VIC: Our 1960s strata block has never had an asbestos report

Question: Our 1968 block of units has never had an asbestos report. What if we have asbestos? Will this impact our strata insurance?

Our 1968 block of 10 single story units have never had an asbestos report. We believe the eaves of each unit might be asbestos.

With no common area structures, is the owners corporation responsible? Can they compel unit holders to have a report and remedy any issues? If this is not investigated, does it impact our owners corporation insurance?

Answer: Yes, it will affect your insurance.

If the gutters and/or eaves cross the boundary of each lot/unit, this represents common structure. If this is the case, the owners corporation has a duty of care when enlisting contractors working in this area.

If the gutters/eaves start/finish within each lot owners property, then as you pointed out, there are no common area property structures. If you are correct, this means that any works undertaken within each lot owner’s property and duty of care owed to the contractor enlisted by them are the lot owner’s responsibility.

Have all common property tested (pool change rooms; Telstra pit; mailboxes, etc). If the results come back negative, send an email to all owners pointing out that, while there was no ACM (Asbestos Containing Material) identified, the units are highly likely to contain ACM as they were built before 2003. ACM was used in the construction of buildings up until 1990 and is still used in fixtures and fittings as late as 2003. Therefore, when renovating, each owner should inform the contractor of this and state they must assess the areas they’re working in before commencing any work. Each contractor has a duty of care to their Work Health Safety, as well as that of their staff/employees.

Yes, it will affect your insurance. We are receiving a number of queries from owners/managers with regard to asbestos reports, cladding reports, and safety reports in the case where owners are not doing maintenance when due and looking after their schemes. Therefore putting a greater risk of the increase of claims onto their insurers. Insurers have been smashed in the recent decade by terrorism, flooding, fire, earthquakes, cyclones or combustible cladding claims. Every time there is a natural disaster, premiums increase across the board affecting our own home insurance premiums. Ensuring the common property is in good condition and risk free will assist the OC to get insurance and minimise their premiums.

Peter Berney
Solutions in Engineering
E: peter@solutionsinengineering.com
P: 1300 136 036