The silica rules, in plain English.
Australia banned engineered stone in 2024 and the misinformation has not settled down since. This page sets out what the law actually says, what the phrase “low silica” is really doing, what you can legally put in a Mandurah kitchen in 2026, and the four questions that separate a compliant fabricator from a risky one.
The 1 per cent line.
From 1 July 2024, it became unlawful across Australia to manufacture, supply, process or install engineered stone containing more than 1 per cent crystalline silica. In Western Australia the prohibition lives in the Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations and is enforced by WorkSafe WA, which sits within the state mines and industry regulator. Every state and territory signed up, so there is no border trick and no grey import that makes it fine.
The reason is silicosis. Cutting and polishing high-silica engineered stone throws off respirable crystalline silica, and the dose a benchtop fabricator gets over a career is enough to cause irreversible, sometimes fatal lung disease in people in their thirties. The workplace exposure standard for respirable crystalline silica in Australia is 0.05 mg/m³ averaged over an eight-hour shift, which was halved in 2020, and the industry still could not consistently meet it with the old products. The ban is what happened next.
Worth saying clearly, because it worries people: this is a workplace safety prohibition, not a product recall. The engineered stone benchtop in your kitchen right now is legal to own and entirely safe to prepare food on. Intact stone does not emit anything. The danger only exists when someone cuts it.
“Low silica” usually is not legal.
This is the single most important paragraph on this page. The legal threshold is 1 per cent. A lot of product being pitched as low silica sits around 40 per cent. That is a genuine improvement on the old 90-plus per cent slabs, and it is also roughly forty times over the line. Low silica is a marketing phrase. Compliant is a legal fact. They are not the same thing and the brochure will not tell you the difference.
So when someone offers you low silica engineered stone, ask a single question: what is the crystalline silica content as a number, and can I see the safety data sheet? A compliant product will say under 1 per cent and the SDS will back it. Anything else and you are being asked to accept an illegal install in your own home, done by someone who has decided the rules are optional. If they will cut that corner, think about what else on your kitchen they will cut.
This also explains why some quotes around the Peel look suspiciously cheap. Old stock, non-compliant imports and dry-cutting in a back shed are all cheaper than doing it properly. A low benchtop price in 2026 is a warning, not a win. The honest ranges are on the pricing page and picked apart in the benchtop cost guide.
What you can legally install in 2026.
The choice is narrower than it was in 2023 and still nowhere near restrictive. For a coastal Peel kitchen, several of these are frankly better than what they replaced.
- Porcelain and sintered stone. Naturally very low in crystalline silica, never in scope of the ban. Harder, more heat resistant and UV-stable, which is why we push it for the west-facing kitchens at Halls Head and Dawesville. Runs $900 to $1,300/m² installed.
- Natural granite. Never banned. A proven, hard-wearing benchtop at $700 to $1,100/m². Needs periodic sealing, which engineered stone did not.
- Natural marble. Never banned, $900 to $1,500/m². Beautiful and soft, etches with lemon juice, a lifestyle decision more than a practical one.
- Compliant engineered products. A handful of manufacturers now make genuinely sub-1-per-cent engineered surfaces. Verify the SDS, do not take the label at face value.
- Laminate, solid surface, timber, stainless. Never in scope. Laminate in particular has come a long way and is a sensible call in a rental or a budget refresh.
The comparison most Mandurah homeowners are actually making is set out on the porcelain vs engineered stone page, and the material walkthrough for kitchens, splashbacks and vanity tops sits on the engineered and porcelain stone service page.
Taking out the benchtop you already have.
Say your 2016 kitchen has a high-silica engineered stone top and you want it gone. That is allowed, but from 1 September 2024 it became controlled work. Removing, repairing or making minor modifications to legacy engineered stone has to be done with water suppression or on-tool dust extraction, never dry cut or dry ground, with appropriate respiratory protection, and with notification given to WorkSafe WA before the work starts.
The same 1 September 2024 reforms brought in broader duties around crystalline silica substances more generally, which now capture natural stone, porcelain, concrete and brick where the work is high risk. In practice that means a properly run shop has a silica risk control plan, air monitoring and health monitoring for its people regardless of which material you pick. Ask about it. It is not rude and it is the fastest way to work out who is serious.
