The mower clips the bottom of the back fence, a grey sheet cracks off, and you are standing in the yard trying to remember whether you were wearing a mask. That is how a lot of asbestos fence removal enquiries in Geelong start, and the first step is the cheap one: a sample analysed by a NATA accredited laboratory runs $88 to $160 at published Victorian rates. Until that result comes back, nobody can honestly tell you what your fence is made of.
Barwon Asbestos Co holds no asbestos removal licence and claims none. Removal is carried out by licensed asbestos removalists we work with, and their WorkSafe Victoria licence number appears on every quote. The rest of this is what to do about it, in roughly the order it happens.
How to tell whether a fibro fence is asbestos
Age is the first filter. Asbestos cement was used in Australian residential building from the mid 1940s until the late 1980s, and the total ban on all forms of asbestos came into force on 31 December 2003. A fence built inside that window is worth treating as asbestos until a laboratory says otherwise. A fence built well after it almost certainly is not, because the modern fibre cement sold since the ban looks similar and contains no asbestos.
That similarity is the whole problem. You cannot settle this by eye, and neither can a tradesperson, no matter how confident they sound. Flat grey sheeting between timber or concrete posts is the classic fibro fence, but plenty of harmless sheeting looks the same from three metres away. Only analysis of a physical sample resolves it.
Geelong asks this question more often than most of the state, and the reason is in the street names. Norlane’s Housing Commission program peaked between 1951 and 1957 and had built 2,464 houses by 1976. Corio gained five Commission estates and around 2,500 houses from the late 1950s onward.
Ford was Geelong’s biggest employer with more than 5,000 workers by 1953, and the Shell refinery in 1956 and Alcoa’s Point Henry smelter in 1963 filled the suburbs around them. Those houses went up in the decades asbestos cement was standard, and their back fences went up with them.
If you are not sure what you are looking at, do not sand it, drill it, pressure wash it or snap a piece off for a closer look. Call now on 0480 XXX XXX and talk it through, or send a photo through the contact form and we will tell you whether it is worth testing. Sampling is cheap enough to do before you know anything.
What testing costs, and how many samples you actually need
Published Victorian rates run $88 to $160 per sample. Two pricing models exist and they do not blend: some labs charge one flat fee per sample no matter how many you send, and others discount from the second sample onward. If you have several materials to check, ask which model the lab runs.
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. Larger properties run to eight or twelve. If you would rather have someone walk the property and sample it, published Victorian rates for a house inspection run $395 to $900.
Standard laboratory turnaround runs one to five business days, and a 24 to 48 hour result usually carries a surcharge of roughly 25% to 50%. Those are Melbourne metro benchmarks, and two of the suppliers behind them price regional work separately, so read them as the shape of the market rather than a Geelong price list. GST treatment varies between providers, so ask whether a quoted price includes it.
More on how sampling works is in our guide to asbestos testing in Geelong.
Can you pull the fence down yourself?
This is where most asbestos content gets Victoria wrong, usually by copying New South Wales material. Victoria runs its own Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, and they carry a time cap that other states do not have.
Under regulation 250, non friable asbestos may be removed without a licence only where the area to be removed does not exceed 10 square metres in total, and the employer or self employed person does not perform more than one hour of asbestos removal work in total during a seven day period. Both caps have to hold, and the hour is cumulative across jobs rather than per job. The plain language version is on Asbestos Victoria’s unlicensed removal page.
Where that rule applies is the part people miss. Those regulations bind employers and self employed persons at workplaces. WorkSafe’s compliance code says at paragraph 34 that where removal is performed by a person in domestic premises which is their own home, the OHS Regulations do not apply, because the home is not regarded as a workplace, and it recommends the code be used anyway.
So it is not accurate to say it is illegal for a homeowner to remove more than 10 square metres at their own home. What is accurate: that is the limit the law sets for anyone doing it as work, WorkSafe recommends homeowners follow the same code, and the caps become law the moment a tradesperson, a tenant, a rental property, a business premises or a paid helper is involved.
For a fence, the arithmetic tends to answer the question anyway. A full boundary fence line is far past 10 square metres and far past an hour of work, so it sits outside the unlicensed exemption for anyone doing it as work.
Friable material is never covered at any quantity and always needs a Class A removalist. Class A covers friable asbestos and everything Class B can do; Class B covers non friable only. Intact fibro fencing is non friable Class B work, but sheeting that has gone crumbly or been through a fire is a different category. There is more in can I remove asbestos myself in Victoria.
What asbestos fence removal involves on the day
A licensed removalist has to notify WorkSafe before starting. For work involving a total area of 10 square metres or less of non friable material, the notice period is at least 24 hours. For anything larger, it is at least five days. That duty sits on the licence holder, never on you, and it is the honest reason nobody can start tomorrow morning.
Sheets come off whole wherever possible, because breaking them is what releases fibres. They are wrapped in polythene approximately 200 microns thick and sealed with tape, and every package carries the asbestos warning mark, roughly 75mm by 90mm, reading CAUTION ASBESTOS DO NOT OPEN OR DAMAGE BAG DO NOT INHALE DUST. That labelling is what makes the load legal to move and what the landfill expects to see when it arrives.
Above 10 square metres a clearance certificate is required, and it has to come from an independent person. That is Victoria’s term, not the New South Wales phrase “licensed asbestos assessor”, which does not exist as a licence class here. The independent person cannot be a director or employee of the removalist and cannot hold a pecuniary interest in the job, which is why clearance is a separate line on a quote. Published Victorian rates for a visual clearance certificate on a typical residential job run $165 to $250.
