Can you repair or reinstall existing engineered stone in Queensland?

Queensland's ban on manufacturing, supplying, processing and installing engineered-stone benchtops, panels and slabs has applied since 1 July 2024, but limited work on products already installed before the ban can be permitted. A business that proposes to repair, make a minor modification to, remove or dispose of such legacy stone must apply the strict silica controls and notify Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) before the permitted processing work. WHSQ also publishes a narrow, time-limited exemption for reinstalling a previously installed product temporarily removed so other work can be done at the premises. Read WHSQ's current engineered-stone guidance and the present regulation before deciding the job is allowed.

This is a Queensland legacy-work and notification guide. A pre-ban installation may remain in place; its mere presence does not require removal. The permission to perform certain repairs or removal is not a revival of the old engineered-stone fabrication business. Queensland did not adopt a transition period for continuing new supply or installation after the ban. Nor should a contractor assume that every engineered-looking benchtop falls within the legal definition: classify the product against the current definition and seek competent evidence where uncertain.

What is covered by the ban?

WHSQ says the prohibited engineered-stone benchtop, panel or slab is an artificial product that contains at least 1% crystalline silica by weight, is made by combining natural stone materials with constituents such as resin, water or pigment, and becomes hardened. The classification involves all parts of the definition. The regulator's explanation distinguishes porcelain, sintered stone, concrete and several other materials, but those alternatives can still create hazardous respirable crystalline silica or other dust when processed. “Not banned as engineered stone” does not mean “safe to dry cut”.

For a renovation, obtain product details from the owner, installer, original invoice or manufacturer if available. If the material remains uncertain, arrange suitable identification before planning cutting or drilling. Treat any suspected silica-generating work cautiously and avoid exposing workers while determining the facts. An installer who selects the wrong notification category because they assumed the product was natural stone may need to notify WHSQ as soon as practicable after becoming aware that it was engineered stone; that is not an excuse for poor initial checking.

Which legacy tasks can be permitted?

WHSQ describes limited exceptions for processing legacy engineered stone: genuine research and analysis; sampling to identify it; removal, repair or minor modification of stone already installed; and disposal, whether installed or not. Its guidance gives examples such as enlarging a mixer-tap hole, repairing a crack, or cutting an installed benchtop into safe sizes for disposal. The scope must stay within the permitted task. A large redesign, creation of a new benchtop from recovered material or repurposing crushed stone is not made lawful by calling it a repair.

“Installed before 1 July 2024” is a key factual boundary for the legacy exception. Keep evidence of the original installation where reasonably available. If a job requires removing a panel to do plumbing or cabinetry, check the distinct temporary reinstallation exemption below before promising the customer it can be put back. A contractor should write the planned work method before it starts; if the scope expands, pause and re-evaluate both prohibition and notification.

Example: replacing a tap in an existing kitchen

A plumber needs a slightly larger opening in a pre-ban engineered-stone top for a new mixer. WHSQ lists a minor modification of an installed top as a potential permitted legacy task. The business should identify the product, assess the work and silica exposure, notify WHSQ before the processing, plan effective wet or on-tool extraction and suitable respiratory protection, and keep dust away from occupants. “Only one hole” is not a reason to dry-drill with no control or skip the regulator notification.

Notify WHSQ before permitted processing

WHSQ says a PCBU must notify the Queensland regulator before initiating, directing or allowing permitted work that involves processing legacy engineered stone. Its notification service links the current online form. The regulator's detailed guidance says the notice describes the type of work—repair, minor modification, removal or disposal—along with the work description and estimated frequency and duration. It concerns Queensland work; a job in another state goes to that state's regulator.

The notice is about the business's proposed work pattern, not merely an incident log created afterwards. Store the submitted version and date, scope, person submitting and confirmation. WHSQ says a business must re-notify within 30 calendar days if the previously provided information changes, describing the change. It must also re-notify after 12 months if it intends to continue the permitted work. If it stops doing legacy-stone work, the regulator page says a re-notification is not required just to state that fact. Check the current form and wording before relying on this schedule.

If the material was unexpectedly identified after processing began, WHSQ says to notify as soon as practicable after becoming aware. Stop unsafe dust-generating work, contain exposure and investigate what occurred; the late-discovery route is not a substitute for proactive classification on ordinary planned work. If a notifiable incident or exposure event also occurred, consider that separate duty. A legacy-work notification does not fulfil incident notification automatically.

