INSIGHT · MATERIALS & COMPLIANCE

Is it engineered stone? Was it already installed?
Two facts, each with a date.

28 September 2026

Safe Work Australia's ban page (read 28 September 2026) says the manufacture, supply, processing and installation of engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs is banned in all Australian jurisdictions from 1 July 2024. Controlled removal, repair, minor modification and disposal of legacy stone remain permitted. The model Code of Practice says a business must notify the regulator first, re-notify on a change or annually, and keep a copy for 5 years. Victoria requires none; the review recorded the Australian Capital Territory's as once-only. Whether a product is engineered stone, and whether a benchtop is legacy, each need a dated record.

Large stone slabs standing upright in a warehouse

Analysed 28 September 2026 · Safe Work Australia engineered stone ban page (no page date shown), Review of the engineered stone prohibition (published 4 December 2025), implementation plan (published 30 January 2026, last updated 15 September 2026), model Code of Practice on respirable crystalline silica (last updated 13 November 2025), SA EPA engineered stone page (last modified 2 July 2024) · all pages read 28 September 2026.

Key takeaways

The ban is a test of form and composition: Safe Work Australia states that to be banned, a product must be in benchtop, panel or slab form and meet all three criteria of the definition: at least 1% crystalline silica as a weight/weight concentration, created by combining natural stone materials with other chemical constituents, and hardened. Eight product types are excluded, including sintered stone and porcelain provided they do not contain resin.
Legacy is a status that turns on installation: Safe Work Australia's ban page describes legacy engineered stone as stone that is already installed, plus uninstalled stock for disposal. The model Code of Practice words it as benchtops, panels and slabs installed prior to 1 July 2024, and uninstalled stock. All jurisdictions except Victoria, Queensland and the ACT also ran transition periods to 31 December 2024 for contracts entered into before 31 December 2023.
The notification is a record with a regulator and a clock: The model Code of Practice states that a notification is current for 12 months, is not required for every new job, must be re-made within 30 calendar days of a change or at the 12-month anniversary, and must be kept for 5 years. It is made to the regulator in each jurisdiction where the work happens, on that regulator's form. Victoria does not require one, and the review (July 2025) recorded the ACT's requirement as once-only.
The published timetable has already moved: In January 2026 the implementation plan said an updated notification form was to be adopted by all jurisdictions by mid-2026. The September 2026 version says that as of August 2026 there continues to be some variation across jurisdictions. Reinstallation amendments moved from the first half of 2026 to some time in 2026. National testing criteria are now expected in 2027.
We would record classification and legacy status as dated facts: A system-design recommendation, not work health and safety advice: store what a product was classified as, on what evidence and as at what date, and store the install date against each job, so the question of whether stone is engineered and whether it is legacy can be answered from the record rather than from memory.

What is banned,
and what the definition turns on.

Safe Work Australia (SWA), the national work health and safety policy body, states that on 1 July 2024 the Commonwealth and all states and territories implemented amendments to the model Work Health and Safety (WHS) Regulations making it an offence for a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) to carry out, or to direct or allow a worker to carry out, work involving the manufacture, supply, processing or installation of engineered stone benchtops, panels or slabs. SWA adds that the implementation of the ban may vary slightly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

Three criteria, all required: For the model WHS Regulations, engineered stone is an artificial product that contains at least 1% crystalline silica as a weight/weight concentration, is created by combining natural stone materials with other chemical constituents (such as water, resins, or pigments), and becomes hardened. The Code of Practice notes that only products that satisfy all three conditions fall under the definition.
Eight exclusions: Engineered stone does not include concrete and cement products; bricks, pavers and similar blocks; ceramic wall and floor tiles; sintered stone provided it does not contain resin; porcelain products provided they do not contain resin; roof tiles; grout, mortar and render; and plasterboard.
Form matters as much as composition: Finished engineered stone products such as garden ornaments, sculptures and kitchen sinks are not banned because they are not benchtops, panels or slabs. SWA states that any work that involves processing engineered stone that is not a benchtop, panel or slab must still be controlled.
The border and the exemption route: From 1 January 2025, engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs became prohibited imports under regulation 5M of the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956. A WHS regulator may exempt a type of engineered stone; the review records that an exemption granted in one jurisdiction is recognised in all jurisdictions except Victoria.

Legacy is a status.
It depends on when the stone went in.

