The backing, in the regulators' words
Victoria's workplace regulator describes the material itself, and why it is treated differently from a cement sheet.
Its description of friable material names the asbestos backing of some vinyl floor coverings, and says that material breaks up easily, and that the fibres it releases can be breathed in.
South Australia's site gives the same description of friable material on its own pages, naming the backing of some vinyl floor coverings as one of the places it appears.
The state's environment agency goes further about where the material was put: its guide names pipe lagging, insulation and vinyl floor tiles with an asbestos backing, and says it is a significant health risk when disturbed.
What the fibres do is stated plainly by SafeWork NSW: these fibres are harmful if inhaled, and may lead to asbestos related diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer or mesothelioma.
Where in a home the older floors are
Queensland's asbestos site puts the year at 1990: asbestos products are likely to be found in buildings constructed or renovated before then.
Queensland's site names bonded floor tiles among the typical materials in those properties.
South Australia's environment agency says asbestos-containing materials in domestic buildings are commonly non-friable bonded products such as floor tiles, flat fibre cement sheeting used in walls and ceilings, and corrugated roofing and fences.
Its guide puts dates on the common forms: the most usual kind of bonded material shows up as cement sheeting, vinyl floor tiles, water or flue pipes, and similar bonded products made before 1980.
Victoria's compliance code for managing the material names the wet rooms. The areas of a building prone to wet conditions may have sheeting or vinyl tiles of this kind in the walls and floors.
The rooms it names are the wet ones: bathrooms, toilets and laundries.
The code gives the reason those rooms were built that way: the hardiness and waterproofing qualities of the material compared with other materials.
Tasmania's workplace regulator lists where a household is likely to find it: the material has been used in more than 3,000 products, among them ones used in the parts of a home people renovate or repair.
Its examples are floor-level ones: under the vinyl floors, behind the tiles and in the carpet underlay.
Western Australia's health department names one more old floor: in older homes, the paper backing on linoleum flooring is among the products that may carry white asbestos, along with textured ceiling coatings.
The national ban does not reach back into installed floors. Victoria's health channel says the ban leaves products already in place where they are, naming vinyl floor tiles and asbestos cement sheeting among them.
On the same page's wording, those products can stay until the day they need replacing.
The difference between the states, side by side
Queensland's asbestos site names the question with an underlay; the other states meet it with a floor covering. The states do not answer it the same way, and each answer below stays inside its own state.
| State | The rule, in the regulator's words |
|---|---|
| Queensland | Queensland's asbestos site: Some felt carpet underlay is considered friable asbestos, which must only be removed professionally by a licensed removalist with an 'A' class licence. |
| South Australia, the licence | SafeWork SA draws the line at the covering: a licence of Class A is what an applicant needs for a floor covering with an asbestos backing, or any other friable product, while Class B reaches only cement products and other bonded material, floor tiles among them. |
| South Australia, for home owners | South Australia's asbestos site, on its page for home owners: anyone removing friable material must use a licensed asbestos removalist. Its flood-damage page recommends one for floor covering with asbestos backing. |
| Victoria, the licence | WorkSafe Victoria names the backing of some vinyl floor coverings as friable, and its compliance code for workplaces says only a Class A licence holder may remove friable material. |
| Victoria, the advice | WorkSafe Victoria: a residue can stay on the floor after the covering is gone, and when it dries out, disturbing it can put fibres into the air; its advice is that the covering be taken up by a licensed removalist. |
| National, on the ban | The Better Health Channel: the ban leaves products already installed where they are, such as a vinyl floor tile or asbestos cement sheeting, until they need to be replaced. |
Read across the rows:
- Queensland names the underlay, and sends it to a licensed removalist with an 'A' class licence.
- South Australia names the asbestos-backed covering, and draws the line between its two licence classes.
- WorkSafe Victoria names the backing as friable. Its flood alert, written for clean-up, recommends a licensed removalist, and WorkSafe Victoria's compliance code for workplaces says only a Class A licence holder may remove friable material.
- The Better Health Channel leaves an installed floor of this kind where it is until it needs replacing.
What is never done to it
- SafeWork NSW, on the activities that release fibres: when asbestos containing products are disturbed by cutting, drilling, water blasting or similar activities, small fibres may be released into the air.
- NSW Health, on what damages it: it can also be damaged by being cut, drilled or water blasted, and damaging the material can release small fibres into the air.
- The national agency's householder page keeps two acts off the list together: never use high-pressure water, and never an abrasive process such as scrubbing, sanding or grinding, to clean an asbestos cement roof or any other material of this kind.
- 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.
- Queensland's asbestos site sets four acts on one line under its own Don't heading: do not saw, sand, scrape or drill holes in asbestos materials.
Where the floor goes afterwards
Disposal has its own rule, and in NSW it is the environment agency's. In NSW, the Environment Protection Authority's household page gives the rule for waste.
Its wording is a single line: waste of that kind can go only to a landfill that is licensed to accept it.
The national agency's householder page puts it the same way: waste of this kind goes to a landfill licensed to accept it.
That page, and the state pages linked with this one, are the ones to read in full before anything is lifted.
What is left is the floor on top of it. Two guides carry the rest of the work: who may lay a floor, state by state, and the waterproofing that comes first on a bathroom floor.