ABSTRACT
In the early 1970s a global effort was initiated to legislate for the removal of asbestos reinforcement from a wide range of products. Fibre cement was a major user of asbestos and as such new reinforcing fibers were being sought as alternatives to asbestos in this class of building material (Coutts 2005). Those countries that recognized the need to legislate against the use of asbestos, on health grounds, have proved to be the ones that have achieved the most advances with respect to asbestos substitution and have thus avoided, in most cases, a downturn in the fiber cement business (Coutts 2005).
