Homes built before 1990

The years that matter

1. 1940s to the late 1980s Victoria’s Better Health Channel says asbestos was commonly used in building materials in these decades, for its fire resistance, durability and insulation. The national agency says Australia was one of the highest users per head in the world from the early 1900s to the late 1980s.
2. From the mid-1980s WorkSafe Victoria says its use in building products was gradually phased out from the mid-1980s onwards.
3. 1990 The year the national agency uses as its rule of thumb: phased out by 1990.
4. 1992 WorkSafe Victoria’s compliance code notes that some types of asbestos were banned in Victoria in 1992, while asbestos in plant such as brakes and gaskets was still allowed.
5. 31 December 2003 Queensland’s guidance states that asbestos and all products containing it have been banned throughout Australia since this date, and that “it is illegal to import, store, supply, sell, install, use or re-use these materials”. It adds: “The ban does not apply to asbestos previously installed (e.g. asbestos in houses).”

Three states, three wordings

State guidance divides the years the same way and words the middle band differently.

How likely asbestos products are, by when a house was built, in each source’s own words

Source	Before the mid-1980s	Mid-1980s to 1990	After 1990
Victoria: Better Health Channel	Highly likely	May have	Unlikely
Queensland: guide for renovators and trades	Highly likely	Likely	Highly unlikely
Western Australia: WA Government	Highly likely	Likely	Not stated on this page

To take an illustration, for a house finished in 1987 Victoria’s wording says it may have asbestos products and Queensland’s and Western Australia’s say it is likely to. Neither is a finding about that house.

Why 1990 is not the whole story

Renovations count. The agency’s question is whether a home was built or renovated before 1990, and Queensland’s guidance on fires uses the same words: buildings constructed or renovated before 1990.

Some products run to 2004. WorkSafe Victoria says buildings and products from before 2004 may still contain asbestos. Queensland’s guidance says switchboard panels and meter boards made or imported before 1 January 2004 may contain it.

The rules themselves use both dates. Safe Work Australia’s registers guide says a workplace built before 2004, or in Queensland before 1990, still needs an asbestos register, stating the finding, even when a survey finds no asbestos.

Age wears materials. The national agency says asbestos products in Australian buildings are now 30 to 100 years old, at or near the end of their lifespan, and starting to degrade, which raises the risk of exposure. Queensland’s guidance estimates asbestos is in one in three homes across Australia.

What the year means in a report

Queensland’s guidance says a knowledge of the building products that contained asbestos can help in assuming it is present. Its guide for renovators puts the cautious rule this way: “If you are not sure whether a building material contains asbestos, play it safe and assume that it does.”

The agency lists where to expect it in an older home. Inside: wall and ceiling sheeting, especially in wet areas; the backing behind wall tiles and splashbacks; carpet underlay; patching compounds and textured paint; vinyl floor tiles and the felt under vinyl; and insulation in heaters, stoves, roof spaces and around hot water pipes. Outside: roof sheeting and ridge capping; gutters, downpipes, gables and eaves; switchboards; pipes and flues; wall cladding; and fences, carports, garages and sheds.

So a report on a pre-1990 home that lists nothing deserves a second look at its areas not assessed, and an assumed row can be settled by a laboratory test.