Australian Property News

New asbestos legislation from January

Posted on Wednesday, December 07 2011 at 4:08 PM

Fines of up to $60,000 could be dished out from January 2012 for workplaces, including unit buildings, not complying with new Federal Government law changes on asbestos, according to Archers Body Corporate Management director Andrew Staehr.

The new law will require all buildings built prior to December 1, 2003 to be inspected for asbestos-containing material (ACM) and recorded on the asbestos register. If ACM is discovered then a management plan needs to be set up so that residents or workers in the building can identify where the ACM is and how to treat it.

Prior to the new legislation the cut-off date was December 31, 1990.

Because any shared common property areas are classed as ‘workplaces’, all bodies corporate and unit owners, including the residential sector, must comply with the new legislation, said Staehr.

Failure to comply with the new laws will result in heavy fines up to $60,000, which will be passed on to unit owners, or up to six years imprisonment for body corporate managers.

Any company carrying out demolition or refurbishment work must also comply with the management plan to avoid being fined, Staehr said.

“Body corporate management companies should be making preparations to have their buildings inspected by early 2012, and we are appealing to all unit owners to ensure their body corporate managers are aware of the changes,” Staehr said.