Asbestos Roofing Rules: What You Can and Cannot Buy or Sell in Australia

Asbestos cement roofing, known on site as fibro, super six or AC sheet, was used on Australian homes and sheds from the 1940s until it was phased out through the 1980s, and any sheet, ridge cap or offcut from that era cannot legally be listed, sold or given away on this marketplace or anywhere else outside a licensed disposal channel. This is not a house rule dressed up as caution. It is the law in every state, and it exists because disturbing asbestos cement releases fibres that cause mesothelioma decades after a single exposure.

Why it cannot be listed here

Every roofing listing on this site is checked against this rule, and a listing that appears to be asbestos will be removed. The reason is simple: selling or giving away asbestos-containing material outside a licensed process is illegal under state work health and safety and environment protection legislation, and a private sale does not exempt either party. A buyer taking home "a few sheets of old fibro for the shed" is taking on a genuine, invisible health risk, and a seller who lists it is exposing themselves to fines that run into the tens of thousands of dollars. If you have removed roofing material during a renovation, the material goes to a licensed asbestos disposal facility, not to a classifieds listing.

How to tell if a roof is asbestos

There is no way to be certain by sight alone, but the strongest indicator is age and profile. If a house or shed was built, or the roof was replaced, before 1990, treat corrugated cement sheeting as asbestos until proven otherwise. Genuine asbestos cement sheet is typically a flat corrugated profile, noticeably heavier than modern metal roofing sheeting, with a slightly chalky, matte grey surface that often shows a fine crazing pattern with age. Ridge capping, eave linings and flat "villaboard" sheeting from the same era carry the same risk. The only reliable answer is a sample tested by an accredited laboratory, arranged through a licensed asbestos assessor, not a guess based on how it looks in a photo.

What removal actually costs and who can do it

Removing more than 10 square metres of bonded asbestos cement sheet (the common threshold in most states, though some set it lower) legally requires a licensed asbestos removalist, not a general roofer, and the job includes decontamination, sealed disposal bags, air monitoring in some cases, and a clearance certificate before the site is handed back. Budget realistically: removal and disposal of an average single-storey roof commonly runs from 4,000 to 12,000 dollars depending on state, roof area and access, well before any new roofing goes on. This is one of the biggest single cost variables in a re-roof, and any licensed roofer quoting a re-roof over an older home should be asked directly whether the existing roof has been tested.

What you can list instead

None of this affects the genuine second-hand and surplus market this site exists to serve. Reclaimed terracotta and concrete tiles, salvaged COLORBOND and ZINCALUME sheet from a post-1990 re-roof, ridge capping, guttering, flashings and fixings are all legitimate stock, and the second-hand and surplus tiles category exists specifically because matching a discontinued tile profile for a repair is a real, everyday problem this marketplace solves. If you are unsure whether material from a demolition or renovation is safe to sell, get it assessed before you list it. When in doubt, leave it out.

It is not just the roof sheets

Asbestos cement was used well beyond the visible roof sheeting on pre-1990 homes: eave linings, flat villaboard fascia and soffit sheeting, old flue pipes and even some older guttering backing boards can carry it. A renovation that only tests the roof sheet and assumes the rest of the roofline is clear is testing the wrong thing. If a licensed assessor is already on site for a re-roof, it costs little extra to have them check the eaves, fascia and any flat sheeting in the roof space at the same time, rather than discovering a second problem partway through the job.

State-by-state disposal rules differ

Every state and territory regulates asbestos disposal a little differently, from the threshold at which a licence is mandatory, through to which tips accept asbestos waste and how it must be double-bagged and labelled for transport. A licensed removalist handles all of this as part of the job, but if you are a smaller-scale DIY renovator dealing with a very small, already-legal quantity (some states allow limited amounts of already-removed bonded asbestos to go to a licensed facility without a removalist, others do not), check your state EPA or WorkSafe guidance directly before you move anything. Do not rely on general advice from an interstate forum post; the rules and thresholds are genuinely different state to state.

If you think you have found asbestos already listed

Report it. A listing that looks like asbestos cement roofing gets pulled as soon as it is flagged, and repeated attempts to list prohibited material will see the seller account suspended. This is one of the few areas on the site with zero tolerance, because the downside of getting it wrong is not a bad transaction, it is a health outcome that shows up twenty or thirty years later.

The safe way to handle an old roof

If you are planning a re-roof on a pre-1990 home, get an asbestos assessment before you get a roofing quote, not after. A licensed assessor can usually turn a sample around within a few business days, and knowing the answer upfront means every roofer quoting the job is pricing the same scope of work. For the installation and licensing side of the job once the old roof is safely off, treat it as a separate, sequential job from the removal, because very few businesses are licensed to do both. See the full detail on inspecting and pricing second-hand material safely in our listing rules and safety guide, and when your project is done, list any genuine surplus material for the next person patching a repair.