The truck has gone, the old fence line is bare, the invoice has landed, and there is one piece of paper nobody has mentioned. On most Victorian home jobs above ten square metres an asbestos clearance certificate is required before the area goes back into use, and on a domestic job the duty to obtain it sits with the licensed removalist, not with you.
That one fact takes a lot of weight off a homeowner, and it is worth knowing before you sign a quote rather than after. It also tells you what a proper quote looks like. If the clearance certificate is not on the quote somewhere, ask about it.
Below is what the certificate is, when it applies, who is allowed to issue one in Victoria, and what it costs. Every figure here comes from published Victorian rate cards. Those are Melbourne metro benchmarks rather than Geelong prices, because nobody publishes Geelong pricing for this work.
What an asbestos clearance certificate actually is
It is a written sign-off from an independent person that the removal area is clean and can be used again. The core of it is a visual inspection for visible asbestos residue in the area where the work was done. On friable jobs it also rests on air monitoring results, which is covered further down.
WorkSafe Victoria’s compliance code, citing OHS Regulations r297(1), puts it plainly: the person who commissioned Class A or Class B asbestos removal work must obtain a clearance certificate from an independent person on completion of the work, and before the area where the removal was performed is re-occupied.
Read that literally and it sounds like your problem. There is an exception, and it is the one that matters for almost every reader of this page.
Where the removal happens at domestic premises used solely for domestic purposes, and the person who commissioned it is the owner of those premises, the asbestos removal licence holder must obtain the clearance certificate. WorkSafe states the same rule on its own general requirements page: where a licence holder has been engaged by the homeowner, the duty to obtain the clearance certificate is placed on the licence holder.
So for a Geelong homeowner getting a fence, a roof or a set of eaves done, the removalist carries the clearance duty. Your job is to make sure it happens and to keep the certificate.
If you are at the earlier stage and still do not know whether the material is asbestos at all, start there instead. Call now and we will put you in touch with a licensed removalist for a quote, or send us a photo and a short description of what you are looking at. Testing first is the cheapest and calmest order to do this in, and our asbestos testing page explains how sampling works.
When a clearance certificate is required in Victoria, and when it is not
The threshold is the same ten square metres that governs so much of this subject. A clearance certificate is not required if the removal work consisted only of non-friable asbestos containing material not exceeding ten square metres in total, under OHS Regulations r297(3).
Above that, on Class B or Class A work, it is required. One Melbourne provider says the same thing in plain commercial language on its own rate card: clearance certificates are mandatory for jobs exceeding ten square metres and are obtained through a third party.
Here is how that lands on three typical jobs around the region.
Take a 1960s fibro fence line along a back boundary in Norlane. A whole fence in Victoria runs roughly $1,000 to $3,500, and a boundary run is far past ten square metres and far past an hour of work, so it is licensed removal and it needs a clearance certificate at the end.
Now take a Super Six garage roof in Corio that has started to crack. Roof removal sits around $40 to $120 per square metre, with a typical garage or small roof in the $3,500 to $5,500 band. Again, well over the threshold, so the certificate applies.
Then take the small one. Eaves on a 1970s brick veneer in Belmont, where a kitchen renovation has exposed a couple of sheets and only about six square metres is coming off. Legally, no clearance certificate is required for that. What you will still meet is the minimum job charge, which runs $800 to $1,500 in Victoria, because mobilising a licensed crew costs what it costs whether the job is six square metres or sixty. A full set of eaves, for comparison, is $1,500 to $2,500.
The DIY question sits right next to this one, and most content gets it wrong. Those caps bind employers and self employed people at workplaces. Your own home is not a workplace, so the regulations do not apply to you there, although WorkSafe recommends homeowners follow the same code. The moment a tradesperson, a tenant, a rental property or a paid helper is involved, the caps become law. We have written that out properly in can you remove asbestos yourself in Victoria.
Who can issue an asbestos clearance certificate, and who cannot
Victoria has no licensed asbestos assessor. That is a New South Wales term, and if you see it on a Victorian quote, it is copied content. Victoria’s term is independent person, defined in OHS Regulations r207(1).
An independent person must be independent of three parties: the employer or self employed person doing the removal, the asbestos removal licence holder doing the removal, and the person who commissioned the work. They must have no conflict of interest and must have the knowledge, skills and experience for the function. The compliance code adds that an independent person cannot be a director, employee or a person with a pecuniary interest.
The three functions reserved to that person are determining airborne asbestos fibre levels, the visual inspection of an area for visible asbestos residue, and the giving of the clearance certificate.
In practice this means the crew that took your fence down cannot sign off their own work. A third party comes in. That is exactly why clearance appears as a separate line on a quote rather than being folded into the removal price, and it is a reasonable thing to ask about before the job starts.
Sample analysis follows the same logic. Only an approved laboratory can identify asbestos in a sample, which in Victoria means a laboratory accredited by NATA. Endorsed reports carry the NATA insignia. We are not a laboratory and we are not a removalist. We put homeowners in touch with licensed removalists, and the sample goes to a NATA accredited lab.
