Asbestos

Chances are, if you live in a home built before 1990, it will contain some asbestos. Some homes have more than others. Asbestos was widely used in the manufacture of building materials for wall linings, soffits (eaves), roofing, pipes, and insulation for decades leading up to the early 80's when it began to be outlawed. Most of us have been living around asbestos for a long time.

Asbestos can be harmful, but like many harmful things only if it is handled incorrectly. Most people would not be overly concerned about asbestos contained in their home, and rightly so because if it is in good condition there is no need to worry. Most people would not even know if their house actually did contain asbestos or not.

It’s a good idea to know if your home does contain asbestos, because you can then assess if there is any risk posed by it. For example you might find that the wall sheeting in your house was made from an asbestos containing product (found in older types of Fibro). You may find that some of the wall sheets are cracked, broken or deteriorating. If that is the case you might want to consider having those particular sheets replaced, because there could be some risk of fibres contained within the damaged fibro escaping into the atmosphere and that's where it can pose some risk, albeit in most cases very minor risk. Undamaged, painted (or otherwise sealed) asbestos sheeting in good condition left undisturbed poses negligible risk if any at all.

There are National Codes of Practice that deal with the use, removal and disposal of asbestos containing products, and most states in Australia have legislation that requires people to abide by them although those codes generally relate to workplaces rather than domestic housing situations.

It is important to remember that the process of removing it can be risky in itself, and for that reason there is no legislated mandatory requirement to remove asbestos from homes that currently contain it. It makes more sense to leave it right where it is providing it’s regularly checked and maintained in good condition.

Some local councils make it a condition of approval for renovation or relocation projects that all asbestos be identified, removed and disposed off regardless of its condition or whether it is to be disturbed or not. Naive council polices like that place unnecessary costs on renovation projects and can make many homes simply not viable for relocation resulting in wasteful demolition, not to mention the unnecessary additional risk posed by removal and disposal of the asbestos itself.

Inappropriate council decisions can be reversed on appeal to a tribunal, but fortunately common sense generally prevails and most local councils around Australia do not require asbestos containing products to be removed during house renovation or relocation, unless it is disturbed in the process.

Links for further information below.

http://www.nsw.gov.au/fibro/faqs.asp

http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/workplace/subjects/asbestos/index.htm

http://www.renovationplanning.com.au/stories/Safe_asbestos_removal-0000000168.html

Council Approvals

Its worth a short discussion about council approvals and how they are relevant or otherwise when relocating a house or building.

Council approval is generally required whenever a building is to be permanently fixed to a site. For portable buildings used for temporary accommodation, or site offices etc, council approval may not be required.

Removal Homes (i.e. used conventional housing being relocated or removed) usually require approval to be removed from the existing site (in addition to approval to place on a new site). The owner of the site is usually responsible to obtain such approval, and its normally the same type of approval required to demolish a house.

The approvals process for putting a used house on a new site is similar to the process used for a new home application, but there is usually a lot of extra information needed by council to assess the application. For this reason it is a good idea to employ a consultant to help you who is familiar with the requirements and thereby avoid delays and problems.

More information about council approvals and the various requirements can be found here http://www.drakehomes.com.au/Page/frequently-asked-questions-about-council-approvals-for-removal-homes-

Why Removal Homes?

For many people the idea of a whole house being recycled is a foreign concept and hard to imagine other than as a demolition project. The fact is houses have been recycled in this way for a very long time (since primitive man came out of caves and decided to built semi permanent accommodation) but still even today is a rarely witnessed event.

Removal and relocation of homes offers significant benefits in environmental terms as well as economical terms. Demolition of homes goes some way to helping the environment because some material is recycled and used again, but an awful lot is wasted too. Demolition is not only wasteful, it costs money which is never fully recovered.

When recycling a home by moving it whole or in sections, nearly everything is recycled. In most cases 95 percent of a home can be recycled by relocating it. The only thing that is not routinely recycled in a house relocation project are the foundations. The beauty is that everything else can be left in situ as it is and be carried to its new location and used again, kitchen sink and all!

Houses are removed and reused because it is often economical to do so. Not all houses have the potential to be economically recycled, however a huge proportion do. Only a very small percentage of homes that are potentially viable to recycle are actually recycled in this way. Many are wasted due to factors such as ignorance, project time constraints and barriers created by naive Government policy.

It is part of a solution to the housing affordability problem. The cost of moving a house and resiting it (for suitable homes) is significantly less than the cost to build a similar home from scratch using new materials. The industry has set a benchmark all by itself for the saleability of used homes for removal, by law of supply and demand and by comparison to the cost of building a new home. In most industries second hand products sell for between a half and two thirds of the cost of a similar new product. A used home for removal will be attractive to a buyer when it can be delivered and sited upon new foundations and connected to services at no more than about 65% of a similar home built new. Many projects are completed for much less than that.

Another benefit is the saving of time. Construction periods are significantly less compared to building new, simply because the house structure already exists with only new foundations and connections required to complete ready to live in. If the house requires complete renovation then construction times can be longer of course, but are rarely as long as a new construction project.

Introduction

This blog is about House Removal in Australia, and it has nothing to do with moving your stuff when you move house. Its about moving or recycling whole houses, the benefits of doing so and other interesting stuff about this unique industry.

We have been involved in this industry for over 40 years and we think we have a lot of useful information we can share with anyone considering a project in House Removal, Recycling or Renovation. So we will be posting our thoughts, advise, tips and other useful information here. Thank you for joining us, we hope you will continue to come back for more.

Our website can be viewed at www.drakehomes.com.au

Author - Guy Drake













Guy is a Builder and House Remover with the family business Drake Homes which for over 40 years has been removing, recycling and relocating homes in Australia.