Asbestos Removal

Guildford

Hazardous Removal Company provides licensed asbestos testing, removal and disposal throughout Guildford and the surrounding Western Sydney suburbs. Guildford sits 27 kilometres west of the Sydney CBD in the Cumberland City Council area, and it is one of the suburbs where we are called out most often, for a reason that is not an accident of history.

Cumberland Council has described its own area as making up a large part of Western Sydney’s fibro belt. That is not marketing language, it is the Mayor’s own description, and it is the single most useful thing a Guildford property owner can know about their house.

Why Guildford has so much asbestos

Guildford railway station opened in April 1876 and a new settlement grew up around it, with the older village to the south becoming Old Guildford. The suburb filled out through the decades when asbestos cement was the default cladding material for Western Sydney housing.

The NSW Government puts it plainly: between 1940 and 1990 asbestos was a popular construction material for Australian homes, and an estimated one in three NSW houses constructed or renovated between 1945 and 1990 contains asbestos. Manufacture of asbestos cement building products wound down through the mid to late 1980s, and the total national ban on manufacture, supply, use, import and sale did not take effect until 31 December 2003.

Cumberland Council’s own eligibility test for its free asbestos inspections is a useful rule of thumb: the home must be in mostly original condition and built before 1990.

Guildford is a rental suburb, and that changes the obligations

This is the part that catches people out here. At the 2021 Census, 47.2% of Guildford dwellings were rented, against 21.0% owned outright. Guildford has 8,384 private dwellings and a median resident age of 31.

If you own or manage a rental property in Guildford, asbestos is not just a renovation issue. Routine maintenance, a tradesperson drilling a wall, replacing a damaged eave, or a tenant putting up a shed can all disturb bonded asbestos in a house of this era. We work regularly with Guildford landlords and managing agents on testing before works, removal, and clearance documentation to keep on the right side of that obligation.

Cumberland Council will collect small amounts of asbestos for free

Most Sydney councils do not offer this, and a lot of Guildford residents do not know it exists.

Cumberland Council runs a free Asbestos Removal Service for small quantities of loose, non-friable asbestos that is already separated from a building and is not associated with recent renovation or repair work. The service will not collect more than 10 square metres. Bookings are on 8757 9000.

The limits matter. It does not cover asbestos still attached to your house, it does not cover the offcuts from a renovation you have just done, and it stops at 10 square metres. Beyond that, Council directs residents to the EPA’s licensed facility list, and removal of more than 10 square metres of bonded asbestos, or any friable asbestos at all, must be done by a licensed removalist.

Asbestos can never go in your kerbside bins, a skip bin, a Council household clean-up, or out on the roadside. That applies without exception.

Getting asbestos out of Guildford is harder than it looks

The nearest EPA listed facilities accepting household asbestos are Wetherill Park Resource Recovery Facility on Davis Road, Horsley Park Waste Management Facility on Wallgrove Road, and Bingo Eastern Creek Landfill on Kangaroo Avenue.

One practical catch worth knowing before you load a trailer: Wetherill Park accepts self-tipping vehicles only. No hand unloading, and card payment only. That single condition is why a lot of Guildford homeowners who intended to do it themselves end up calling a removalist anyway. Most facilities also want a booking at least 24 hours ahead, and none of them guarantee acceptance if the load is not wrapped correctly.

Where asbestos turns up in Guildford homes

The NSW Government’s own list covers what we find here: roofing, ceilings and internal walls, eaves, fencing, flue and water pipes, fireplaces, sheeting behind tiles, and flooring underlay. Outside the house it appears in old fences, garden bed edging, moulded pots, and sometimes buried in the soil itself.

Corrugated “super six” roofing, exterior fibro cladding and internal fibro sheeting are the common non-friable materials. Friable material, which is far more dangerous and always requires a Class A licensed removalist, includes insulation under roofs or around pipes, material under floor tiles and vinyl, and any bonded asbestos that has been damaged by fire.

What the law requires in New South Wales

The 10 square metre rule. A licence is not required to remove non-friable asbestos where the total area does not exceed 10 square metres. Conditions still apply: you must follow the Code of Practice, inform anyone working with you of the health risks, and provide asbestos awareness training. SafeWork NSW’s own position is that it always recommends engaging a licensed removalist for any amount of asbestos.

Licence classes. A Class B licence covers non-friable asbestos above 10 square metres. A Class A licence covers friable asbestos in any amount, as well as non-friable.

Clearance certificates. A clearance inspection is required at the completion of all licensed removal work, before reoccupation. Friable work requires a certificate from an independent licensed asbestos assessor. Non-friable work allows a competent person or an assessor. Either way, the inspector must be independent of the removal work itself.

Areas we service around Guildford

We cover Guildford West and South Granville, both in the Cumberland Council area, along with Merrylands, Merrylands West, Woodpark, Yennora, Old Guildford and Chester Hill. Worth noting that Old Guildford shares the 2161 postcode but sits in the City of Fairfield, and Chester Hill and Yennora straddle council boundaries, so tell us the address and we will confirm which council rules apply to your job.

Frequently asked questions

Is Cumberland Council’s free asbestos collection right for my job?
Only if the material is already detached from the building, is non-friable, is not the result of recent renovation work, and totals under 10 square metres. If any of those do not apply, it needs a licensed removalist.

My Guildford house is fibro. Does that mean it definitely has asbestos?
Not automatically, because modern fibre cement looks similar, but if the house is in mostly original condition and predates 1990 it is likely. A sample tested at a NATA accredited laboratory is the only way to be certain.

I am a landlord. What do I need before works start?
Know what is there before a trade disturbs it. For a pre-1990 Guildford rental we would normally test first, then advise whether the work needs licensed removal and a clearance certificate.

Can I take a trailer load to Wetherill Park myself?
Only if your vehicle self-tips. That facility does not permit hand unloading and takes card payment only. Ring ahead and book regardless, as most sites need 24 hours notice.

What about asbestos buried in the backyard?
It is more common in older Western Sydney properties than people expect, particularly along fence lines and under garden beds. Soil contamination is assessed and handled differently to sheeting, so tell us if you have turned any up.

Do you work on commercial and industrial premises in Guildford?
Yes. The industrial areas along Guildford Road, Ferndell Street and Cann Street contain plenty of pre-2004 buildings, and any workplace built before 31 December 2003 needs an asbestos register.