You have been saving for a new kitchen, and you had the look sorted long before the paperwork. Then engineered stone left the market.
A national ban on the manufacture, supply, and installation of engineered stone took effect on 1 July 2024. It changed one of the material decisions inside a renovation, and it changed who you want designing the whole thing.
Why the popular benchtop became a health hazard
Australia banned engineered stone to stop tradespeople developing silicosis, an incurable lung disease that fine silica dust causes. The material is an artificial mix of crushed stone and resin, and cutting it releases that dust at close range.
The Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency puts the crystalline silica in engineered stone above 90%, far higher than most natural stone. Safe Work Australia also found the majority of recent silicosis cases sit with engineered stone workers.
An engineered stone benchtop already in your home is safe to keep and use. The danger comes from cutting and grinding the raw slab before it becomes a finished benchtop. The care only matters if you remove or alter it, which is work for a qualified professional.
What the ban changes for your renovation
The ban did not just remove a benchtop from the catalogue. It pulled one material out of a design where every element depends on the others. Surfaces, cabinetry and joinery now have to be worked out together.
Get that sequence wrong and the cost shows up late. A surface picked in isolation can throw out the cabinetry it sits on, the splashback behind it and the proportions of the whole room.
The Kitchen Design Centre, a Melbourne company that designs, manufactures and installs complete custom kitchens, folds the new material rules into its renovation services. Surfaces are settled alongside the cabinetry, layout and joinery, as one design rather than a series of separate purchases.
Benchtops that are still allowed
Plenty of compliant surfaces remain, so the ban narrows your options without leaving you short. Porcelain and sintered surfaces sit outside the ban entirely, and so do new silica-free surfaces such as Cosentino’s Éclos. Natural stone, like granite and marble, also stays legal.
Timber, stainless steel, and scratch-resistant laminate round out the practical choices, and each suits a different budget and look. Porcelain and sintered surfaces handle heat well and keep the low-maintenance finish of the banned slabs. Natural stone brings depth and individual veining, though marble asks for more sealing and care than porcelain.
The shift is real work for the industry. The Housing Industry Association is the peak body for Australia’s residential builders. In 2024, it said the ban forces builders to tell customers to “make a different choice”.
Why the whole kitchen is one job, not several
A kitchen is joinery, cabinetry, surfaces, plumbing and electrical, all built to the same set of measurements. Split that across separate suppliers, and the gaps between them become your problem.
Both founders of The Kitchen Design Centre are Registered Builders, and qualified cabinet makers build and install every kitchen the company designs. The company designs, manufactures and installs its bespoke kitchens under one roof. One accountable team carries the job from the first drawing to the final fit.
That matters more since the ban. The company chooses your surfaces knowing the cabinetry that will carry them. The team that drew the kitchen is the team that installs it.
What to ask before you commit
Ask any renovator who designs the kitchen, who manufactures it and who installs it. If those are three different companies, ask who is accountable when the measurements do not line up.
Ask whether they are Registered Builders, and whether the kitchen is made here or imported flat-packed. A company that designs, makes and fits its own kitchens can answer all of that without checking with anyone.
Planning your kitchen after the ban
The ban changed one material in a room where nothing stands alone. The surface is a design decision, not a shopping decision. It belongs in the plan with everything else.
That’s where a company that designs, manufactures and installs the whole kitchen earns its keep. Most renovations with The Kitchen Design Centre start in one of its showrooms, with the cabinetry, finishes and surfaces in front of you at once. Seeing them together is how the compliant choice becomes the obvious one.
