Asbestos registers and management plans: what Queensland workplaces must have

This guide is for facility managers, school leaders, council asset teams and anyone else with “management or control” of a Queensland workplace. It sets out what the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 requires of an asbestos register and management plan, when each must be reviewed, who must be given access, and what triggers removal. Section numbers refer to the Regulation, so you can check each duty yourself.

Who must keep an asbestos register?

The duty sits with the person with management or control of a workplace: usually the owner, the agency or the facility manager responsible for the building (s 425). They must make sure a register is prepared, kept at the workplace and maintained so it stays up to date.

• Which buildings. The register requirement applies to buildings whenever they were built.
• The exception. No register is needed if the building was built after 31 December 1989 and no asbestos has been identified and none is likely to be present (s 425(6)). Asbestos-containing materials were in common use in Queensland buildings before 1990, so most older workplaces need one.
• Domestic premises. Homes are excluded from the register and management plan requirements (s 421(2)). Other asbestos duties still apply when people work there, such as identifying asbestos before demolition or refurbishment.
• One register per workplace. You don't have to prepare a new register if one already exists for the workplace (s 425(4)). You do have to keep it current.

Identifying asbestos first

The register is built on identification. The person with management or control must make sure, so far as reasonably practicable, that all asbestos or asbestos-containing material (ACM) at the workplace is identified by a competent person (s 422). Where material can't be identified but a competent person reasonably believes it is asbestos, it must be assumed to be asbestos. Parts of the workplace that are inaccessible and likely to contain asbestos must also be assumed to contain it.

If samples are taken, they must be analysed by a NATA-accredited laboratory, a laboratory approved by the regulator, or one the regulator operates (s 423). The presence and location of identified asbestos must be clearly indicated, by a label where reasonably practicable (s 424).

What an asbestos register must contain

Under s 425(3), the register must do one of two things:

WorkSafe Queensland's How to manage and control asbestos in the workplace Code of Practice 2021 includes a register template (Appendix D) and a completed example (Appendix E). In practice, a useful register also records whether each item is confirmed by sampling or assumed, whether it is friable or non-friable, and its approximate quantity. That matters because friable material, including low density board, needs a Class A licensed removalist when it comes out.

When the register must be reviewed

The Regulation sets event-based triggers. The register must be reviewed and, if necessary, revised when:

• the asbestos management plan is reviewed (s 426)
• further asbestos or ACM is identified at the workplace (s 426)
• asbestos is removed, disturbed, sealed or enclosed (s 426)
• demolition or refurbishment is to be carried out, revising it if it's inadequate for that work (s 448).

The Code of Practice adds a time-based expectation: the register should be reviewed at least once every five years. During that review, the person with management or control should visually inspect the listed asbestos to check its condition. Old registers and clearance certificates from past removal jobs help confirm what is still there.

Who must be given the register

The register must be readily accessible to (s 427):

• workers who have done, do or will do work at the workplace
• their health and safety representatives
• any business that does, or engages others to do, work at the workplace.

Any business whose work involves a risk of exposure to airborne asbestos must be given a copy. That includes electricians drilling ceilings, plumbers in wall cavities and data cablers.

If you hand over management or control of the workplace, you must pass the register to the new person, so far as reasonably practicable (s 428). Before demolition or refurbishment, you must give the contractor a copy (s 449), and the contractor must get one before starting (s 450).

The asbestos management plan

Wherever asbestos is identified or likely to be present, the person with management or control must also have a written asbestos management plan and keep it up to date (s 429). The register says where the asbestos is. The plan says how it will be managed. Under s 429(4), the plan must include information about:

• Identification. For example, a link to the register, signage and labelling.
• Decisions, and the reasons for them. For example, safe work procedures and control measures.
• Incidents and emergencies. Procedures for dealing with incidents or emergencies involving asbestos.
• Workers. Workers carrying out work involving asbestos, including consultation, responsibilities, information and training.

The plan must be readily accessible to the same people as the register. The Code of Practice recommends keeping it at the workplace.

When the plan must be reviewed

Under s 430, the plan must be reviewed and, as necessary, revised when:

• the register or a control measure is reviewed
• asbestos is removed, disturbed, sealed or enclosed
• the plan is no longer adequate
• a health and safety representative requests a review
• in any case, at least once every five years.

Register vs management plan at a glance

What triggers asbestos removal?

