Asbestos Inspection & Testing

By far the most common is asbestos cement roof sheeting — the corrugated or "big six" profile fitted to houses, outbuildings, garages and carports across the country for decades. The same cement product turns up as ridging, gutters, downpipes, eaves boards and fascias.

Inside, it appears in older ceiling and partition boards, in the cores of some fire doors, in flue and vent pipes, in lagging around older geysers and pipework, and in vinyl floor tiles together with the black bitumen adhesive they were bedded in. The adhesive is regularly overlooked when floors are lifted during a renovation.

South Africa mined and used asbestos extensively, including crocidolite from the Northern Cape, so a wider range of types appears in older local building stock than in many other countries. A visual identification is an educated guess; only laboratory analysis confirms it.

This is the point most often lost. Asbestos cement sheeting that is intact, painted and weathering normally binds its fibres in a cement matrix and releases very little. Removing it unnecessarily costs a great deal of money and, done badly, creates the exposure it was meant to prevent.

What changes the assessment is deterioration and disturbance. Sheeting that is cracked, delaminating, heavily weathered, or shedding surface material is a different proposition, as is any material that will be drilled, cut, sanded or demolished.

One specific warning worth repeating: never high-pressure clean an asbestos cement roof. It is a common practice before selling a property, and it strips the weathered surface layer straight into the air, the gutters and the surrounding soil. It is also the single most likely way a South African homeowner will create a serious exposure event on their own property.

This is one of the most searched and least accurately answered questions in the South African market, so it is worth being precise. There is no statutory asbestos certificate required to transfer a property. Electrical, gas, electric fence and, in the City of Cape Town, plumbing compliance certificates are legislated requirements on transfer. Asbestos is not among them.

What does happen is that a bank, a bond originator, an insurer or a conveyancer may require a report on the asbestos present, its condition, and whether it needs attention — usually when a property has an asbestos cement roof, or when the valuer has flagged it. Some insurers also apply conditions to cover on asbestos roofs.

So the honest answer to "I need an asbestos certificate for my bond" is that what you almost certainly need is an asbestos survey report from a competent inspector, with laboratory confirmation attached. Ask the requesting party what exactly they want to see before you buy anything, because the requirement varies between institutions and no single standard document exists.

Asbestos removal in South Africa is regulated under the Asbestos Abatement Regulations, 2020, made under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Removal work must be carried out by an asbestos contractor registered with the Department of Employment and Labour, working to a written asbestos work plan notified to the Department in advance.

Waste must go to a licensed hazardous waste disposal site, and you should receive a safe disposal certificate. Keep it — it is the document that proves the work was done lawfully, and it is what a future buyer, bank or insurer will ask for.

Do not accept a quote from a general roofing contractor to "take the old sheets off" as part of a re-roof. It is unlawful, uninsured, and it leaves you holding the liability for contaminated soil on your own property.