Safety documents for renovations
Renovations are where small builders get hurt — legally and physically. Old houses have asbestos, the family is still living in them, and the job is small enough that people skip the paperwork. Here is what you actually need: an asbestos plan before you touch anything, a SWMS (Safe Work Method Statement) for any high risk work no matter how small the job, and a way to keep the occupants out of the danger.
Asbestos first, everything else second
Non-friable asbestos — fibro sheeting, eaves, wet-area linings, vinyl floor backing, some roofing — was used in Queensland homes right up to 1990. If the house was built before then, assume it is there until someone qualified tells you otherwise.
The WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) says an asbestos register is not required for a building constructed after 31 December 1989. Flip that around: pre-1990, get it identified. A private home is not a workplace for the owner — but the moment you turn up to work on it, it is your workplace, and you have to manage the risk to your own people.
Before you start a demolition or strip-out, you must identify all asbestos likely to be disturbed and, so far as reasonably practicable, remove it before demolition starts. Where a register exists (commercial or rental buildings, for example), the person who controls the building must give you a copy before you begin.
Who can remove it
- Up to 10 square metres of non-friable asbestos can be removed without a licence. It still has to be done properly — wet down, no power tools, sealed, double-bagged, correct disposal. WHSQ (Workplace Health and Safety Queensland) publishes the safe work procedure.
- More than 10 square metres of non-friable material needs a Class B licensed removalist.
- Any amount of friable asbestos (loose, crumbly, pipe lagging, sprayed insulation) needs a Class A licensed removalist.
- Licensed removal work must be notified to WHSQ at least five days before it starts. The removalist does that on Form 65, but ask to see it.
Disturbing asbestos is high risk construction work. That means a SWMS is required even when you are inside the 10 square metre limit. A bathroom strip-out with fibro walls is asbestos work, full stop.
Small jobs still need a SWMS if the work is high risk
There is no dollar threshold on SWMS. A SWMS is triggered by the type of work, not the size of the contract. The WHS Regulation lists 18 activities. The ones that turn up on renovations every week are:
- Any work with a risk of a person falling more than 2 metres — roof work, upper-floor windows, external cladding off a scaffold.
- Disturbing or likely disturbing asbestos.
- Demolition of anything load-bearing or related to the structural integrity of the building — pulling out a wall to open up a kitchen.
- Shafts or trenches deeper than 1.5 metres — new drainage runs and footings.
- Work on or near energised electrical installations.
- Work in confined spaces — under-floor and ceiling voids can qualify.
A SWMS has to identify the high risk work, list the hazards and risks, describe the controls, and say how the controls are implemented, monitored and reviewed. It must be prepared before the work starts, in consultation with the workers who will do it, and kept on site until that work is finished. If there is a notifiable incident, keep it for at least two years.
A good SWMS for a reno is two or three pages. Twenty pages of generic hazards copied from a mining site gets read by nobody, and an inspector will notice.
Occupied sites
The WHS Act 2011 (Qld) puts a duty on you for the safety of other persons — not just workers. On a renovation that means the family, their kids, their dog, and the neighbour who wanders in. The Act does not say how, so you set your own rules and write them down. Mine are:
- Physically separate the work area — temporary walls, locked doors, fencing. Tape is not a barrier.
- No occupants in the work zone during work hours. Site made safe before you leave each day: no open pits, no exposed wiring.
- Dust control, especially where asbestos or old lead paint is possible. Test before you sand.
- A written site rules sheet handed to the owner, signed, in the file.
Demolition and strip-out
Most reno demolition is not notifiable. But if you are pulling down a structure 6 metres or more high, using load-shifting machinery on a suspended floor, or using explosives, WHSQ must be given written notice at least five days before you start. Structural demolition of any size is high risk construction work and needs a SWMS.
Before the sledgehammer comes out: asbestos identified and dealt with, services isolated and confirmed dead, temporary propping designed for anything load-bearing, and the SWMS signed by everyone swinging a tool.
The renovation document set
- Asbestos identification record — who inspected, what was found, where, and the clearance or removal paperwork.
- SWMS for each high risk activity on the job, signed by the workers.
- Site rules for occupied premises, signed by the owner.
- Induction record — white card sighted and site induction done for every worker and subbie, including the sparky who comes for half a day.
- Incident report forms, blank and ready.
Done once as templates, they take twenty minutes per job. Cheaper than one visit from an inspector after someone has cut into fibro with a grinder.
Sources
- WorkSafe Queensland — Asbestos licences
- WorkSafe Queensland — Asbestos notifications
- Demolition work Code of Practice 2021 (Qld)
- WorkSafe Queensland — Safe work method statements
General information only — not legal advice. Asbestos rules carry serious penalties; if you are unsure, get a licensed assessor in before you start.