Air monitoring: a friable asbestos step, not a routine fence or roof one
Plenty of websites imply that every asbestos job ends with air monitoring. In Victoria that is not what the regulations say, and overstating it just makes a frightening subject more frightening.
The compliance code is direct: the OHS Regulations do not require paraoccupational air monitoring for Class B asbestos removal work. Class B is non friable material, which covers almost all residential work in Geelong. Fibro cladding, fences, Super Six roofing, eaves, sheds and garage sheeting are non friable.
Air monitoring belongs to Class A work, which is friable asbestos: pipe lagging, some old insulation, crumbling or fire damaged sheeting, asbestos contaminated dust. On completion of Class A removal where monitoring was required, r294(2) requires it to verify that the airborne asbestos fibre level is less than 0.01 fibres per millilitre.
That number has teeth. Where levels come back at or above 0.01 f/ml, a clearance certificate cannot be issued and further decontamination has to take place. The certificate is not a formality that gets signed regardless. It is a result.
Which class your job falls into is decided on site by the removalist, not over the phone, because it depends on the condition of the material rather than its age. A sheet that is sound and painted and a sheet that crumbles in your fingers are different problems. Friable vs non friable asbestos walks through how that call gets made.
If something at your place is already broken, cracked or water damaged, do not sweep it up and do not hose it. Call now and get a quote from a licensed removalist instead.
What clearance costs, and why it sits on the quote as its own line
Two different products get muddled here, so it helps to separate them. A visual clearance on a small non friable job is not the same thing as air monitoring on a friable job, and they should never be quoted as one range.
| Item | When it usually applies | Published Victorian range (Melbourne metro) |
|---|---|---|
| Visual clearance certificate, typical residential job | Class B removal above 10 square metres | $165 to $250 |
| Air monitoring, per day, where it is required | Class A friable work | $250 to $600 |
| Lab analysis of a sample, per sample | Before any of this, to confirm what the material is | $88 to $160 |
| Lab turnaround | Standard result | 1 to 5 business days, with a 25% to 50% surcharge for 24 to 48 hour results |
Prices are indicative and GST treatment varies between providers, so ask each removalist whether their quote includes GST. These are Melbourne metro benchmarks, not Geelong prices, and two of the suppliers behind them price regional work separately. Nothing here is a quote from us.
Set against a removal that might run $1,000 to $3,500 for a fence or $3,500 to $5,500 for a garage roof, the clearance line is small. It is also the only part of the job that produces a document you can hand to someone else later. If you sell the house, it is the piece of paper that answers the question. Our asbestos removal cost guide has the wider set of ranges, and what asbestos removal costs in Geelong goes through them job by job.
Budget for the testing as well. Most houses need three to eight samples, because every different material has to be tested separately. A fence, an eaves lining and a bathroom wall sheet are three samples, not one.
What to ask for before the truck leaves the street
A short list, and none of it is confrontational. Removalists deal with these questions every week.
Ask to see the WorkSafe Victoria licence number, which should appear on the quote. Ask whether the job is Class A or Class B, and why. Ask whether a clearance certificate applies to your job, and who is obtaining it. On a domestic job the answer should be the licence holder.
Ask when they can start, and expect a wait. A licence holder must notify WorkSafe before beginning removal work: at least 24 hours ahead for ten square metres or less of non friable material, and at least five days ahead for any other removal work. Anyone promising to start tomorrow on a full fence line has skipped something.
Ask where the waste is going. In the entire Barwon region exactly one facility is authorised to receive asbestos, and it is Drysdale Landfill, on (03) 5251 2935. Small domestic quantities only, a maximum six by four trailer, and both EPA Victoria and the councils say to ring before you turn up. Every Surf Coast transfer station refuses asbestos outright, so a Torquay, Anglesea, Lorne or Colac job travels to the Bellarine. EPA Victoria’s register of licensed landfills is the authoritative list, and our disposal page covers the wrapping and labelling rules.
Then keep the certificate with the house papers. Scan it. It is one page and it will outlive the job.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a clearance certificate for a small patch of fibro?
Not if the work consisted only of non friable material not exceeding ten square metres in total. That is the exemption in OHS Regulations r297(3). Bear in mind that the minimum job charge of $800 to $1,500 applies regardless, so a small patch is rarely a cheap job, and a removalist may still recommend a visual clearance for peace of mind.
Who pays for the clearance certificate?
The homeowner, in the sense that it forms part of what you pay for the job, but it should appear on the quote as its own line rather than being buried. Published Victorian figures put a visual clearance certificate on a typical residential job at $165 to $250, with GST treatment varying between providers. Ask whether the quote you are holding includes it.
Can the removalist issue their own clearance certificate?
No. The certificate has to come from an independent person, who must be independent of the removalist, the licence holder and whoever commissioned the work, with no conflict of interest. The compliance code states that an independent person cannot be a director, employee or a person with a pecuniary interest. A third party does the inspection.
Does air monitoring hold up getting back into the house?
On ordinary non friable residential work, air monitoring is not required at all, so the answer is usually no. On Class A friable work it is, and the result has to show airborne fibre levels below 0.01 fibres per millilitre. If the reading comes back at or above that, the certificate cannot be issued and further decontamination has to happen before anyone re-occupies the area.