Take a 1960s fibro fence line along a back boundary in Norlane. It is well past both caps, so it is a licensed job: the published whole fence band applies and a clearance certificate is a separate line.
The posts and the new fence are a separate matter again. Replacing a fence is domestic building work, so you take that up directly with a registered builder or fencing contractor. We do not price it.
What asbestos fence removal costs in Victoria
There is no published Geelong or Barwon pricing for any of this. Every figure below is a Melbourne metro benchmark, and two of the suppliers behind them price regional work separately. Treat the table as a sense of scale, never as a quote from us. Only a licensed removalist who has looked at your fence can quote it.
| What you are pricing | Published Victorian range | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Whole fence removal | $1,000 to $3,500 | The only published whole fence band from a Victorian source |
| Per sheet | $20 to $50 | Only meaningful once the minimum job charge is covered |
| Minimum job charge | $800 to $1,500 | Applies to small jobs regardless of sheet count |
| Lab test, per sample | $88 to $160 | Some labs are flat rate, some discount for volume |
| Visual clearance certificate | $165 to $250 | Required above 10 square metres, issued by an independent person |
| General removal, per square metre | $45 to $150 | Two Victorian suppliers agree within $5 |
| Per linear metre of fence | Not published | No reliable source exists, see below |
The minimum job charge explains most of the surprises. A storm cracks four sheets on a boundary fence at an Ocean Grove holiday house, the per sheet rate suggests something under a couple of hundred dollars, and the quote lands at the minimum instead. That is not a rort. Setting up an exclusion zone, wrapping, transport and tipping cost roughly the same whether it is four sheets or forty.
Be careful with per linear metre pricing. There is no reliable Victorian per metre figure: the one source that publishes one contradicts its own worked example by a factor of three.
If a quote is priced per linear metre, ask how that rate was worked out and what it assumes about sheet height. Per sheet or per whole fence is the defensible way to do it. More is in our asbestos removal cost guide and asbestos removal costs in Geelong.
Prices are indicative and GST treatment varies between providers, so ask each removalist whether their quote includes GST. Before you compare any two quotes, get the material tested. Then call now on 0480 XXX XXX and we will put you in touch with a licensed removalist who can price the job properly.
Where the sheets are allowed to go
This part is genuinely local, and it catches people out. Asbestos waste is pre classified as reportable priority waste in Victoria, and it may only go to a landfill authorised to receive it. EPA Victoria keeps the statutory register of those sites, and you can check it yourself on the EPA’s asbestos disposal page.
Exactly one facility in the entire Barwon region is on that register: Drysdale Landfill, run by the City of Greater Geelong, on (03) 5251 2935. It takes small domestic quantities only, to a maximum of a six by four trailer. Fees apply, though the amount is not published anywhere we could verify, so ring and ask. EPA’s guidance is to contact the landfill before you transport and deliver, because an authorised landfill can still decline a load and you may need to book a time.
Every Surf Coast Shire transfer station refuses asbestos outright, which covers Anglesea, Winchelsea, Torquay and Lorne. Colac Otway Shire publishes no asbestos disposal option at all, and no commercial receiver serves the Geelong area. So a homeowner in Torquay with two wrapped sheets in the trailer has one legal destination in the region, and it is on the Bellarine. Outside the region, Ballarat Regional Landfill takes asbestos by appointment only, Thursdays between 10am and 12pm, on 03 5342 8540.
For context, other Victorian councils, not Geelong, publish asbestos gate fees between $100 and $376 per tonne. That is nearly a fourfold spread across three shires, which is why a single Victorian disposal figure would mislead. Our asbestos disposal page and asbestos disposal in the Barwon region set out the wrapping and transport rules.
If your fence is already broken and sitting in the yard, that is common and fixable. Call now on 0480 XXX XXX, or send photos through the contact form, and we will put you in touch with a licensed removalist for a quote.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if my fence is asbestos without testing it?
You do not, and neither does anyone else. Age narrows it down, since asbestos cement was used from the mid 1940s until the late 1980s and all forms were banned from 31 December 2003, but modern fibre cement looks much the same. A sample analysed by a NATA accredited laboratory is the only answer that holds up, and published Victorian rates are $88 to $160 per sample.
Is it illegal for me to remove my own asbestos fence?
Not automatically, and the popular version of this rule is wrong. The 10 square metre and one hour in seven days caps in regulation 250 bind employers and self employed persons at workplaces, and WorkSafe’s compliance code says the regulations do not apply to a person working at their own home, because a home is not a workplace. WorkSafe still recommends following the same code, and the caps become law as soon as a tradesperson, tenant, rental property or paid helper is involved. A whole fence line is far past both figures anyway.
What does an asbestos fence cost to remove in Geelong?
Nobody publishes Geelong specific pricing. Published Victorian whole fence removal runs $1,000 to $3,500, per sheet rates run $20 to $50, and most quotes carry a minimum job charge of $800 to $1,500 that swallows small jobs. Those are Melbourne metro benchmarks, GST treatment varies between providers, and only a licensed removalist who has seen the fence can give you a real number.
Can I take the sheets to my local tip?
Only if that tip is authorised to receive asbestos, and in the Barwon region exactly one is: Drysdale Landfill, on (03) 5251 2935, for small domestic quantities up to a six by four trailer. Every Surf Coast Shire transfer station refuses asbestos, and Colac Otway publishes no option. Ring the landfill before you load the trailer, because an authorised site can still turn a load away or ask you to book a time.