The permitted work all hangs on one word. Safe Work Australia's (SWA) ban page says legacy engineered stone includes any engineered stone benchtop, panel, or slab that is already installed and, for the purposes of disposal, includes stone whether installed or not installed, such as a stockpile. The model Code of Practice, last updated 13 November 2025, puts a date in the same idea: benchtops, panels and slabs installed prior to 1 July 2024, and uninstalled stock.

Whether a particular benchtop counts as legacy in a particular jurisdiction is a question for that jurisdiction's WHS regulator.

A transition window sits between the two dates: The review records that all jurisdictions except Victoria, Queensland and the ACT implemented transition periods between 1 July 2024 and 31 December 2024, during which work was not prohibited provided the contract was entered into before 31 December 2023 and the work was finished by 31 December 2024. The South Australian Environment Protection Authority (SA EPA) states the South Australian version as contracts entered into on or before 31 December 2023, completed by 31 December 2024.
Uninstalled stock has one permitted purpose: The Code states that uninstalled stock may only be processed for the purposes of disposal, and that once any legacy engineered stone is removed, it can only be further processed for the purpose of disposal.
Putting it back counts as installing it: SWA states the prohibition applies to installation, including re-installation even if no processing is required. On whether exemptions exist, SWA's own documents differ: its undated ban page says re-installation exemptions have been granted in all jurisdictions, the model Code of Practice (November 2025) says most jurisdictions, and the review's table (July 2025) listed 8 of 9, with Tasmania having granted none. That table gave South Australia and Western Australia end dates of 30 March 2026, Queensland 12 January 2027 and the Northern Territory 20 December 2027, and the Commonwealth, NSW, Victoria and the ACT no fixed end date. We could not establish the current position in each jurisdiction.

The notification is a record,
not a permission.

Safe Work Australia (SWA) states that a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) proposing to remove, repair, make minor modifications to or dispose of legacy engineered stone must notify the work health and safety (WHS) regulator before doing so and must ensure any processing is controlled. In Victoria, employers are not required to notify. The review (July 2025) records that in the ACT notification is a once-off requirement, without the model re-notification. The model Code of Practice sets out what the notification is.

The model form exists in two versions: the original of 1 July 2024, and a revised form of 1 September 2024 that adds a question on whether the processing is high risk. As at the review, the Commonwealth, NSW, SA and the ACT had adopted the revised form, while Queensland, WA and the NT continued to use the original.

Element	As the model Code of Practice states
When	Before any permitted work is carried out, in each jurisdiction in which the work is carried out. If work was not known to involve engineered stone, as soon as practicable after becoming aware.
What it covers	It is current for a 12-month period and is not required for every new job. It describes the types of work likely to be carried out during the 12 months from the date of notification.
Minimum content	The type of work (repair, minor modification, removal or disposal), a description of the work, and the estimated frequency and duration.
Re-notification	Within 30 calendar days of becoming aware of a change to the information, or of the 12-month anniversary of the most recent notification, unless the work has ceased.
Evidence	The regulator gives an acknowledgement. The PCBU must keep a copy of the notification form for 5 years; best practice is to keep the acknowledgement as evidence of the date the notice was submitted.
More than one business	Where multiple PCBUs have a duty to notify about the same work, they must consult, co-operate and co-ordinate to ensure the regulator is notified.

What the review asked for,
and how the plan's dates moved.

Safe Work Australia (SWA) published its Review of the engineered stone prohibition on 4 December 2025; the report itself is dated July 2025. SWA summarises that the ban is operating as intended, while noting that implementation is still in its early stages. The review made 6 recommendations, 11 findings and 3 areas for further research. SWA's implementation plan was published on 30 January 2026 and last updated on 15 September 2026, and its landing page says it may be updated from time to time.

One plan, one landing page, two versions: January and September 2026. A record that stored "mid-2026" as the date notification forms would align is holding a date the publisher has since replaced with a status. Published dates belong in a record with their source and the version they were read from.

