Asbestos in Strata and Community Titled Properties: What Committees Need to Know

Asbestos in Older Strata Buildings

If your strata or community titled group includes any building constructed before 1990, there's a meaningful chance it contains asbestos somewhere. South Australia, like the rest of the country, used asbestos in residential construction extensively from the 1940s through to the late 1980s, and a lot of that material is still in service today. In its undisturbed, sealed state it's generally low-risk. As soon as it gets damaged, weathered, drilled, sanded, or broken — and the fibres become airborne — it becomes a serious health hazard with long-tail consequences.

This article is about the corporation's legal obligations under SA workplace safety law, where asbestos is most likely to be found in older units, and what to do if you suspect or confirm its presence.

Where Asbestos Is Commonly Found

The list below covers the most common locations in older residential strata buildings:

• Asbestos cement (AC) roof sheeting — particularly on carports, sheds, garages, and outbuildings (see our carports article)
• AC sheeting on eaves, soffits, and external wall cladding
• Vinyl floor tiles and the bituminous adhesive underneath — common in 1960s and 1970s units
• Fire doors installed before 1990 — typically asbestos in the fire-retardant core (see our doors article)
• Pipe lagging and hot water service insulation
• Some roof tiles, gutters, and downpipes
• Textured ceilings — "popcorn" or vermiculite-style finishes from the 1960s and 1970s
• Backing boards behind kitchen splashbacks, meter boxes, and around hot water units

If you're not sure about a particular material, treat it as asbestos until a licensed assessor confirms otherwise. The cost of caution is far lower than the cost of a mistake.

When Asbestos Becomes Dangerous

Asbestos is hazardous when its fibres become airborne and are inhaled. In its intact, undisturbed, sealed state — sheets of AC cladding in good condition, vinyl tiles still firmly bonded — it presents very little risk and can usually be left alone. The legal trigger and the health trigger is disturbance:

• Drilling, sanding, cutting, sawing, or grinding
• Breakage from impact, hail, or weathering
• Surface flaking on weathered AC sheets
• Removal or replacement work

Even routine maintenance like repainting or pressure-washing can release fibres if the underlying material has weathered. This is why every action involving suspected asbestos has to start with a proper assessment.

The Asbestos Register: A Legal Requirement Most Strata Groups Don't Know About

This is the part that surprises most committees. Under the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2012 (SA), the person with management or control of a workplace must, where asbestos is present (or assumed to be), maintain an Asbestos Register. The register identifies the location, type, and condition of any asbestos at the workplace, and must be made available to any worker or contractor before they start work.

Strata committees often assume the rules don't apply to them because their building is residential and no one is employed there. That assumption is wrong. Under WHS law, a strata common area becomes a "workplace" the moment a contractor attends to do work — a painter, an electrician, a plumber, a gardener, a cleaner, a tradesperson of any kind. Because that happens in virtually every strata group on a regular basis, almost every older strata corporation in SA falls within the requirement.

The corporation, as the person with management or control of the common property, is responsible for the register. If asbestos is identified, the register must:

• Identify the location of each asbestos-containing material
• State the type (friable or non-friable) and the condition
• Be reviewed and updated whenever something changes
• Be reviewed at least every five years even if nothing has changed
• Be made available to any contractor before work begins

The Asbestos Management Plan

Where asbestos has been identified at a workplace, the WHS Regulations also require an Asbestos Management Plan. This is a written document that sets out:

• How the asbestos will be identified and managed on an ongoing basis
• Who is responsible for what
• How and when the asbestos will be removed (if applicable)
• How residents and contractors will be informed of its presence
• The procedures for dealing with incidents (such as accidental disturbance)

The Management Plan must also be reviewed at least every five years. For a typical older residential strata group, the plan can be quite short — but it must exist on paper.

Who Is Responsible?

The corporation, acting through its committee or manager, is the "person with management or control" of the common property and is therefore responsible for the register and the management plan covering common-property asbestos.

Asbestos within an individual unit is more complex. In a strata title group, the boundary stops at the inner surface of the walls — so anything inside the unit that contains asbestos (vinyl tile, an old textured ceiling, lagging on a hot water service inside the unit) is the unit holder's responsibility, but the corporation still has an interest because disturbance during renovation could affect common property and other units. In a primary community plan, the lot owner is responsible for everything within the lot.

What to Do if You Suspect Asbestos

The basic rule is: don't touch it. Specifically:

1. Don't disturb it. No drilling, sanding, cutting, breaking, sweeping, pressure-washing, or scraping.
2. Engage a licensed asbestos assessor to identify the material and take samples for laboratory testing.
3. Get the result in writing and add the location to the Asbestos Register.
4. For removal, use a licensed asbestos removalist. In SA, removal of more than 10 m² of non-friable asbestos, or any quantity of friable asbestos, requires a licensed removalist by law.
5. Dispose of the waste at a licensed facility. Asbestos waste cannot be put in normal skips, kerbside collection, or general landfill. SafeWork SA publishes a list of licensed disposal sites.

Where to Get More Information

SafeWork SA publishes the SA-specific guidance on managing asbestos in workplaces, including the official Code of Practice and a list of licensed assessors and removalists, at safework.sa.gov.au. The national framework is set by the Code of Practice for the Management and Control of Asbestos in Workplaces, published by Safe Work Australia.

Get in Touch

Asbestos is one of those topics where doing nothing is often the most expensive option a corporation can choose. If your building is older than 1990 and you don't have an Asbestos Register, that's the first thing to fix. We can help you arrange a survey, prepare the register, and put a sensible management plan in place.

Call us on 1300 792 255 or email hello@acaciacollective.com.au.