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If you've ever had a demolition or refurbishment project stall because an asbestos survey missed something, you already know the problem: not every asbestos survey actually tells you what's in the building.
Under Australian work health and safety law, any structure built or renovated before 2004 needs an asbestos assessment before demolition or major works. But "asbestos survey" doesn't mean one standard thing. Some consultants physically test every suspect material. Others presume. They look at a material, decide it's "probably" asbestos or "probably" not, and write that into the report without ever taking a sample.
The cost of presuming
A presumed result isn't a finding. It's a guess with a stamp on it. If a demolition crew is working off a report full of "presumed asbestos containing," they either treat everything on site as hazardous (blowing out the budget and timeline with unnecessary removal and disposal costs) or a corner gets cut and something gets missed. Either way, the project pays for it later, through delays, disputes, or a much more serious problem if friable asbestos is disturbed without controls.
The gap usually shows up at the worst possible time: partway through demolition, when a material nobody tested turns out to be asbestos, and the whole site stops while someone scrambles to get it assessed properly.
Why we sample everything
At BBN, we physically sample every suspect material we identify, rather than presuming. It takes a bit longer up front, but it means the report you get is a document you can actually act on, not one that hedges its bets and leaves you carrying the risk. For contractors and developers running to a program, that certainty is worth more than the time saved by skipping the lab work.
It also matters more than it used to. Materials containing asbestos turn up in buildings built well into the 1990s, and renovation and demolition activity across South East Queensland and nationally has been steadily increasing exposure risk, not decreasing it, as some assume once "the older stuff" has been cleared out.
What to check before you engage a consultant
Before you commission a survey, it's worth asking directly: will every suspect material be sampled, or will some findings be presumed? Ask what turnaround time looks like, and whether the same firm can support you through remediation and clearance, not just the initial report. A survey that ends at "here's what we found" leaves you to find your own way through removal, validation and final approval. A report should be the start of that process, not the end of it.
The takeaway
A cheap or fast asbestos survey that relies on presumption isn't actually cheap or fast if it causes a stoppage six weeks into demolition. Physical sampling costs a little more time at the front end and saves considerably more at the back end.
Talk to the BBN team about your next project. We'll tell you straight what a proper survey involves and what it'll cost to do it right.
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