Item from the review	January 2026 plan	September 2026 plan
Finding 6: consistent national notification framework, including the revised form of 1 September 2024	Updated notification form to be adopted by all jurisdictions by mid-2026.	As of August 2026, there continues to be some variation in the implementation of the national notification framework across jurisdictions.
Recommendation 5: amend model regulations 529E and 529F to allow reinstallation of legacy stone	Expected to be finalised in the first half of 2026.	Expected to be finalised and published in 2026.
Recommendation 1: nationally recognised standard testing criteria for whether a product is engineered stone	Work to commence as an immediate priority in 2025-26.	Project commenced; criteria expected to be published in 2027, subject to approval by SWA Members.
Finding 2: practical information to help determine whether a product is permitted	Information anticipated to be published on the SWA website in 2026.	Guidance being developed; subject to approvals, expected to be finalised by the end of 2026.

Why the answer lands in product
and job records.

The review is direct about the practical difficulty. It states that engineered stone and alternative products can be difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish by appearance alone, that there is no explicit requirement in the model work health and safety (WHS) laws to test the constituents of manufactured benchtops, panels and slabs, and that there is no nationally recognised, standard approach to testing. It also states that the WHS requirements for safety data sheets and labelling do not apply to engineered or other manufactured stone, and records stakeholder views that the absence of safety data sheets for benchtops installed before the prohibition added to the challenge. Where appearance cannot settle the question and no standard test yet exists, what remains is the record. Each role in the chain holds a different part of it.

For manufacturers of benchtop, panel and slab products: The customer's question is whether the product meets the three criteria and falls outside the exclusions. The answer a manufacturer can stand behind is a stated composition, the document that states it, that document's version and date, and the product form. The review recommends that upstream duties on manufacturers, importers and suppliers be enforced to ensure accurate and meaningful labelling of constituents present when processing alternative products.
For suppliers and distributors: The Code states that uninstalled stock is legacy engineered stone that may only be processed for disposal. A product master that carries a classification without its evidence and date cannot show why an item was sold, held or sent to disposal.
For cabinetmakers and trades: The notification covers types of work over 12 months, not individual jobs, and the Code's example of a minor modification is drilling a larger hole in a kitchen benchtop for a new mixer tap. The review heard from businesses that ad hoc work makes it difficult to accurately gauge what work will be done in the future, and from one business uncertain whether the duty to notify sat with the contractor or the business that engaged it.
For builders running renovation work: A job that disturbs an existing benchtop starts with a question the builder may not be able to answer from site: what the benchtop is, and when it was installed. Where a builder and a trade both hold a duty to notify about the same work, the Code expects them to co-ordinate so the regulator is notified.

What we would put in a system

Where agents help is narrow. A document intelligence agent can read a product specification, a safety data sheet, a test report or a notification acknowledgement, extract the stated silica content, form, version, dates and regulator, and draft the record, and a person confirms it. No agent decides whether a product is engineered stone, whether a benchtop is legacy, whether work is permitted, or whether an exemption applies. Those are matters for the work health and safety regulator and your advisers.

Field	Why it is load-bearing
Product classification and its basis	The form (benchtop, panel, slab or finished product), the crystalline silica content and resin content as stated, and the source document with its version and date. Without these, a classification is an assertion.
Install date, and contract date where relevant	Legacy status is described by reference to installation, and the transition periods turned on when a contract was entered into and when work was finished.
Notification record	Jurisdiction, regulator, form version, date submitted, acknowledgement, and the types, frequency and duration of work declared. The form version matters because the two versions ask different questions.
Notification clocks	The 12-month anniversary, the 30-day window after a change, and a retention date for the copy. We derive these from the submission date as an operational design choice; they are not a restatement of any jurisdiction's law.
Reinstallation basis	Where a benchtop is removed and put back, the jurisdiction's exemption instrument and its validity dates, since those end dates have differed by jurisdiction.

Questions worth asking
of your own records

For a manufacturer: for each benchtop, panel or slab product, can you produce the document that states its crystalline silica and resin content, with a version and a date?

Safe Work Australia's implementation plan says national testing criteria are expected to be published in 2027, subject to approval. Until then, and after, a classification is only as good as the dated evidence stored with it.

For a supplier or distributor: does your product master say what each stone product was classified as, and as at what date?

The Code treats uninstalled stock as legacy engineered stone that may only be processed for disposal. A field that records the classification without its date and evidence cannot show why stock was sold, held or disposed of.

For a cabinetmaker or trade: when is your notification's 12-month anniversary in each jurisdiction you work in, and where is the copy?

The Code states re-notification is due within 30 calendar days of a change or of the anniversary, unless the work has ceased, and that the copy must be kept for 5 years. Those are dates a calendar can hold only if the submission date was recorded.