Control the silica exposure even when the work is permitted

WHSQ's engineered-stone page cites regulation section 529B. Permitted processing must use a combination of suitable respiratory protective equipment and at least one effective dust-control method: a continuous water feed, on-tool extraction or local exhaust ventilation. The control must suit the actual task and work. Simply owning a vacuum is not proof of effective on-tool capture, and ordinary household vacuuming can spread fine dust.

Plan how to protect building occupants, adjacent trades and cleaners. Isolate the area, manage slurry or collected dust safely, avoid dry sweeping, choose appropriate tools and confirm respiratory fit and training. Consider whether high-risk construction work rules and a SWMS are triggered by the particular task and site. The business should assess respirable crystalline silica exposure and health-monitoring duties separately from the notification form. Where there is uncertainty about product composition, exposure or engineering control, use competent occupational-hygiene advice.

Example: removing a damaged top for disposal

A builder must remove a cracked legacy benchtop and cannot take it out in one piece. Disposal processing may be permitted, but the contractor should plan the minimum necessary cutting under effective suppression/extraction and respiratory protection, inform occupants of the work area and arrange an appropriate waste route. The ability to dispose does not permit using the fragments as aggregate or reselling the pieces for another installation. Record the WHSQ notice, control method and disposal evidence.

The temporary reinstallation exemption

WHSQ says its regulator approved an exemption commencing 13 January 2025 for reinstallation of an existing engineered-stone benchtop, panel or slab temporarily removed to enable other work at the same premises. The published exemption explanation says it ends 12 January 2027 unless amended or cancelled earlier. It imposes limits on permissible processing to allow removal, reinstallation or repair of damage associated with that temporary work, requires the section 529B controls if processing is needed, and requires a legacy-work notification where processing occurs.

This is a narrow pathway, not permission to remove a top, store it, sell it and install it at a different property. The pre-existing product must return in the context of the same premises and temporary works contemplated by the exemption. Identify the actual exemption terms and conditions before quoting a customer for reinstalling the top; the web summary is not the whole instrument. If replacement, resizing or reworking goes beyond what the exemption permits, the work may fall back within the ban.

Example: plumbing repair under a temporarily removed top

A Queensland kitchen has a pre-ban top that must be lifted to repair failed plumbing and then returned to its original position. The contractor should confirm the product's history, why removal is temporary, whether processing is unavoidable, how damage will be controlled and whether the exemption's conditions are met. If permitted processing will occur, submit the WHSQ notice and use section 529B controls. Keep the work order, photos before and after, notification, risk assessment and customer explanation. Do not treat the temporary-removal exemption as covering a new slab brought from stock.

Records and commercial handover

The job file should show product identification and original installation, scope classification, why the work is within the legacy exception or reinstallation exemption, WHSQ notification and confirmation, risk assessment, control method, respiratory protection, worker training, exposure and health-monitoring decisions, waste record where relevant and a final site-cleaning/occupant handover. If subcontractors do the stone work, define which PCBU submitted the notice and obtain proof rather than relying on an assurance. The principal contractor and property owner should understand what work is not allowed.

Do not put a medical report in an open job folder. Keep any worker health information under its separate privacy and retention rules. Complys can assist with the non-medical safety records: the verified AU risk-assessment software supports hazards, controls and review actions. The live product page does not establish automatic legal interpretation of the engineered-stone ban, WHSQ notification submission, dust monitoring, medical testing or certification. The PCBU makes the regulatory decision and files directly with WHSQ.

Frequent mistakes

• Assuming the ban requires every installed benchtop to be removed. Intact installed legacy stone can remain.
• Treating a repair exception as a licence to fabricate a new slab. Keep the work within the narrow permitted task.
• Forgetting the WHSQ notification. Permitted processing still has a pre-work notification duty.
• Dry cutting because the modification is small. Use the specified dust-control and respiratory combination.
• Reinstalling at another address under the temporary exemption. Check the same-premises condition and full instrument.
• Letting the 12-month notice lapse. Re-notify if the business continues legacy work.
• Copying a NSW notification number or process. This guide is Queensland-specific.
• Treating a software risk assessment as regulator approval. The product holds evidence; it does not grant the exemption.

Before promising a Queensland legacy-stone job, check WHSQ's current ban and permitted-work guidance, the live notification form and, for temporary reinstallation, the operative exemption instrument and expiry. Use the Complys AU risk-assessment page only to assess whether its current record workflow helps document your controls and actions.

For the related Complys product, see Risk Assessment Software. This guide is general information, not legal advice; verify current requirements against the official sources linked above.