The kitchen is half stripped, the skip bin is booked for Thursday, and only now does anyone stop to ask whether the old wall lining behind the cupboards might be asbestos. That question, asked mid-job instead of before it, is the single most common way an otherwise straightforward renovation turns into a delay.
Checking for asbestos before renovation or demolition is not a box-ticking exercise. In a lot of Victorian homes it is the thing that decides whether Thursday’s skip bin booking goes ahead, gets pushed back, or needs replacing with a very different kind of bin altogether. This guide sets out what to check, when to check it, and what a positive result does to your timeline and your budget.
Why Asbestos Comes Up Before a Renovation or Demolition
Four situations bring people to this question, and none of them involve someone shopping around out of curiosity.
Some are about to pull down a wall, lift old flooring or start a full demolition, and someone on site has raised the possibility. Others have an old fibro fence, a Super Six roof or a shed that has already cracked or come apart, and the renovation just made it impossible to ignore. Some have had a building and pest inspection or a pre-sale report flag a material, and now the sale is on hold until someone knows what it actually is. And some have already drilled, cut or pulled something apart before asking the question, which is a different problem with a different first step.
Whichever one applies, the material almost never announces itself. Fibro cement sheeting, corrugated roofing, vinyl floor tiles and some older wall linings can all look identical to their asbestos-free modern equivalents once they are painted or covered. Asbestos.vic.gov.au is blunt about this: it is not possible to tell whether a material contains asbestos simply by looking at it. A lab result is the only way to know before a hammer, a drill or an excavator goes anywhere near it.
If any of that sounds like your renovation or demolition, book a test before you touch anything else. Call (03) 5550 4817 or send a photo through the contact form and we will put you in touch with someone who can take a sample.
Get It Tested Before Anyone Picks Up a Hammer
This is the step that changes the least about your day and saves the most about your week. A sample goes to a NATA-accredited laboratory, and a written result usually comes back within one to five business days, with a 25 to 50 per cent surcharge if you need it inside 24 to 48 hours.
Most houses need three to eight samples, because every different material has to be tested separately. A fence, a wall sheet and a set of eaves are three samples, not one. Larger properties, or a full demolition where several rooms and outbuildings are all in scope, run closer to eight or twelve.
Lab analysis alone runs $88 to $160 per sample, and a full house inspection with sampling, done by someone who knows where to look, typically comes in at $395 to $900 on current Victorian rate cards. Our asbestos testing page and our guide to how asbestos testing actually works in Victoria cover what happens between dropping off a sample and getting a report back.
If you are already mid-renovation and something has been disturbed, testing still comes first, just faster. That call costs nothing and it is the one piece of information every other decision on this page depends on.
What a Positive Test Means for Your Renovation or Demolition Timeline
A positive result does not automatically mean a licensed crew and a five-figure quote. It means the material gets classified, and the classification decides what happens next.
Non-friable material in sound condition, which covers most fibro cladding, fences, Super Six roofing and eaves linings, is Class B work. Friable material, meaning it crumbles by hand when dry, such as damaged or fire-affected sheeting, old pipe lagging or asbestos-contaminated dust, is Class A work and always needs a licensed removalist, at any quantity.
Timing matters here in a way most renovation schedules do not account for. A licensed removalist has to notify WorkSafe Victoria before starting: at least 24 hours ahead for a job involving 10 square metres or less of non-friable material, and at least five days ahead for anything larger. That notice period is the honest reason a crew cannot start the same week you call, and it is worth building into your renovation schedule rather than discovering it once the skip bin is already parked outside.
There is a narrow exemption for very small non-friable jobs done by a homeowner at their own home, and it is worth knowing exactly what it does and does not cover before you assume it applies to your renovation. Our guide on whether you can remove asbestos yourself in Victoria sets out the 10 square metre and one-hour rule in full, including the point where it stops applying the moment a builder, tiler or paid tradesperson is doing the work instead of you.
A clearance certificate from an independent person, never the removalist who did the job, is required once the work goes past 10 square metres of non-friable material, and it is always required for any Class A work. Where a homeowner has engaged the licensed removalist directly at their own home, that certificate duty sits with the removalist, not with you, which is one less thing to chase during a renovation that already has enough moving parts.
Once a lab result comes back positive, call (03) 5550 4817 with the address and what you have found. We will put you in touch with a licensed removalist for a written quote before you commit to a date.
Three Typical Renovations Where Asbestos Changes the Plan
Say a kitchen renovation on a 1970s brick veneer in Belmont exposes the eaves lining once the old guttering comes off. It is sound, painted and easy to miss, but it is still asbestos cement sheeting. A full set of eaves runs $1,500 to $2,500 on current Victorian benchmarks, and because the builder is already on site working, the homeowner’s own small-job exemption does not apply: the moment a tradesperson does the work, it is work at a workplace, caps and all.
