an effective insulator against both heat and sound. For much of the 20th century, it was considered a wonder material.
The problem is that asbestos fibres are also microscopic, highly durable once released into the air, and, when inhaled, permanently lodge in lung tissue where they cause irreversible and often fatal disease.
There are six recognised forms of asbestos mineral, but three were most commonly used in building materials in Australia:
The most widely used form — accounting for approximately 90% of all asbestos used in building products in Australia. Chrysotile was the primary component of asbestos cement products including roofing sheets, wall cladding panels, water pipes and floor tiles. It was also used in brake linings, gaskets and textile products.
Used primarily in thermal insulation products — pipe lagging, duct insulation, ceiling tiles and some roofing underlay products. Amosite fibres are considered more hazardous than chrysotile due to their physical characteristics and greater tendency to be retained in lung tissue.
Considered the most hazardous form of asbestos due to its extremely fine fibres and high lung retention rate. Crocidolite was used in spray-applied insulation, pipe insulation and some cement products. Its use was banned in Australia earlier than other asbestos types due to its recognised carcinogenicity.
All three forms are now banned in Australia, and all three are capable of causing fatal disease when fibres are inhaled.
Asbestos was used in an enormous range of building products in Australia from the 1940s through to the 1980s. While a complete audit of all asbestos-containing materials in a building requires a professional asbestos survey, the most common locations where asbestos is found in commercial and industrial buildings include:
Asbestos cement corrugated roofing sheeting — sometimes called Super Six, fibrous cement or AC sheeting — was the standard roofing material on industrial warehouses, factories, sheds, commercial buildings and many residential structures from the 1940s through to the late 1980s. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of commercial and industrial buildings across NSW, ACT and Queensland still have asbestos cement roofs.
Asbestos cement flat sheet cladding was widely used on commercial and industrial building walls — both externally and internally as a lining material. It is visually similar to modern fibrecement cladding and cannot be reliably identified without laboratory testing.
Asbestos cement flat sheeting was commonly used for eaves lining, soffit panels and fascia boards on commercial and residential buildings constructed before 1990.
Vinyl floor tiles and the adhesives used to fix them often contained asbestos — particularly in commercial buildings from the 1950s through to the 1980s.
Boiler rooms, plant rooms and pipework in older commercial and industrial buildings frequently have asbestos-containing insulation on hot water pipes, steam pipes and ductwork.
Asbestos insulation board was used as a fire-resistant lining in plant rooms, around boilers, in lift shafts and as backing behind electrical switchboards. Suspended ceiling tiles in commercial buildings from this era frequently contain asbestos.
Some commercial buildings from the 1950s through to the 1970s have spray-applied asbestos insulation or fireproofing on structural steel, ceilings and wall surfaces. This is among the most hazardous forms of asbestos in buildings — it is friable (easily crumbled) and releases fibres readily when disturbed.
Not all asbestos-containing materials are equally hazardous, and not all asbestos removal requires the same level of licensing and procedure. Australian regulations distinguish between two categories:
Bonded asbestos materials are those in which asbestos fibres are firmly bound within a matrix — typically a cement or resin base. Asbestos cement roofing sheets, wall cladding panels and fibre cement flat sheet are all bonded asbestos materials. When undisturbed and in good condition, bonded asbestos does not readily release fibres. However, when bonded asbestos is drilled, cut, broken, water-blasted, sanded or significantly weathered, fibres are released.
Removal of bonded asbestos over 10m² must be carried out by a licensed asbestos removalist. A D Roofing is licensed for bonded asbestos removal.
Friable asbestos materials are those in which the asbestos fibres are loosely bound and can be crumbled, pulverised or reduced to powder by hand pressure. Spray-applied insulation, pipe lagging and some insulation board products are friable asbestos materials. Friable asbestos releases fibres readily even when only lightly disturbed and represents a significantly higher immediate health risk than bonded asbestos.
Removal of friable asbestos requires a Class A asbestos removalist licence — a higher level of licensing than required for bonded asbestos removal. A D Roofing focuses on bonded asbestos roofing and cladding removal. Where friable asbestos is encountered on a project, we work with appropriately licensed Class A removalists to manage it.
The health risks associated with asbestos exposure are severe, well-documented and irreversible. Australia has one of the highest rates of asbestos-related disease in the world — a legacy of the country's heavy use of asbestos products through much of the 20th century.
