The Discovery
An alert issued in late June identified asbestos contamination in fire-retardant board (FRB) core material imported from China and via Australia, used in fire door manufacturing. Pacific Door Systems (PDS), New Zealand’s largest fire door producer, tested positive for asbestos at its Wellington and Timaru facilities and temporarily closed both sites. Work on 104 fire doors at Te Kaha, Christchurch’s new stadium, was halted pending test results on the specific products used.
The contamination originated at an undisclosed third-party supplier. PDS moved to source FRB material from alternative manufacturers while investigations continued. WorkSafe and MBIE launched investigations into the scope of affected materials across the construction sector.
The Specific Risk
Asbestos in fire doors presents a different risk profile from asbestos in conventional building materials. Fire doors are designed to withstand intense heat — and it is precisely under intense heat that asbestos-containing materials release dangerous fibres. A fire door that performs its function during a building fire may, in doing so, expose firefighters, building occupants, and cleanup crews to asbestos fibres released by the heat that the door was designed to resist.
Already-installed fire doors containing contaminated material present minimal immediate risk when left undisturbed. The danger arises during an actual fire, or during removal, replacement, or demolition of the affected doors. WorkSafe’s guidance was clear: leave installed doors in place, do not attempt removal without proper assessment and licensed removalist engagement, and monitor developments from the ongoing investigation.
The Supply Chain Problem
The fire door contamination episode is the latest in a series of incidents highlighting the vulnerability of New Zealand’s construction product supply chains to contamination at the point of manufacture or raw material supply. The coloured play sand asbestos episode, the fraudulent compliance documentation in the windows market, and now the FRB core material contamination all share a common structure: a product reaches the construction sector with documentation suggesting compliance, and the contamination is only discovered after significant distribution has occurred.
New Zealand’s distance from most manufacturing centres and its relatively small market size mean that the testing, verification, and supply chain traceability infrastructure available in larger markets is not always present in the products reaching this country. The government’s initiative to accept more internationally certified products is a sensible response to cost and availability constraints — but it must be accompanied by robust sampling and testing requirements at the border level.
Asbestos and Fires
The 220 New Zealanders who die annually from asbestos-related disease were mostly exposed decades ago, in workplaces and buildings that no longer exist. The contamination risk from current supply chain failures will not manifest in disease statistics for 20 to 40 years. That long latency period makes it psychologically easy to discount — and practically necessary to take seriously now, while prevention remains possible.