Now take a demolition ahead of a rebuild in Corio, with a Super Six garage roof that has already started to crack. Cracked and weathered sheeting is treated differently to sheeting that is sound, because it is more likely to shed fibres before anyone even starts removing it. A garage or small roof removal runs $3,500 to $5,500 on a national cost guide, while a whole house roof runs $4,000 to $15,000, or $40 to $120 per square metre depending on scope. Roof sheets should never be pressure washed, drilled, walked on or dry swept, whether they are coming off as part of a demolition or staying up a while longer.
Or a holiday-house renovation in Ocean Grove that turns up vinyl floor tiles under decades-old carpet, which is one of the materials people are least likely to expect. It is a different question to what to do with a fence or a roof, and our guide to where asbestos tends to hide in an older Geelong-area house covers flooring and other less obvious spots room by room. The short version: if the carpet or vinyl predates the 1990s, get it tested before it comes up, not after.
What Testing and Removal Typically Cost in Victoria
There is no published Geelong or Barwon rate for any of this. Every figure below is a Melbourne-metro benchmark, and prices are indicative: GST treatment varies between providers, so ask each removalist whether their quote includes GST.
| Stage | Melbourne-metro benchmark |
|---|---|
| Lab test, per sample | $88 to $160 |
| House inspection with samples | $395 to $900 |
| Minimum removal job charge | $800 to $1,500 |
| Full set of eaves | $1,500 to $2,500 |
| Shed | $1,300 to $3,000 |
| Single or double garage | $2,500 to $8,000 |
| Whole fence | $1,000 to $3,500 |
| Whole house roof | $4,000 to $15,000 |
| Visual clearance certificate | $165 to $250 |
The minimum job charge is the figure that catches people out most during a renovation. A two-sheet patch and a forty-sheet job involve much the same setup, wrapping, transport and paperwork, so a small repair rarely comes in far below that $800 to $1,500 floor. Our full asbestos removal cost guide breaks each of these down further, and none of the numbers above include rebuilding, re-cladding or re-roofing: that work is a separate conversation you have directly with a registered builder once the old material is gone.
Get a quote from a licensed removalist before you lock in a renovation or demolition date, not after. Call (03) 5550 4817 or send details through the contact form, and their WorkSafe Victoria licence number will appear on the quote. You contract with them directly for the removal itself; we simply put you in touch.
Where the Waste Goes If You’re Demolishing in the Barwon Region
This is the part of a demolition budget people forget to plan for, and it is worth sorting out before the skip bin turns up, not after. Asbestos waste can only go to a landfill licensed to receive it, and exactly one facility in the whole Barwon region holds that licence: Drysdale Landfill, operated by the City of Greater Geelong, EPA licence OL000072476.
Drysdale accepts small domestic quantities only, up to a 6x4 trailer load, and EPA Victoria’s guidance is to call ahead before you transport and deliver it, on (03) 5251 2935, because an authorised landfill can still decline a load or ask you to book a time. Fees apply; no figure is published, so ask when you ring. Every Surf Coast Shire transfer station refuses asbestos outright, and Colac Otway Shire publishes no asbestos option at all, which means a Torquay, Anglesea, Lorne or Colac demolition has one legal destination for this material, and it is on the Bellarine.
For a larger demolition, that is a real scheduling constraint, not a footnote: it can only go out wrapped in polythene sheeting, sealed, and clearly labelled, and it never goes in a general skip or a hard waste collection. Our guide to asbestos disposal across the Barwon region covers packaging and booking in more detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to test for asbestos before renovating a Victorian home?
There is no law that forces a homeowner to test before starting their own renovation, but asbestos.vic.gov.au is direct about the reason to do it anyway: you cannot tell whether a material contains asbestos just by looking at it. Any tradesperson working on your renovation is bound by different rules the moment they are on site, and most reputable builders will not touch a suspect material until it has been tested.
How far in advance should I book an asbestos test before demolition?
Book the sample and lab result before you lock in a demolition date, since results usually take one to five business days and a licensed removalist then has to give WorkSafe Victoria at least 24 hours’ notice for a small non-friable job, or at least five days’ notice for anything larger. Treat that notice period as part of your schedule, not an extra delay on top of it.
Can my builder remove a small amount of fibro sheeting themselves during my renovation?
Generally no, once they are working as a tradesperson rather than as the homeowner. A narrow exemption lets a homeowner remove up to 10 square metres of non-friable material at their own home, capped at one hour of work in any seven days, but that exemption does not extend to a paid tradesperson working on your renovation. Our guide to removing asbestos yourself in Victoria covers exactly where that line sits.
What happens to the asbestos waste from a demolition in the Geelong area?
It has to go to a landfill licensed to accept it, and in the Barwon region that means Drysdale Landfill and nowhere else, since every Surf Coast Shire transfer station refuses it and Colac Otway Shire has no asbestos option at all. It must be wrapped, sealed and labelled before transport, fees apply, and the landfill asks that you call ahead on (03) 5251 2935 rather than turning up unannounced.