Asbestos Removal Licensing in the Northern Territory for Residential Builders

What it is

The Northern Territory is a harmonised jurisdiction. Asbestos work is governed by Chapter 8 of the Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Regulations 2011, made under the Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2011 (NT). NT WorkSafe is the regulator and the licensing authority.

The NT adopted the model regulations with the numbering intact, so a builder who knows the Queensland or Tasmanian scheme is on familiar ground. Asbestos removal licences and asbestos assessor licences granted under a corresponding WHS law can be used in the Northern Territory, which matters for the many contractors who fly crews in from interstate.

Asbestos removal licences in the NT are held by the business, not the worker. Licences run for five years.

Class A and Class B licences

Regulation 485 requires a Class A asbestos removal licence to remove any amount of friable asbestos and any asbestos contaminated dust or debris. Friable material is a powder, or can be crumbled or reduced to powder by hand pressure when dry.

Regulation 487 requires a Class B licence to remove more than 10 square metres of non-friable asbestos or asbestos containing material, plus the dust and debris associated with that removal. Bonded asbestos cement cladding, roof sheeting and eaves lining on the Territory housing stock built before 1990 is non-friable until someone puts a grinder through it.

A Class A licence covers Class B work. A Class B licence never covers friable work. Class A removal must be directly supervised by a nominated supervisor with at least three years of industry experience holding CPCCDE3015 Remove friable asbestos and CPCCDE4008 Supervise asbestos removal. Class A applicants must also hold a safety management system audited to AS 4801:2001 or an equivalent system determined by the regulator. Class B supervisors need one year of experience and CPCCDE3014 Remove non-friable asbestos.

When no licence is required

A licence is not required to remove 10 square metres or less of non-friable asbestos. That is the whole exemption, and NT WorkSafe is explicit that unlicensed removal still has to be done with safe work procedures from the code of practice.

The threshold measures the cumulative area of bonded material coming off that workplace. Splitting a strip-out across days, crews or invoices does not reset it. A builder is a PCBU, the removal is in the conduct of a business, and the general duty applies at one square metre just as it does at one hundred.

Notification, air monitoring and clearance

A licensed asbestos removalist must notify NT WorkSafe in writing at least 5 days before licensed asbestos removal work starts. Five days notice is not required where there is a sudden and unexpected event that may expose people to asbestos fibres, in which case removal can begin immediately.

Under the regulations an independent licensed asbestos assessor is required for three functions on Class A work: air monitoring, the clearance inspection and issuing the clearance certificate. Regulation 473 sets the clearance inspection duty, with an independent licensed asbestos assessor for Class A work and an independent competent person in any other case. The maximum penalty is $6,000 for an individual and $30,000 for a body corporate. Regulation 474 requires the written clearance certificate before the area is re-occupied.

Register, management plan and worker training

Regulation 425 requires the person with management or control of a workplace to prepare and keep an asbestos register. It applies to buildings whenever constructed, with one carve-out: a building constructed after 31 December 2003 where no asbestos has been identified and none is likely to be present. The maximum penalty is $3,600 for an individual and $18,000 for a body corporate. Regulation 429 adds the asbestos management plan.

A private dwelling is not a workplace, so there is no standing register for a single house. Unit block common property, Territory Housing stock and any commercial premises are caught.

Regulation 445 requires a PCBU to train workers it reasonably believes may be involved in asbestos removal or asbestos related work in identifying, safely handling and controlling asbestos. Training records must be kept while the worker is doing the work and for 5 years after the worker stops.

What good looks like on a Territory job

• Independent asbestos survey before any pre-1990 renovation, cyclone repair or demolition
• Class B licensee engaged once bonded sheeting passes 10 square metres
• Class A licensee for any friable material, including fire damaged or weather damaged sheet
• NT WorkSafe notification lodged in writing 5 days out
• Independent licensed assessor booked for air monitoring and clearance on Class A work
• Disposal receipts from an approved facility kept on the job file