Asbestos was used in a wide range of Australian building products for decades, and plenty of those products are still in place in the homes people buy, rent and renovate across Melbourne. The question is rarely whether a material looks suspicious. Most materials that may contain asbestos look exactly like the ones that do not. The question is how to find out properly, and what to do with the answer.
This is the starting guide for our cluster on asbestos and older homes. It covers which homes may contain asbestos, where it tends to be found, what an asbestos inspection and testing involves, and how the question changes when you are renovating, buying or managing a rental. The shorter guides in this cluster go deeper on each of those situations, and the page lists them under related guides.
Which homes may contain asbestos?
Many homes built or renovated before about 1990 may contain materials with asbestos. That is a wide net, and it is meant to be. It takes in post war weatherboard and brick homes, the fibro beach house, the sixties and seventies family home on a big block, and the period cottage that was "modernised" with a new bathroom and a lean-to laundry at some point in the middle of the last century.
The year a home was built is only part of the story. A home built well before asbestos products were common can still contain them in a later extension, a replaced roof, a garage or a fence. A newer home can sit on a block with an older shed. So the practical question is less "when was the house built?" and more "when was each part of it built or changed?".
If you do not know, that is normal. Older homes change hands many times and paperwork gets lost. Tell us what you do know and we will plan the inspection around the gaps. Our documentation assistance service can also help you work out what records exist for the property and who might hold them.
Where is asbestos commonly found in a home?
Asbestos was valued for being cheap, fire resistant and hard wearing, so it turned up in products that needed those qualities. In a home, the common locations include:
- Fibre cement sheeting, often called fibro, used for eaves, external cladding, internal walls, wet area linings and fences.
- Roofing, including corrugated sheets and some flat sheets on sheds, carports and verandahs.
- Vinyl floor tiles and sheet flooring, and the backing or adhesive beneath them.
- Textured ceiling finishes and some ceiling panels.
- Older meter boards and some switchboard backing.
- Some older heaters, flues, pipe lagging and insulation around hot water services.
- Packing pieces, underlays and gaskets in places most people never look.
The common thread is that these materials are built in, painted over and easy to forget. A bathroom wall lined with fibro behind tiles looks like any other wall. That is why an inspection is a methodical walk through the accessible areas, not a glance at the obvious spots.
Can you tell by looking?
No one can confirm by looking alone whether a material contains asbestos. What an inspection can do is recognise the type of product, the way it was fixed, the era of the work and the patterns that often go with asbestos materials. That is the job: identifying materials that may contain asbestos, based on what they are and where they are.
Confirming what a material actually contains needs a sample tested by a laboratory. Two sheets of fibre cement from the same wall can be different products from different years. Only testing settles it, and we arrange sampling and testing where it is needed.
This is also why we never describe a material as definitely containing asbestos, and never describe a home as free of it. Materials can be hidden inside walls, under floor coverings or in areas that cannot be reached safely. A report covers the areas and materials that were inspected, and it says so plainly.
What does an asbestos inspection involve?
Tell us about the property, roughly when it was built and why you want the inspection: a planned renovation, a purchase, a material you are unsure about, or a record for a rental property. We confirm the scope and provide a quote before anything is booked.
On the day, we move through the accessible areas in scope, inside and out, including the roof space and subfloor where there is safe and reasonable access, and nominated outbuildings. For each material that may contain asbestos we record where it is, how much of it there is, and its visible condition, including whether it appears damaged, weathered or deteriorating. Photos support each entry.
Where confirmation is needed, we arrange for samples to be taken and tested by a laboratory. Which materials are sampled is agreed with you, and it usually depends on what you plan to do: the sheeting you are about to cut into matters more than the roof you are leaving alone.
You receive a written record of the materials identified, their locations and condition, laboratory results for any samples tested with a plain-language explanation, a clear list of areas that could not be inspected, and practical next steps.
What the inspection is not
It is an independent inspection you commission for your own information. It is not a statutory inspection, not a clearance inspection after removal work, and not a health or exposure assessment. We do not remove or dispose of asbestos. If you need a clearance inspection or a certificate after removal, tell us when you enquire and we will let you know whether we can help or who can issue it.
Should you inspect before renovating?
This is the situation where the answer matters most. Drilling, cutting, sanding, breaking or water blasting a material that contains asbestos can release fibres into the air. A bathroom demolition, a new kitchen, replacing eaves, removing an old fence, pulling up vinyl flooring or taking down a sleepout are all jobs that disturb exactly the materials asbestos was used in.
