Buying or renting a house that contains asbestos
Asbestos in a house you are buying is a fact to price and plan around, not automatically a reason to walk away. The mistake is finding out afterwards.
("A very large share of Australian housing stock predates the phase-out, so “this house contains asbestos” describes an enormous number of perfectly ordinary homes. The question is not whether it is present but where it is, what condition it is in, and what you intend to do to it.
What a standard inspection does and does not cover
This is the most common misunderstanding. A general pre-purchase building inspection is a visual assessment of condition and defects. It may well note materials that appear to contain asbestos — and a good inspector will — but noting is not identifying, and a building inspection is not an asbestos survey.
If asbestos is the question, the document you want is an asbestos survey or inspection report from someone qualified to produce one: a walk-through recording each suspected or confirmed material, where it is, its condition, and what should happen to it. If confirmation is needed, that means samples and a NATA-accredited laboratory.
How to read it as a buyer
Three questions turn a report into a decision:
- Is it bonded or friable? Bonded sheeting in good condition is a manageable, common situation. Friable material — especially loose-fill in a ceiling — is a different order of problem, and in the affected regions the registers are the first thing to check.
- What condition is it in? Intact and painted is a note for the file. Cracked, weathered, water-damaged or broken is a job.
- What do you plan to do? A house you will live in unchanged for ten years and a house you will gut next winter are completely different propositions, because almost all the risk comes from disturbance.
What we will not do is tell you what any of that is worth, or what it should do to your offer — that is a conversation with your own advisers, and prices vary by state and by year in ways no web page should pretend to know.
Renting
Tenants and owners are in different positions, and the detail is set by residential tenancy law in each state and territory rather than nationally. What is generally true is that the condition of the premises is the landlord's responsibility, and that a tenant's sensible course when they find damaged material that may contain asbestos is to report it in writing and not touch it — not to fix it, not to clean it up, and certainly not to sample it.
The same goes in reverse: a landlord doing maintenance in an older rental is commissioning work in a building that may contain asbestos, and the duties that come with that sit with them.
Rentals, strata and the workplace rules
You will see references to an asbestos register and an asbestos management plan. These are duties attached to whoever manages a workplace, not to an ordinary homeowner. They can become relevant to residential property in specific situations — common property in strata schemes, buildings where people work, some rental arrangements — and where they apply, the duty and its detail come from the WHS regulator of that state or territory.
If that is your situation, it is worth getting that confirmed for your jurisdiction rather than assuming either way.
", 0)Frequently asked questions
Does a pre-purchase building inspection cover asbestos?
Not as an identification. A building inspection is a visual assessment of condition and defects, and a good inspector will note materials that appear to contain asbestos — but noting is not identifying. If asbestos is the question, you want an asbestos survey.
Should asbestos stop me buying a house?
Not automatically. A large share of Australian housing predates the phase-out. What matters is whether the material is bonded or friable, what condition it is in, and whether you intend to disturb it.
I am renting and found damaged material. What should I do?
Report it to the landlord or agent in writing and do not touch it — do not attempt to repair, clean up or sample it. The condition of the premises is generally the landlord's responsibility, with the detail set by tenancy law in your state or territory.
Do I need an asbestos register for my house?
Registers and management plans are duties attached to workplaces rather than ordinary homes. They can become relevant to strata common property, buildings where people work and some rental situations — where they apply, confirm the detail with your state or territory WHS regulator.
Sources
What this page explains is based on these official sources. If you check one and it does not match what you read here, send it to us and the article gets corrected.
- National Association of Testing Authorities. Accredited laboratories — the accreditation body whose analysis identifies asbestos
- NSW Government. Asbestos in NSW — the NSW Government asbestos portal