Asbestos Products Guide

Asbestos was mixed into thousands of building products in Australia and New Zealand from the 1940s through to the mid-1980s. It was cheap, durable, and heat-resistant — which is why it ended up in everything from roofing sheets to floor tiles. Australia banned all forms of asbestos in December 2003. New Zealand banned imports in 2016. But ACMs (asbestos-containing materials) are still in place in a large number of buildings constructed or renovated before 2000. Below are the most common ones found during building surveys.

Roofing and exterior products

Asbestos cement was used heavily in exterior cladding and roofing. These products are still on many residential and commercial buildings. They hold up well when left alone, but weathering, hail damage, or pressure washing can break them down enough to release fibres — which is why they come up so often during renovation and demolition work.

• Super Six corrugated cement sheeting (chrysotile) — the most recognisable ACM in Australian and New Zealand roofing
• Flat and compressed fibre cement sheeting used for eaves, fascia boards, and bargeboards
• Roof shingles and ridge capping made from fibre cement
• Fibre cement guttering and downpipes
• Textured exterior coatings applied over brick, concrete, or fibre cement substrates

Interior walls and ceilings

Fibre cement sheets containing asbestos were a go-to material for internal walls, partitions, and ceilings. James Hardie and Wunderlich were the main manufacturers. If these sheets are intact and undisturbed they are generally low risk, but cutting, drilling, or sanding them during renovations releases dangerous fibres.

• Flat fibre cement sheeting used as wall linings and partition walls
• Tilux splashback panels commonly found in kitchens and bathrooms
• Textured and decorative ceiling coatings, including stippled and swirl-pattern finishes
• Backing boards installed behind ceramic tiles in wet areas
• Compressed fibre cement panels used for high-impact or high-moisture areas

Flooring

Vinyl flooring and the adhesives underneath it frequently contain asbestos. They turn up during kitchen and bathroom renovations, or when old carpet or linoleum gets pulled up. The adhesive layer (often called black mastic) is worth testing separately — it can contain asbestos even when the tiles or sheet flooring above it do not.

• Vinyl floor tiles, typically 225 mm × 225 mm or 300 mm × 300 mm squares
• Vinyl sheet flooring with asbestos-containing paper or felt backing
• Bituminous adhesive (black mastic) used to bond tiles to the substrate
• Underlay and levelling compounds applied to concrete or timber subfloors before floor coverings

Insulation and fireproofing

Insulation and fireproofing products are where the most dangerous forms of asbestos tend to show up. These products often contain friable asbestos — material you can crumble by hand — and carry far more risk than bonded products like cement sheeting. The worst case in Australia was the Mr Fluffy loose-fill insulation in the ACT and parts of NSW, which led to government-funded demolition of over a thousand contaminated homes.

• Loose-fill insulation (Mr Fluffy) — raw asbestos pumped into ceiling spaces, primarily in the ACT and NSW
• Pipe lagging and boiler insulation in commercial and industrial buildings
• Fire-rated doors and panels containing asbestos board cores
• Electrical switchboard backing made from asbestos millboard or cement sheet
• Sprayed limpet asbestos applied as fireproofing on structural steel, particularly in commercial buildings

Other common products

Asbestos wasn't limited to buildings. It turned up in vehicles, industrial equipment, and underground infrastructure too. If you're working on older machinery, plumbing, or plant equipment, any component that deals with heat or friction could contain asbestos.

• Brake pads and clutch plates in vehicles and industrial machinery
• Gaskets and rope seals used on pipe flanges, boilers, and heating systems
• Millboard used as heat shields behind wood stoves and fireplaces
• Water and drainage pipes manufactured from fibre cement
• Fencing panels and sheets made from fibre cement, including Super Six profiles

How to identify ACMs

You cannot tell whether a material contains asbestos just by looking at it. ACMs look identical to their non-asbestos equivalents. The only way to know for sure is to have a sample tested in a laboratory. Samples need to be collected by someone trained in safe work procedures to avoid releasing fibres.

Get a licensed asbestos surveyor to inspect and sample anything suspect. The surveyor will assess what type of asbestos is present and what condition it's in. That second part matters: friable (crumbly) material is far more dangerous than intact cement sheeting that nobody's going to touch. The report will tell you what needs removing and what can stay in place.

Find a licensed surveyor on Asbestos List

Disclaimer: This list is not exhaustive — asbestos turned up in far more products than we can cover here. If you suspect a material contains asbestos, get a licensed professional to inspect and test it.