Think Before Renovating These Holidays

At Ace, we’ve observed that the popularity of home reno shows has seen renovations spike in recent years and owners in older apartment blocks must go about DIY work the right way to avoid the health risks warned by the Bernie Benton Foundation.

The foundation estimates that 60,000 Australians will have been killed by asbestos-related diseases by 2030, and has warned that renovations pose the biggest risk to a third outbreak of the disease.

In the wake of these concerns, it is of critical importance that owners must assess the risks of asbestos disease before renovating their property, ahead of what could be a very active DIY period.

There’s a right and a wrong way to go about renovating in a strata scheme, and especially in the wake of these health concerns, owners must take the necessary steps to get approval and assess the potential risk of asbestos.

In regions all around the country there are thousands of apartment blocks built decades ago which could pose an asbestos risk, and it’s important owners don’t get ahead of themselves with DIY plans, and go about the process the right way.

We’re aware of a Federal Government agency which has reported that asbestos exposure has increased by 13 per cent since last year, and experts are predicting this figure to grow as more people gain the option to renovate their apartments.

We want residents and owners to be able to make the changes they want to their homes or properties, but we must ensure that this is done safely and without disturbing the surrounding community.

Living in an apartment or unit means sharing walls, ceilings and floors with your neighbours, so carrying out potentially harmful work could have huge unintended consequences.