Asbestos Removal in Canberra

Asbestos removal in the ACT is licensed work with no exception for a small area. Removal from any premises, home or workplace, is not permitted unless it is done by an appropriately licensed asbestos removalist. Unlike the national model regulations, the ACT removed the exception for non-friable removal under 10 m². The only carve-out is work that counts as minor routine maintenance, or other minor work.

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What asbestos removal in Canberra actually involves

WorkSafe ACT's own examples of minor work are sealing, painting or coating to maintain non-friable material already in place, cleaning leaf litter from the gutters of an asbestos cement roof, and removing small, isolated pieces of material found at a property. Disturbing loose-fill (Mr Fluffy) insulation, cleaning any material with high-pressure air or water, and any maintenance on friable material are not minor work.

Before work starts

The licensed removalist gives WorkSafe ACT written notice at least five days before removal begins, or phones and follows up with the form within 24 hours if it is urgent. At a home, the removalist must also tell the person who commissioned the job, the occupier, the owner and anyone occupying premises nearby that the work is happening and when. They must prepare an asbestos removal control plan and give a copy to whoever commissioned the work.

The side of a brick-veneer house with a doorway covered in clear plastic sheeting behind a mesh fence panel that carries a white sign reading CAUTION ASBESTOS, a green rainwater tank beside it — asbestos removal, Canberra. Illustrative example.

When the work is done

For work at a home, an independent licensed asbestos assessor must carry out a clearance inspection and issue a clearance certificate before the area is re-occupied. Where the assessor monitors the air, the result must show asbestos below 0.01 fibres/mL. The non-friable page and the friable page cover the two licence classes, and the disposal page covers where the waste goes.

Only if it genuinely counts as minor work under WorkSafe ACT's own examples can a homeowner remove a small piece. Anything else needs a licensed removalist, and removing asbestos yourself at a home that is not a workplace is a strict liability offence with a maximum penalty of 30 penalty units. An asbestos removal control plan is a document the licensed removalist must prepare for the job and give to whoever commissioned it. The suburbs page lists the localities this site covers.

Asbestos removal costs and rules check