What may be behind an old kitchen's splashback
SafeWork NSW: if you are renovating or working on a home or building built before the late 1980s, it may contain asbestos, and asbestos materials were commonly used in flooring, kitchens, bathrooms, as well as roofs, ceilings, walls and more.
The work then divides in two, and the dividing line is a licence: what a licensed removalist may remove, and what NSW's pages say about anyone touching it at all.
- 1Power points, rangehoodLicensed electrician (NSW)
- 2Gas line and cooktopLicence at any cost (NSW)
- 3The benchtopEngineered stone: banned since 1 July 2024 (NSW)
- 4The cabinet runLicence over $5,000 (NSW)
- 5Sink trap and water linesLicence at any cost (NSW)
The wall, and the years that matter
SafeWork NSW names the kitchens first, before the roofs and the ceilings: if you are renovating or working on a home or building built before the late 1980s, it may contain asbestos, and asbestos materials were commonly used in flooring, kitchens, bathrooms, as well as roofs, ceilings, walls and more.
SafeWork NSW's licence page narrows it further for wall work: you might find Class B asbestos when removing walls on buildings built or renovated before 1990.
The national agency's line for a householder puts the years to work: know where it could be before any repairs, improvements or renovations start, and, where there is any doubt, to treat the material as asbestos unless a test shows otherwise.
Who may open the wall
SafeWork NSW states the licence rule in two parts. A non-friable asbestos removal licence is required to remove more than 10sqm of non-friable asbestos, and a friable asbestos removal licence is required to remove any amount of friable asbestos.
The same page addresses the reader directly: you must always use a licensed asbestos professional to remove friable asbestos and when there is more than 10sqm of non-friable (bonded) asbestos, and, due to the risks associated with disturbing asbestos, SafeWork NSW recommends you use a licensed asbestos professional to remove any amount of non-friable asbestos.
On friable material the NSW asbestos site is absolute: any amount of it is work for a Class A licensed asbestos removalist and no one else, and tradespeople are not permitted or qualified for it. SafeWork NSW's code of practice for removal work holds a business to the same line: without a Class A licence, it may neither take friable asbestos out itself nor have a worker do it.
Under the thresholds, the NSW asbestos site allows a narrower opening: under 10m2 or 100kg of non-friable material, a tradesperson may remove it without being a licensed removalist. The same site strongly recommends a licensed removalist for any amount, because no level of exposure to asbestos is safe.
One line sits above all of that, in the national agency's words: it is not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself.
What the pages say must not be done
- SafeWork NSW, on disturbed materials: when asbestos containing products are disturbed by cutting, drilling, water blasting or similar activities, small fibres may be released into the air.
- The national agency's householder page: never high-pressure water, and never an abrasive process like scrubbing, sanding or grinding, to clean it.
- Queensland’s asbestos page, under its own “Don’t” heading, lists four acts on one line: saw, sand, scrape or drill holes in asbestos materials.
- SafeWork NSW's code of practice for removal work bars a business, and its workers, from turning high-pressure water sprays or compressed air on the material, except when fighting a fire or protecting against one.
- NSW Health, on what damages it: it can also be damaged by being cut, drilled or water blasted, and damaging the asbestos can release small fibres into the air.
Each line above names the page it comes from, and every one of those pages is linked at the foot of this one.
The health side, in the regulators' words
NSW Health states the risk the way a reader can hold: asbestos fibres can pose a risk to health if airborne, as inhalation is the main way that asbestos enters the body, and living or working with asbestos, or just being around it, is a low risk to your health as long as the asbestos is in good condition and not damaged. If it is damaged and you breathe in the fibres it may be a risk to your health, and breathing in a small amount of fibres is unlikely to make you sick.
SafeWork NSW adds the condition that changes the picture: if asbestos containing material is in good condition it poses little health risk, but when asbestos containing products are disturbed by cutting, drilling, water blasting or similar activities, small fibres may be released into the air, and these fibres are harmful if inhaled and may lead to asbestos related diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer or mesothelioma.
NSW Health says that if the non-friable (bonded) asbestos is not damaged and in good condition, you do not generally need to remove the products. And if a decision is made to open the wall, the same factsheet is just as clear about who it recommends for the work: due to the risks associated with removing asbestos, SafeWork NSW recommends you use a licensed asbestos professional to remove any amount of non-friable asbestos.
What happens to it afterwards
Removal is only half of the rule, and the waste is where it joins the state's environment law. The NSW Environment Protection Authority states the disposal rule plainly: asbestos waste can go only to a landfill licensed to accept it. The national agency writes the same rule nationally: waste goes only to a landfill site licensed to accept it.
This page is general information about NSW's rules and the regulators' own words, and their pages, all linked here, are the ones to read in full before any decision about a wall.