FAQs
Asbestos – where is it in homes?
Unfortunately, many of our homes have asbestos-containing materials in them. How can you tell if you have asbestos in YOUR home?
Asbestos was commonly used in many building materials, mainly between the 1940s and late 1980s, because of its durability, fire resistance and insulating properties. Asbestos was also used in brakes, clutches and gaskets of many cars. Of course, asbestos was extensively used in manufacturing - for example in ovens, fire walls, gaskets and so on.
A number of products once used in the Australian building industry, both domestic and commercial, were produced containing asbestos fibres. These could be either firmly or loosely bound.
Firmly-bound asbestos
When in a good condition (that is, not weathered or damaged), the asbestos is said to be 'non-friable' - however, if damaged, then it becomes 'friable'. Fibre-cement products formerly contained asbestos fibres, firmly embedded in a hardened cement mixture. Manufacturers have replaced the asbestos with cellulose fibres in modern fibre-cement products.
Asbestos-cement products that may be in homes include:
- Exterior fibre cement cladding (Fibro or 'AC sheeting') and weatherboards (pre mid 1980's)
- All corrugated cement roofing
- Water or flue pipes (pre 1988)
- Roof shingles
- Flexible building boards - eave linings, bathroom linings, cement tile underlay (pre mid 1980's)
- Imitation/artificial brick cladding
- Architectural cement pipe columns (pre-1988)
- Plaster patching compounds
- Textured paint
- Vinyl floor tiles
- The backing of linoleum floor coverings
Loosely-bound asbestos ('friable' asbestos)
The loose form of asbestos fibres may be found in a few older forms of insulation used in domestic heaters and stoves, and in ceiling insulation products. The latter were more commonly used in commercial properties, however, care should be taken with any loosely-bound insulation manufactured before the mid 1980s. Examples include
- Insulation on hot water pipes
- Insulation in old domestic heaters
- Insulation in stoves
- Ceiling insulation products
More information
- From the UK's HSE website - The Asbestos House - a tool for finding where asbestos might be
- From Asbestos in the home a booklet produced by the Environmental Health Unit of the Victorian Government Department of Human Services (Telephone: 1300 761 874). It can also be downloaded on this page Asbestos and Chemicals on the Victorian Government's Environmental Health website.
Last amended August 2008