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I bought a Sydney one-bedder in 2019, just ahead of the Covid pandemic. What I didn’t know, (and the agent didn’t tell me) was that the front door contained asbestos (the building is one of the old 70s walk-ups).
In 2023 Profire, the company that installed fire extinguishers on each floor ran a check on the doors and some were replaced, due to asbestos. However, mine, due to negligence, or animosity on the part of the then-Chairwoman my door wasn’t replaced.
In 2025 (nearly 2026), Profire confirmed there was asbestos in my door, after I threatened the (new) OC committee with the Tribunal and legal action. The strata management company also stayed silent on the asbestos, though they surely knew about it.
Repeated calls had no effect and everything had to go through the committee, of which I am a member but unpopular – ask too many questions. When I finally said I was going to the media – guess what, a call from Profire, actioned by the strata management company. It’ll still take a week or two for the new door to be made and installed.
The buildings residents are a mix of owner-residents and tenants, the latter mostly non-English speakers who may not have realised the dangers of asbestos.
Should I still go ahead with the Tribunal (I had contacted them and been given a number, on another matter, also relating to non-action by both OC committee and strata management)?
Shouldn’t there be some sort of punishment for this kind of cover-up endangering people’s health and safety?
UPDATE: I got a call from Profire this morning saying “It’s about your door, can we can around tomorrow? We told your strata manager about this in 2023….” This [delay] is the nastiest action on the part of a Chairperson, I’d believe.
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An asbestos containing fire door is still a fire door, and the presence of asbestos does not fault a fire door during the annual fire safety inspection. Your building should have an “asbestos register” which lists all the asbestos in the building, and older asbestos doors should be listed there. Most buildings of the same era as yours will have asbestos in them (often in the electrical switchboard), and in the fire doors located on Units and on fire stairs.
You are probably mistaken that the other Unit doors were replaced because they contained asbestos. It would have been for another reason, such as their general poor state, missing tags, gaps around the sides being too big, etc. The current replacement you are getting is probably the Owners Corporation doing a favour to you, so you should not be too quick to criticise them!
Asbestos containing fire doors, of which there are very many still in use, are safe, as long as they serve their original purpose, and the asbestos stays safely locked inside them. Don’t penetrate them, by making any holes in them, which will defect a fire door anyway, and ensure they are kept in good conditions. Fire safety inspections will not defect an asbestos containing door, just because they contain asbestos. If you are worried about the asbestos, ask the strata committee to consider an upgrade to a modern (non-asbestos) door, and when the fire safety company comes to inspect it, tell them the door probably has asbestos inside (it’s hard to know for sure), and that you are unhappy because of that, and can they please inspect it very, very rigorously, to see if there are any defects that would fault to door, and if they do this favour for you, they may find those, and report the door is faulty, requiring replacement. Note that a new Unit fire door costs around $3k to replace, so keep that in mind, too.