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  • #9007
    Sailor
    Flatchatter

      I’m trying to find out what actions strata unit owners have taken after receiving an asbestos report that indicates there might be asbestos sheeting in the common areas.

      What do most strata blocks do in response to an asbestos report?

      I had intended to search the site for information about whether there’s a consensus on what action one should take when an asbestos report that only deals with a visual inspection of the building from outside is received. The report we got appears to be based on suppositions about whether it’s likely or possible that asbestos materials were used when the block was put up. The suppositions seem to be governed by the date of completion.

      No testing of any kind was done when the inspection was carried out.

      Now, for building dates more recent than about, say, 1982, I imagine the reports would give them a “low likelihood of asbestos” result, but older buildings seem to attract a “possibly/probably” summary.

      Our building was completed in about 1978-9, so I can imagine there MIGHT have been some asbestos sheeting used during construction, thus I understand why our recently received report states that asbestos might be present, or suspected, in some sheeting used in the common areas.

      However, if I were a tradie I’d rather know for sure before I started doing some maintenance work. Is it the usual procedure to get some samples of “suspected” asbestos material in the building tested to confirm whether asbestos is actually present? I don’t know how much that would cost, but I would like to know what the general consensus about confirmation testing has been.

      I suppose workmen could suit up completely just in case before doing any sawing or drilling of the suspected sheeting, but that seems very inconvenient and difficult in practice.

      I know there’s a physical test to determine whether or not you have a piece of fibre asbestos sheeting – it involves breaking a small piece and examining the broken edge – but so far I’ve not been able to find a chemical or other physical “on the spot” test for presence or absence of asbestos in a sample of sheet.

      I used to run my own chemical analytical laboratory, so I’m aware of the need for samples to be taken carefully and in such a way that they’re representative of the whole material. I could liaise with a suitably accredited test laboratory in Sydney to determine what test samples would be needed, and get them to analyse a group of samples I supply, but there’s a cost to that. I’m not sure it’s necessary to do a lot of tests, or any, but I dislike the idea of leaving the whole question hanging.

      Alternatively, one could get a specialist company to remove all the suspected material – in our case it’s almost all sheeting, not insulation – and get a builder to replace it with known safe sheeting, but that would probably be even more expensive & I’m not sure I could make a strong enough case to the Executive Committee to support such action.

      I’m just starting to look into what others do in this situation, so it’s quite possible I’ve missed something helpful. If you know of some other place I should be checking for some direction on this, please let me know.

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    • #19312
      Whale
      Flatchatter

        Sailor – in the first instance if you’re in NSW, the requirements of the Work Health & Safety Act (2011) don’t apply to the Owners Corporations (O/C) of Plans that are entirely residential (i.e. no commercial lots), that don’t incorporate any “workplaces” such as a gym or pool that’s available to non-residents, and that don’t directly employ “workers” such as a caretaker or on-site manager.

        That said, the possible presence of asbestos on the Common Property is something that all O/C’s should make themselves aware of, and the process employed to achieve the desired degree of awareness ranges from a walk-through and note-taking exercise by some savvy Executive Committee Members and/or long-term residents, to some Strata Managers commissioning comprehensive (and sometimes costly) Reports; the best approach depends upon the site and whether the need is compulsory or precautionary.

        Whether or not your O/C was required to commission the Report to which you refer, now that it has it your Executive Committee and Strata Manager needs to decide what if anything it now does with the information, and I guess that’s your quandary.

        In order for that Report to comply fully with the requirements of WorkCover (NSW) for “workplaces”, the inspection should have been undertaken by a qualified person holding a Type A Licence, and it should have involved not only locating asbestos containing materials at your Plan, but initially identifying those by precautionary testing (e.g. friability), by assessing any risks to health based on the condition of and the potential for disturbance of those areas, and finally by recommending actions to control or further minimise the risks.

        So it sounds to me like you’ve only received the first component of what’s compulsorily required, but the next step is, as you’ve indicated, to have representative samples properly collected by a suitably skilled person from those areas initially identified, and by having those mineralogically analysed by a NATA Accredited Laboratory; the one that I used was extremely helpful, and as I have relevant quals. they provided me with sample containers – their details are HERE.

        Once confirmatory results are available, the information from the Report and the analyses should be included in an Asbestos Register, which contains information on the locations of the asbestos containing material, the composition and type of that at each location based on the friability tests and analytical data, the potential risk to persons’ health based on the condition of the material and the potential for its disturbance, and finally recommendations to control or further minimise risk to the health of “workers”; in other words on the basis of a standard risk-management process.

        The Register needs to be kept on-site (or by your Strata Manager) and be incorporated with a Management Plan indicating how its information is to be used, such as to advise Contractors in advance on each occasion that they’re working on the site of the location/s of asbestos containing materials (i.e. site induction), where their work is done, what it was, what if any prioritised remedial actions the O/C will itself commission over time and when, and how often the document will be reviewed, which should be annually (at the AGM) or more often if the asbestos containing material has been disturbed, or remediated.

        #19313
        Jimmy-T
        Keymaster

          Whale’s response, below, is pretty comprehensive but I just wanted to add a yarn I heard recently about a smartypants chairman who got his handyman mate to put extra locks on fire doors (!?!?).  When a resident who works for WorkCover noticed telltale blue dust  on the floor, the building was evacuated while asbestos clean-up workers – gas masks and safety suits, the works –  tried to make the building safe.

          That was told to me by my good friend Chris Mo’ane of Integrated Consulting. If you are looking for professional advice on how to identify and deal with asbestos in your building, you need look no further than our old friends Integrated on http://www.ibc.net.au 

          The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
          #19360
          Sailor
          Flatchatter
          Chat-starter

            Whale: I’m very grateful for your reply, which as JimmyT says is quite comprehensive, and for the link to Asbestos Check.

            Also, you were correct – we’re in NSW – and the report was, as I noted in the my query, just a look-round by a suitably registered consultant. The consultant was commissioned by our managing agents.

            We have ExCo & AGM meetings coming up next week, so armed with your information I’ll raise the topic then, and point out the options you’ve described.

            And JimmyT, thanks for your little story about people drilling into fire-resistant doors. For “extra locks”???? Good heavens!!

            Was the “blue powder” confirmed as crocidolite, or was it just a colour-coded fire-resistant powder? I’d assumed that crocidolite (“blue asbestos”) would be white in dust form, and in use in cavities like a fire door.

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