Knowing beforehand changes how the job is planned. Your builder knows which materials to leave to a licensed asbestos removalist, which ones can stay undisturbed, and where to allow for removal and disposal in the budget and the programme. Finding out part way through, with a wall half demolished, is the expensive and stressful version.
Removal and disposal have their own rules in Victoria, and depending on the type and amount of material, removal may need a licensed asbestos removalist. Check the current requirements with the relevant authority before any work starts. If a permit question comes with the renovation, our pillar on which permits building work needs in Victoria is the place to start.
Should you inspect before buying an older home?
Buying an older home usually comes with a pre-purchase inspection, which looks at the home's condition and visible signs of timber pest activity. That inspection can note materials that may contain asbestos where they are obvious, but it is not an asbestos inspection and does not include testing.
Whether a separate asbestos inspection is worth arranging before you commit depends on what you plan to do with the home. If you intend to renovate soon after settlement, knowing which materials may contain asbestos helps you budget and plan with open eyes. If the materials are in good condition and you intend to leave them alone, the question is less urgent, although a record is still useful for the day you do decide to change something.
Timing is the practical hurdle. Access before an auction or a contract deadline is arranged through the selling agent, and sampling needs the vendor's agreement. Tell us your key date when you enquire and we will let you know what can be arranged. Our pillar on inspections before buying a home in Victoria explains how the different inspections fit together.
What about rental properties?
Rental providers (often called landlords) and property managers ask for a dated record of materials that may contain asbestos and their visible condition. It helps when planning maintenance, briefing tradespeople and answering a renter's question about a cracked eave or a damaged laundry wall. Our rental inspections can be set up alongside an asbestos inspection where that makes sense; tell us what the record is for and we will suggest the right combination.
Rental properties in Victoria have minimum standards and safety related checks, and the current requirements and timing are confirmed with the relevant authority or your property manager. An asbestos record does not replace any of those checks, and it does not decide whether a property can be rented.
Does damaged asbestos need different treatment?
Generally, yes. Materials in good condition and left undisturbed are treated differently from materials that are damaged, deteriorating or about to be disturbed. A sound, painted fibro eave is a different situation from a cracked, weathered sheet on a fence that children brush past, or a crumbling pipe lagging in a subfloor.
Our report describes the condition we saw and suggests practical next steps, such as leaving a material undisturbed or speaking with a licensed asbestos removalist before any work begins.
If a material is already broken or being disturbed, tell us when you enquire so the visit can be planned around it. Do not drill, cut, sand or sweep up a material you think may contain asbestos, and do not try to take a sample yourself.
Questions about health or exposure are for a doctor or a health authority. The inspection is about the building, not about anyone's health, and we will say so rather than guess.
How do you prepare, and what happens next?
The preparation is similar to any other inspection, with a few extra points:
- Tell us roughly when the home was built and when any extensions, sheds, fences or bathrooms were added, if you know.
- Share any earlier asbestos reports, test results or building records.
- Tell us about the work you are planning and which areas it affects, so sampling can focus on the materials that will be disturbed.
- Arrange access to the roof space, subfloor, outbuildings and the areas in scope.
- Let us know if any material is already damaged or broken.
- Secure pets and point out anything unsafe on the site.
The general preparation questions in our FAQ, such as access and what to have ready, apply here too.
After the inspection, read the scope and the list of areas that could not be inspected first, then the materials one by one. For each one you will see where it is, what condition it was in and, if it was sampled, what the laboratory found. We explain the results in plain language and you are welcome to ask questions.
What you do next depends on your plans. For a renovation, share the record with your builder and speak with a licensed asbestos removalist about any material that will be disturbed. For a purchase, read the record with your conveyancer or lawyer alongside the vendor's statement, and use it to budget. For a rental, keep the record with the property's papers and brief tradespeople from it.
If you are not sure whether we cover your suburb, check the service areas page or send an enquiry with the address and we will confirm what can be arranged.
Not sure which inspection you need? Ask us. Call or WhatsApp 0406 194 163, or send an enquiry and we will come back to you.
Sources and authorities
These public sources set out the requirements this guide refers to. They are the places to confirm what applies to your property; we help you understand and prepare for them.
- Asbestos in Victoria: the Victorian Government's guidance on finding, managing and removing asbestos in the home.
- WorkSafe Victoria: asbestos safety and licensed removal requirements.
- Better Health Channel: health information about asbestos exposure, to read alongside advice from a doctor.