Having asbestos in a building isn't itself a breach. Asbestos in good condition and unlikely to be disturbed can be managed in place. The legal triggers for removal are:

• Demolition. Before a structure at a workplace is demolished, all asbestos likely to be disturbed must be identified and, so far as reasonably practicable, removed (s 452).
• Refurbishment. The same duty applies before refurbishment of a workplace (s 456), and to businesses demolishing or refurbishing domestic premises (ss 453, 457).
• No register. If there's no register for the structure being demolished or refurbished, the work can't start until a competent person has inspected it. If there's doubt, asbestos must be assumed (s 451).
• Exposure. Every business at a workplace must eliminate exposure to airborne asbestos so far as reasonably practicable, and must not exceed the exposure standard (s 420).

The Code of Practice adds practical guidance. Where reasonably practicable, asbestos should be removed before refurbishment, renovation or maintenance rather than enclosed or sealed. It also says weathered, damaged or broken asbestos, or asbestos likely to be disturbed or to deteriorate during planned work, should be removed. Enclosure and sealing are the next preferred controls.

When removal is needed, the licence class follows the material. Friable asbestos needs a Class A licence, and more than 10 m² of non-friable asbestos needs Class A or B. A business that commissions removal must use a removalist licensed for the work (s 458).

Schools: how the Department of Education does it

Queensland state schools follow the Department of Education's Asbestos management procedure (version 5.7, effective 17 July 2026):

• The department's Infrastructure Services Division maintains asbestos registers for departmental facilities known or assumed to contain asbestos.
• Principals must sign a site-specific asbestos management plan by the end of week 4 of Term 1 each year.
• Before maintenance or construction, principals must consult the register, make sure QBuild samples any “assumed” materials before work starts, and issue a work area access permit.
• Identified and assumed ACM is inspected at least every five years to monitor its condition.

Much of the school asbestos work Burke Industries has delivered for QBuild is low density board removal, often with reinstatement, for example at Lockyer District State High School in Gatton. LDB has been classed as friable in Queensland since May 2021, so it shows up as Class A work in school registers.

A checklist for facility managers and councils

1. Confirm which buildings need a register: anything built before 1990, and anything later where asbestos is identified or likely.
2. Check each register records the date, location, type and condition of every item, with confirmed or assumed status.
3. Make sure a written management plan exists wherever asbestos is present, and diarise its five-yearly review.
4. Re-inspect listed asbestos at least every five years and after any damage, storm or fire.
5. Give a copy of the register to every contractor whose work could disturb asbestos, and to every demolition or refurbishment contractor.
6. Before any refurbishment or demolition, review the register for that scope and arrange removal of anything likely to be disturbed.
7. Keep clearance certificates and removal records with the register.

When your register shows asbestos that needs to come out, our Class A asbestos removal team in Toowoomba can remove friable and non-friable material under one licence.

Frequently asked questions

Get a site assessment against your asbestos register

Send us your asbestos register and the scope of your planned maintenance, refurbishment or demolition. We'll inspect the listed asbestos that the work will disturb and quote its removal, including notification, monitoring and clearance.

Book an asbestos site assessment

Or see our licensed asbestos removal service in Toowoomba.

Sources

1. Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld). (current text, read 6–7 Oct 2026): s 420 (exposure), s 421 (application; domestic premises), s 422 (identification by a competent person; assumption), s 423 (NATA or approved laboratories), s 424 (labelling), s 425 (register; post-31 Dec 1989 exception), s 426 (register review), s 427 (access and copies), s 428 (transfer), s 429 (management plan contents), s 430 (plan review, at least every 5 years), s 445 (training), ss 448–451 (before demolition or refurbishment), ss 452–453 and 456–457 (identify and remove before demolition or refurbishment), s 458 (licensed removalist).
2. WorkSafe Queensland: How to manage and control asbestos in the workplace Code of Practice 2021. (varied 1 Jan 2023): register review at least every five years with a visual inspection; Appendix D and E register templates; remove before refurbishment, renovation or maintenance where reasonably practicable; remove weathered, damaged or broken asbestos or asbestos likely to be disturbed; keep the management plan at the workplace.
3. Queensland Department of Education: Asbestos management procedure, v5.7 (effective 17 Jul 2026). : registers maintained by Infrastructure Services Division; site-specific asbestos management plans signed by week 4 of Term 1; QBuild sampling of “assumed” materials before work; work area access permits; inspections at least every five years.
4. WorkSafe Queensland: asbestos licence classes and registers. Burke is on the Class A register as licence 2302383.
5. ASSEA LDB product guide. : friable in Queensland since May 2021.
6. Queensland open data: Energy and Public Works contract disclosure. : Lockyer District SHS LDB contract.