Ep 24. Asbestos in Properties
Are you worried about properties with asbestos? In this episode, Michelle explains what your obligations are when it comes to asbestos, and why you should do your research before buying a property.
Here’s what you’ll learn from today’s episode:
What is asbestos, and what are the health risks?
How do I know if the property has asbestos?
Where will asbestos typically be found in a property?
Why it’s important to do your own research and due diligence.
Speakers in today’s episode:
Michelle May - Michelle May Buyers Agents
FOLLOW US:
HELPFUL LINKS
NSW Fair Trading - FAQ’s - Loose-Fill Asbestos
NSW Fair Trading - Loose-Fill Asbestos Insulation Laws
REINSW - Asbestos: your duty of care as an agent
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Please note that any views or opinions presented in this podcast are solely those of the speakers, and do not necessarily represent those of any business. These views and opinions are general in nature, and do not take account of your personal objectives, financial situation and needs. Please consider whether it applies in your circumstances and seek professional advice wherever appropriate.
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VIEW TRANSCRIPT
Hi and welcome to another episode of the Buy Your Side property podcast, the property podcast to help you buy better. My name is Michelle May and I am the principal of Michelle May Buyer's Agents here in Sydney, Australia.
Now today I want to talk to you about asbestos. How exciting is that?
Just off the back of our latest episode on material fact, I thought I'd do a bit more of a deep dive in one of those items listed, which is the loose fill asbestos insulation, which is now considered a material fact. So first off, have you heard of asbestos? Do you know what it is? Let me run you through that first.
So asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral composed of flexible fibres that are resistant to heat, electricity and corrosion. And so as you can imagine, these qualities make the mineral very useful, particularly in the construction industry, and it can be added to almost anything, (cloth, paper, cement, plastic and other materials) to help them make them stronger and obviously fire retardant. When asbestos dust is inhaled or ingested, the fibres can become permanently trapped in the body and over a decade trapped asbestos fibres can cause inflammation, scarring, and eventually genetic damage. And I don't know if you've ever heard of this very progressive lung disease called asbestosis, but that is obviously one of the worst health effects that people who have worked with asbestos for a long time obviously are dealing with right now.
Asbestos fibres obviously can pose a risk to health if airborne as inhalation is the main way that asbestos enters the body. But small quantities of asbestos fibres are present in the air at all times and are being breathed in by everyone without any ill effects. Most people are exposed to very small amounts of asbestos as they go about their daily lives and do not develop asbestos related health problems. And this is from the health.nsw.gov.au website. Finding that your home or workplace is made from fibre or products does not mean your health is at risk. Studies have shown that these products in sound condition and left undisturbed are not a significant health risk. If the asbestos fibres remain firmly bound in cement, generally, you do not need to remove the fibre. But obviously, once you start messing around with it, if you do a renovation or it gets damaged in some other way, that's when it becomes obviously a health risk. And so in most recent times, actually in 2003, it was banned nationally the use of asbestos, but it was still commonly used until the 1980’s and then it started sort of getting phased out. You may not be aware of how commonly it was used and may be present in buildings even in this day and age.
For example, in apartment buildings, the eaves, certain stairway areas, upper balcony, soffits can be clad in fibre, cement sheeting that may contain traces of asbestos. Trailing cables found in lift shafts and associated lift paths and fittings have been known to contain traces. Unit entry and utility doors known as fire doors have also been known to contain asbestos used as a fire retardant. The gaskets on mechanical ventilation equipment throughout car parks and buildings have been known to contain traces. Hot water systems, the backing boards of electrical switchboards have been known to contain asbestos. But of course, and in much greater quantities, full garages and houses still prevalent around cities around Australia and also garages, still here in the Inner West of Sydney, we've come across it very often where complete units are built from asbestos sheets. So it is just something to be aware of.
And I want to run you through the number of rules and regulations that are now in place just to make consumers aware when it comes to buying property and living in property. Because I think, forewarned is forearmed, so here we go. Let me run you through a couple of things that you can potentially look out for when you're looking to buy an apartment or a house. First off we have an asbestos register that is mandatory for all commercial, retail, industrial and mixed use residential properties that contain a common property workplace built before the 31st of December 2003. Once the asbestos report is complete, it should be shared with landlords, tenants and any contractors attending the property. So there is a requirement under Work Health and Safety legislation to prepare and display an asbestos register at a workplace. Additionally, an asbestos management plan has to be implemented and reviewed periodically. So if you are looking to purchase an apartment in a mixed use residential property, look out for this asbestos report in the strata report, it should be annexed to that
If it isn't, query it because it definitely should be there. Non compliance obviously can be very a expensive and time consuming exercise and can often result in fines and legal action. So, if you are an owner in a building that is non compliant, you will be forced to foot the bill. So look out for that asbestos report. So, the register identifies where the asbestos is and where it can be located and then it also comes with an asbestos management plan. So, best practice what to do with it next. Now, the other thing you can look out for is the loose fill asbestos register. Now, what is loose fill asbestos insulation? It is insulation made from raw asbestos that has been crushed into a fine state and installed in roof spaces as ceiling insulation, if disturbed, asbestos fibres can move from the ceiling to other areas of the home such as walls and sub floor areas. So, those fibres can also become airborne and breathed in or ingested, which obviously, as we talked about, can cause health risks. So, what has happened since to make this safer for everyone? There is now a law which states that there is a loose fill asbestos insulation register where properties which have been identified as having that in their ceilings have to register and so it is a public domain. So, you can put in any address in Australia and see whether it is on this register or not. And there is mandatory hazard labelling of these affected properties. It is also identified in planning certificates and there is a generic warning statement for inclusion on section 10.7 planning certificates for any pre 1980’s homes in identified local government areas. So those properties are most likely or have a higher risk of having asbestos loose fill asbestos in their ceilings and there is also a warning statement about loose fill asbestos insulation in the contract of sale. So it's really buyer beware, do you do your research, do your due diligence, but there is actually a warning statement in the contract of sale.
Now also tenants are protected, made aware of that this is a potential possibility you can find this in the residential tenancy agreement. it was added in 2016 to require landlords to tell tenants or existing that the property that they are renting has been added to the, as they call, LFAI register. So again, you still have to carry out your own research just to be sure because as material fact doesn't always get disclosed, as it should, but something to be aware of. So again, I'm not trying to scare the living daylights out of you, but it is something that's very common in Australia and forewarned is forearmed so you know what to do with it and and make sure that you're compliant with the law when you become an owner in either an apartment building or house and move forward with it as well because obviously, if there is a property that has a house, for example, that has asbestos either in the garage or somewhere in the property, if it is over 10 cubic meters, you actually need to get the professionals to come in to remove this safely and that comes at a certain cost as well. I wouldn't recommend handling any of it by yourself as you've heard now there are certainly risks involved with it.
I'll make sure to add some links to the podcast notes so that you can click on them, go to fair trading and read some more about it but if you've got any questions regarding asbestos, I'm not by no means an expert, any general property related questions drop me a line hello@buyyourside.com.au.
Now be sure to click follow as well on wherever you get your podcasts or even on Instagram @buyyourside.podcast. We'd love to hear from you. We love the hearts. I'm doing this for you guys to get more knowledge. So if you like what you're hearing, if you think that you're increasing your knowledge, let me know. Thanks for listening and I look forward to sharing some more knowledge next time.