The diseases caused by asbestos exposure include:
Mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive cancer of the mesothelium — the thin membrane lining the lungs, chest cavity, abdomen and other internal organs. It is almost exclusively caused by asbestos exposure. The disease has a latency period of 20 to 50 years — meaning that many people currently being diagnosed with mesothelioma were exposed to asbestos decades ago. There is no cure. Median survival from diagnosis is approximately 12 months. Australia has one of the highest rates of mesothelioma in the world.
Asbestos exposure significantly increases the risk of lung cancer — particularly in combination with cigarette smoking, where the two risk factors multiply rather than simply add. Asbestos-related lung cancer is clinically indistinguishable from other forms of lung cancer but is recognised as a compensable disease in Australia.
Asbestosis is a chronic fibrotic lung disease caused by the inhalation of asbestos fibres over an extended period. The fibres trigger a sustained inflammatory response in the lung tissue, leading to progressive scarring that permanently reduces lung capacity and oxygen transfer efficiency. Asbestosis causes increasing breathlessness, reduced exercise capacity and, in severe cases, respiratory failure. It is not curable.
Asbestos exposure can cause benign changes to the pleura — the membrane surrounding the lungs — including pleural plaques, pleural thickening and pleural effusion. While these conditions are not cancerous, they can cause significant breathing difficulty and discomfort and are a marker of past asbestos exposure.
There is no safe level of asbestos exposure. Even a single significant exposure event can, in some cases, result in mesothelioma decades later.
In NSW, ACT and Queensland, property owners and managers have clear legal obligations regarding asbestos in their buildings.
Under the Work Health and Safety Act in NSW, ACT and Queensland, the person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) at a workplace must ensure that an asbestos register is prepared and maintained if asbestos or asbestos-containing materials are present — or if there is a reasonable likelihood of their presence — in the workplace. The register must record the location, type and condition of all asbestos-containing materials and must be accessible to workers and contractors.
Failure to maintain an asbestos register is a breach of the Work Health and Safety Act and can attract significant penalties.
Where a workplace has an asbestos register, a written asbestos management plan must also be prepared. The plan documents how asbestos-containing materials will be managed — whether they will be left in place and monitored, or removed — and what procedures will be followed when work is carried out near asbestos materials.
Removal of bonded asbestos over 10m² must be notified to the relevant state authority — SafeWork NSW, WorkSafe ACT or SafeWork Queensland — at least 5 business days before work commences. Only a licensed asbestos removalist may carry out this work.
Before any contractor carries out work on a building that may contain asbestos, the property owner or manager must inform the contractor of the location and condition of any known or suspected asbestos-containing materials. Failure to do so creates liability for any resulting asbestos exposure.
You cannot reliably identify asbestos by sight alone. Asbestos cement roofing, for example, looks similar to modern fibrecement roofing and cannot be distinguished visually. The only way to confirm whether a material contains asbestos is laboratory analysis of a sample.
Warning signs that a building may contain asbestos roofing:
What to do if you suspect asbestos:
What Is Asbestos?
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Still have a question?
0434 058 186No. Under NSW, ACT and Queensland regulations, asbestos removal over 10m² must be carried out by a licensed asbestos removalist. On a commercial or industrial building, the roof area almost always exceeds this threshold. Attempting to remove asbestos without the required licence creates serious criminal liability and, more importantly, serious health risk.
Asbestos that is in good condition, undisturbed and encapsulated within a solid matrix — such as asbestos cement sheeting that is intact and not weathered — does not readily release fibres and presents a lower immediate risk. However, as asbestos cement ages and weathers, it becomes increasingly friable and more likely to release fibres. Regular inspection and professional condition assessment is the appropriate response to intact asbestos materials.
In a commercial workplace, the primary responsibility sits with the PCBU — the entity conducting the business in the building. In a tenanted commercial or industrial building, both the landlord (as the person in control of the premises) and the tenant (as the PCBU operating in it) may have overlapping obligations. A D Roofing can advise on practical management options during our inspection service.
If you own or manage a commercial or industrial building in NSW, ACT or Queensland that was constructed before 1990, a professional asbestos inspection is not optional — it is a fundamental part of your duty of care as a property owner or manager.
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