What it means for your quote is straightforward: controlled removal of a legacy top is a real cost, generally $150 to $400 plus tip fees, and it belongs as its own line. A quote that has removal at zero, or a mate who reckons he will angle-grind it out on the verge on Saturday, is a health risk to whoever is holding the grinder and to everyone in the house that day. It is not worth the couple of hundred dollars.
For the install side, benchtop work in a domestic kitchen is covered by AS/NZS 4386 for kitchen assemblies and installation, and any wet area detailing around a splashback or vanity needs to respect AS 3740 waterproofing. None of that changed with the silica reforms, but it is the other half of doing the job to standard.
A worked example of what compliance actually costs you. A Greenfields kitchen with a 2016 high-silica engineered stone top, 4.5m², going to porcelain at $1,000/m² is $4,500 of material, plus an undermount sink cut-out ($280), a cooktop cut-out ($180) and controlled removal of the legacy top with water suppression and WorkSafe notification ($350). That lands at $5,310. The same kitchen in mid-range engineered stone at $750/m² would once have been $3,375 plus the same cut-outs and a $250 removal, so $4,085. The prohibition costs this homeowner about $1,225, and roughly $100 of that is the controlled removal rather than the material. Anyone quoting you dramatically under the porcelain figure for a legacy swap is saving money somewhere, and the only places to save it are the material or the dust control.
Worth knowing who enforces what, because people assume this is a council matter and it is not. Your local government, the City of Mandurah, or the Shire of Murray if you are at Pinjarra, Ravenswood, Furnissdale or South Yunderup, has no role here and issues no permit for a benchtop. The silica prohibition is state workplace safety law enforced by WorkSafe WA against the fabricator, not against you. You cannot be penalised for owning a legacy top. The person holding the grinder is the one carrying the duty, which is exactly why it matters who you let in the door.
Compliant fabrication across the Peel.
Silica rules questions.
Is engineered stone banned in Western Australia?
Yes, for anything containing more than 1 per cent crystalline silica. From 1 July 2024 the manufacture, supply, processing and installation of engineered stone above that threshold is prohibited nationally, and in WA the prohibition sits in the Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations and is enforced by WorkSafe WA. It is a workplace safety prohibition aimed at silicosis in stonemasons, not a product recall. The engineered stone already in your kitchen is legal to own and perfectly safe to cook on.
Does low silica engineered stone get around the ban?
Almost never, and this is the most misleading phrase in the industry right now. The threshold in the regulations is 1 per cent crystalline silica. Products marketed as low silica are often around 40 per cent, which is dramatically lower than the old 90 per cent products and still forty times over the legal limit. If a supplier offers you low silica engineered stone, ask for the crystalline silica content as a number and ask for the safety data sheet. Under 1 per cent is legal. Forty per cent is not, whatever the brochure says.
What can I legally put on my Mandurah kitchen in 2026?
Plenty. Porcelain and sintered stone are naturally very low in crystalline silica and are unaffected by the prohibition. Natural stone such as granite and marble is not banned at all. A handful of manufacturers now make genuinely compliant engineered products under 1 per cent. Laminate, solid surface, timber and stainless steel were never in scope. The choice is narrower than it was in 2023 but it is not remotely restrictive, and for most coastal Peel kitchens porcelain is a better surface than the stone it replaced.
Can my existing engineered stone benchtop still be removed or modified?
Yes, but it is controlled work. Since 1 September 2024 removing, repairing or making minor modifications to legacy engineered stone must be done under strict conditions: no dry cutting or dry grinding, water suppression or on-tool extraction, respiratory protection, and notification to WorkSafe WA before the work starts. That means a legacy top cannot simply be angle-ground out in your driveway by a handyman. It is a legitimate line item on a replacement quote, and a fabricator who has not allowed for it is planning to break the rules.
What should I ask a Mandurah fabricator to prove they are compliant?
Four questions, and any competent shop answers them without hesitating. What is the crystalline silica content of this product as a percentage, and can I see the safety data sheet? Is all cutting done wet or with on-tool dust extraction? Do you have a silica risk control plan and air monitoring for your workers? And if you are removing my old engineered stone, have you notified WorkSafe WA? Vague answers or irritation at being asked tell you what you need to know.
A benchtop that is legal, and lasts.
Compliant materials, wet-cut fabrication, notified legacy removal. Free measure and quote.