For a builder: on a renovation job, who recorded what the existing benchtop is and when it was installed, and who notified the regulator?

The Code expects businesses sharing a duty to notify to co-ordinate. The review heard that some businesses were unsure where that duty sits. A job record that names who notified, and when, answers the question before anyone asks it.

For anyone storing the regulator's timetable: are dates like "mid-2026" stored with the version of the document they came from?

The implementation plan was revised between January and September 2026, and several of its dates became statuses. A date without a source and a read-date cannot be checked against the next version.

What this analysis
does and does not show.

Evidence note

What it shows: What Safe Work Australia publishes about the engineered stone prohibition, the definition and its exclusions, the permitted work with legacy engineered stone, the notification framework as described in the model Code of Practice, the review's recommendations and findings, and how the implementation plan's stated timing changed between its January 2026 and September 2026 versions, as read on 28 September 2026.
Key facts quoted: Ban from 1 July 2024; import prohibition from 1 January 2025; definition of at least 1% crystalline silica (weight/weight) with three criteria and eight exclusions; legacy stone described as already installed, and in the Code as installed prior to 1 July 2024; transition periods to 31 December 2024 for contracts entered into before 31 December 2023; notification current for 12 months, re-notification within 30 calendar days, copy kept for 5 years; review published 4 December 2025 with 6 recommendations, 11 findings and 3 research areas; implementation plan last updated 15 September 2026.

We did not read the model Work Health and Safety (WHS) Regulations or any jurisdiction's regulations directly.
Safe Work Australia is a national policy body, not a regulator. How the ban, the notification and any reinstallation exemption apply depends on each jurisdiction's own laws and regulator.
We could not read SafeWork SA's pages on 28 September 2026 because of an automated access check. South Australian details come from the review and the SA EPA page, and we could not confirm SafeWork SA's current reinstallation exemption or notification form.
The review's jurisdiction tables, including which notification form each jurisdiction used and each reinstallation exemption's end date, are as at its writing in July 2025. The September 2026 plan says variation continues but does not list which jurisdictions use which form.
We make no statement about health risk beyond quoting the regulator, and no statement about whether any product is or is not engineered stone.
Nothing here is work health and safety (WHS) or legal advice, and it does not determine whether any product is prohibited, whether any benchtop is legacy, or whether any work is permitted or exempt.

What to watch next

Safe Work Australia's (SWA) implementation plan, last updated 15 September 2026, publishes the timings below, attributed to it; the review listed the exemption end dates as at July 2025.

During 2026: reinstallation amendments: Amendments to model Work Health and Safety (WHS) Regulations 529E and 529F to allow reinstallation of legacy engineered stone are expected to be finalised and published in 2026. As read on 28 September 2026, we did not find them on SWA's model WHS Regulations page, last updated 5 December 2025.
By the end of 2026: product identification guidance: Practical guidance on identifying whether a product is an engineered stone benchtop, panel or slab is, subject to approvals, expected to be finalised by the end of 2026.
12 January 2027 and 20 December 2027: The end dates the review listed for the Queensland and Northern Territory reinstallation exemptions, as at July 2025. Either may have been varied since; check with the regulator.
2027: testing criteria and evaluation: Nationally recognised standard testing criteria for whether a product is engineered stone are expected to be published in 2027, subject to approval by SWA Members. An interim evaluation of the Silica National Strategic Plan 2024-2030 is proposed in 2027.

Bring us one product sheet
and one renovation job.

Send us the specification for a stone product you make, supply or install, and one job that touched an existing benchtop. We will show you which of the dated facts above your records can already produce, and which would have to be reconstructed.

General information about published national guidance and review documents, not work health and safety, legal or compliance advice. Nothing here determines whether any product is engineered stone, whether any benchtop is legacy, or whether any work is permitted, notifiable or exempt. Requirements differ by jurisdiction and Victoria does not require notification. Statements are as read on 28 September 2026 from the sources listed.

Send us the records · Materials & Labour

Sources

Suggested citation: Cyberate research team, "Is it engineered stone? Was it already installed? Two facts, each with a date", Cyberate Technologies, 28 September 2026. Derived: the notification clock fields in the system table are an operational design proposal calculated from a submission date (anniversary = submission date plus 12 months; retention date = submission date plus 5 years), not published figures.

Is it engineered stone? Was it already installed? Two facts, each with a date.