WA: Q&A Should You Remove Asbestos from Your Strata Building?

This article discusses asbestos in WA buildings and whether asbestos should be removed.

Question: Our WA building has the original eaves which are asbestos. We are having painting carried out. Can we request the painting company remove the asbestos as part of the painting process?

Answer: Asbestos in good condition does not carry a legislative requirement to be removed.

Asbestos is now well known as a dangerous product that can cause life threatening diseases. Unfortunately, this product was widely used up until the 1990s and in some parts of the country even later.

In regards to this question, however, asbestos in good condition does not carry a legislative requirement to be removed. Asbestos kept in good condition can safely be painted and kept within a building for many decades.

Only once asbestos or asbestos containing material (ACM) becomes damaged or friable is there a duty of care to remove or make safe the product.

For instance, if the eaves were cracked, broken or fibrous the Strata Company should commission the safe removal and disposal of the product as it would present an immediate health risk to any visitors or occupants.

In this instance, if the asbestos is in good condition the Strata Company cannot be forced to remove the product. Simply the painters will need to be made aware of the ACM and ensure they do not sand down the eaves prior to painting. If asbestos has been identified in your building previously, you should already have in place a register and management plan listing the locations of the asbestos on common property as well as suitable ways to manage the product.

Best practice however would be to remove the product as it is approaching 50 years of age and will eventually deteriorate. Utilising your 10 Year Maintenance Plan, have the eave replacement added as a line item to be funded for with levy contributions. That way by year 5, 8 or 10 your Strata Company may have raised enough funds to have the ACM removed at the same time the eaves are due for repainting.

If you are concerned about the condition of the asbestos in your eaves or other parts of the building, have the Strata company organise a suitably qualified inspector to come to site and assess the integrity of the product and provide a report to the Strata Manager and CoO.

Dakota Panetta
Solutions in Engineering
E: [email protected]
P: 1300 136 036

This post appears in the July 2021 edition of The WA Strata Magazine.

Have a question about asbestos in buildings in WA or something to add to the article? Leave a comment below.

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Read next:

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• WA: Maintenance Planning and Insurance: The Strata Titles Amendment Act 2018 (STAA 2018)

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