Asbestos in Melbourne Pool Interiors
If your pool was built or last resurfaced before the mid-1990s, the interior surface may contain asbestos — and you cannot tell by looking at it.
This matters at one specific moment: renovation. An interior that sits harmlessly under water for decades becomes a risk the moment someone chips, grinds or blasts it to resurface. This guide explains where asbestos is found in pools, what Victorian law requires, and how to have your pool tested before any work starts.
We are a pool renovation business, not a licensed asbestos assessor or removalist. This guide is general information sourced from WorkSafe Victoria and the Victorian asbestos authority. It is not legal advice, and the regulations can change — confirm the current requirements with WorkSafe Victoria before acting.
Where Asbestos Is Found in a Pool
There are two main places, and neither is visible during normal use.
In the marblesheen interior
Marblesheen is a plaster of crushed white marble and white cement, applied over a concrete shell as an interior finish. Until around the mid-1990s, it was commonly manufactured with added asbestos fibre for chemical resistance and to reduce cracking.
It is not visually distinguishable from asbestos-free marblesheen. Age is the only clue you have without testing: a pre-mid-1990s marblesheen interior should be treated as potentially asbestos-containing until proven otherwise.
As cement sheeting around fittings
Asbestos cement sheeting — the same “fibro” used widely in Australian buildings before 1990 — was sometimes used structurally around pools. A common location is as backing or support over the skimmer box, where it sits concealed beneath the coping and tiles and is only exposed when the coping is lifted during a renovation.
This is the one that surprises people, because it is not part of the interior surface at all. It is found by a renovator removing coping who was not expecting it.
Why It Only Matters During a Renovation
Asbestos is dangerous when its fibres become airborne and are inhaled. Bonded, non-friable asbestos sitting undisturbed — under water, under tiles, under coping — is not releasing fibres.
Renovation is exactly the process that disturbs it. Chipping out an old interior, grinding a surface back for a repaint, water-blasting, cutting coping — every standard preparation method for resurfacing or repainting is a method that can release fibres from asbestos-containing material.
This is why the risk is invisible right up until the moment work begins, and why testing belongs before the quote, not after the job has started.
What Victorian Law Requires
Asbestos removal in Victoria is governed by the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 and enforced by WorkSafe Victoria. The key threshold for a pool owner to understand is this:
An employer or self-employed person may remove non-friable asbestos-containing material without a licence only if both of the following apply:
- the area to be removed does not exceed 10 square metres in total, and
- the total removal time does not exceed one hour in any seven-day period (counted cumulatively across everyone doing the work).
A pool interior exceeds both of these comfortably. There is no realistic scenario in which resurfacing an asbestos-containing pool interior falls under the unlicensed threshold.
That means the removal must be carried out by a licensed asbestos removalist.
The Two Licence Classes
WorkSafe Victoria issues two classes of asbestos removal licence:
| Licence | Can remove |
|---|---|
| Class B | Non-friable asbestos only — material where the fibres are bound in cement or plaster and cannot be crumbled by hand when dry. |
| Class A | All asbestos, friable and non-friable. Friable material can be crumbled to powder by hand when dry and releases fibres far more readily. |
Intact marblesheen and sound asbestos cement sheeting are typically non-friable, which a Class B removalist can handle. But condition changes the classification: material that is badly deteriorated, fire-damaged, or reduced to a friable state by the removal process itself must be handled by a Class A licence holder.
This is a decision for a licensed professional, not a pool renovator, and not you.
Notification and Disposal
A licensed removalist has obligations beyond simply taking the material away:
- Notice to WorkSafe. For non-friable removal of 10 square metres or less, at least 24 hours’ notice before work starts. For anything larger — which includes a pool interior — or for any friable removal, at least five days’ notice.
- Informing neighbours. For domestic removal, occupants of immediately adjacent and nearby premises must be informed before work begins.
- Disposal. Asbestos waste must be disposed of at an EPA-authorised site, contained and transported according to the regulations. It cannot go in a normal skip or landfill.
For friable (Class A) removal, an independent licensed asbestos assessor conducts air monitoring and issues a clearance certificate before the area is reoccupied. For non-friable removal, a clearance certificate is best practice and gives you documented proof the area is safe before your renovation continues.
How to Have Your Pool Tested
Testing is straightforward, inexpensive, and the only way to know.
- Do not take the sample yourself by disturbing the surface. Cutting or scraping an unknown interior is the exact activity the regulations exist to control. A licensed asbestos assessor takes the sample under controlled conditions.
- The sample is analysed by a NATA-accredited laboratory. NATA accreditation is what makes the result legally and technically reliable.
- You receive a written result identifying whether asbestos is present and, if so, the type. This determines whether removal needs a Class A or Class B licence holder.
Have this done before you commission any surface work. A renovation quote on a pre-1990s pool that does not account for a possible positive result is an incomplete quote.
Questions to Ask Any Pool Renovator
If your pool predates the mid-1990s, these questions separate a renovator who understands the risk from one who doesn’t:
- “My pool is from the [decade]. Do you test for asbestos before removing the interior?”
- “If it tests positive, who does the removal — do you hold a licence, or do you engage a licensed removalist?”
- “Does your quote assume a negative test, and what happens to the price if it’s positive?”
A renovator who plans to grind or blast an old interior without testing is proposing to break the law and expose you, themselves and your neighbours to airborne asbestos. If you don’t get a clear answer, that is your answer.
FAQ
How do I know if my pool contains asbestos?
You can’t tell by looking. The clue is age: pools built or resurfaced before the mid-1990s with a marblesheen interior may contain asbestos. The only way to know is a sample tested by a NATA-accredited laboratory.
Is asbestos in my pool dangerous right now?
Bonded asbestos sitting undisturbed under water is not releasing fibres. The risk arises when it is disturbed — chipped, ground, cut or blasted — which is what happens during a renovation. That is when it matters.
Can I remove it myself?
Not from a pool interior. Victorian law only permits unlicensed removal of non-friable asbestos where the area is under 10 square metres and the work takes under one hour in a seven-day period. A pool interior exceeds both. It must be done by a licensed removalist.
What does asbestos removal cost?
It depends on the quantity, the material type, access, containment requirements and licensed disposal. A licensed removalist quotes this separately from the renovation. Testing first tells you whether it’s a cost you face at all.
My renovator says it's fine to just grind it out. Is it?
No. Grinding an asbestos-containing interior releases fibres and, above the unlicensed threshold, is illegal. If a renovator proposes this on a pre-1990s pool without testing, do not proceed with them.
Where do I find a licensed removalist or assessor?
WorkSafe Victoria and the Victorian asbestos authority maintain directories of licensed asbestos removalists and assessors. Start there.
Get a Free Pool Assessment
We’ll inspect the pool, tell you honestly whether it needs a resurface or a retile, and give you a written scope before you commit to anything.