Home owners in the ACT concerned they could be living in a Mr Fluffy house will be able to confirm whether their residence was part of the loose-fill asbestos removal program.
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The ACT Planning and Land Authority has begun a new building file search process where residents can lodge a form online to discover whether they live in a Mr Fluffy home.
Many Canberrans have been worried their properties could have been part of the program following The Canberra Times revealing the true spread of the toxic legacy last month.
Mr Fluffy houses were spread across 70 suburbs in the territory at the time the survey for the loose-fill asbestos program was carried out, including hot spots in Kambah, Pearce and Curtin.
An ACT asbestos taskforce has been working on measures to make identification of Mr Fluffy houses easier since it was established last month.
Taskforce head Andrew Kefford said this included the new loose-fill asbestos building file search, which became available for home owners on Friday.
The form, which can be found on the ACTPLA website, will tell applicants whether their home was not part of the program or was part of the program and likely still contained the insulation, or was part of the program but had since been demolished and replaced.
It says the loose-fill asbestos program was undertaken between 1988 and 1993 and aimed to remove all visible and accessible asbestos insulation from properties.
“It did not remove all asbestos insulation or other forms of asbestos … loose-fill asbestos insulation remains in affected properties and additional precautions and legal obligations apply,” the form says.
The form also carries a disclaimer that it could not guarantee accuracy of the information in the report and urges people to get an asbestos assessment.
Renters must have the permission of their landlords to apply for the search.
Mr Kefford said the Environmental and Planning Directorate would also add two letters to the building file of each affected home – the reminder letter posted in February to the homes and the letter he has sent out this week.
The wording has also been changed on lease conveyancing inquiry reports, required for the sale of a house, to “explicitly identify homes affected by Mr Fluffy loose-fill asbestos insulation”.
The loose-fill asbestos search form also includes a link to register with the taskforce.
As of late Friday, about 800 people had registered and about 700 of these were home owners.
The taskforce has sent out a second newsletter to those who have registered.
Earlier this week, estate agents called for the list of Mr Fluffy homes to be given to the Real Estate Institute of the ACT for cross-checking homes they suspected could contain the residual asbestos. Agents have also suggested adding an asbestos-assessment report as a fifth mandatory document during the sale of a home.