There is no worldwide engineered stone ban. Australia is the only country with a national one: since 1 July 2024 on using, supplying and making engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs, and since 1 January 2025 on importing them. California is drafting a rule, Britain chose guidance and inspections, and we found no ban in Indonesia or Singapore.
That is the state of things in early November 2026. Rules in this area are moving quickly, so treat every date below as a snapshot and check with the regulator before you rely on it for a contract.
Why are governments restricting engineered stone?
Because of what happens when it is cut. Most engineered quartz surfaces are crushed mineral bound with resin, and many contain a high share of crystalline silica. Cutting, grinding and polishing them releases respirable crystalline silica, dust fine enough to settle deep in the lungs.
Breathing that dust over time can cause silicosis, which Britain’s Health and Safety Executive describes as incurable but entirely preventable. A rise in cases among fabrication workers, many of them young, is what led Australia to a ban. Other regulators have been watching the result.
The key point for anyone choosing a surface: the risk sits with the people who cut and finish the stone, not with the family who cooks on it.
What exactly does Australia ban?
Australia’s rules define engineered stone as an artificial product that contains at least 1% crystalline silica, is made by combining natural stone materials with other constituents such as water, resins or pigments, and becomes hardened. The ban applies to that material in the form of benchtops, panels and slabs.
Several things fall outside it:
- Finished products that are not benchtops, panels or slabs, such as sinks, sculptures, jewellery and garden ornaments.
- Products with less than 1% crystalline silica.
- Sintered stone and porcelain products, but only if they contain no resin. A resin-bound sintered or porcelain slab falls back inside the definition.
- Natural stone, such as marble and granite, which is not an artificial product.
Processing the excluded products must still be controlled. Dust control applies whatever the surface.
What about engineered stone that is already installed?
Safe Work Australia says installed engineered stone poses no safety risk while it is not being processed, for example cut or polished. The ban therefore does not order anyone to rip out a kitchen.
Removal, repair, minor modification and disposal of stone installed before 1 July 2024 are permitted, with controls in place and notice to the regulator. Drilling a larger hole for a new tap is the kind of minor modification regulators have in mind.
A 2025 review of the ban found gaps and recommended fixes, including a national standard for testing whether a product counts as engineered stone and a change to allow legacy benchtops to be reinstalled after cabinet or plumbing work. Safe Work Australia published its implementation plan in January 2026.
Does the import ban affect suppliers in Asia?
Yes, if the stone is going to Australia. Since 1 January 2025 engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs have been prohibited imports, using the same definition as the workplace rules.
For a designer in Jakarta or Singapore working on an Australian project, or a workshop exporting finished pieces there, this is the rule that matters. A slab that is legal to install in Indonesia may be refused at an Australian border. Check the product’s silica content and whether it contains resin before it is specified, not after it is shipped.
Is there an engineered stone ban in California?
Not yet. On 21 May 2026 California’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board voted unanimously to grant a petition asking for a prohibition, and asked Cal/OSHA to prepare emergency rulemaking.
In September 2026 Cal/OSHA circulated a discussion draft that would prohibit the fabrication and manufacture of artificial stone containing more than 1% crystalline silica. An advisory meeting followed in October, and industry groups have asked for a long transition period. As of early November 2026 no prohibition is in force.
California already has a silica standard with specific rules for work on artificial stone, so a ban there would build on controls that exist today.
Has the UK banned engineered stone?
No. In May 2026 the Health and Safety Executive published its first guidance sheet written specifically for engineered stone. It tells employers to switch to low-silica stone, use water suppression at the tool, control the mist that wet cutting creates, provide suitable respiratory protection and carry out health surveillance. Dry cutting should not happen.
The HSE was clear that this is guidance, not a new law. It is backed by more than 1,000 inspections of fabricators planned over the following 12 months, and by late June 2026 four businesses had been ordered to stop work with engineered stone.
Is engineered stone banned in Indonesia or Singapore?
We found no ban in either country in the official sources we checked, as of November 2026.
In Indonesia, workplace exposure is governed by Permenaker No. 5 of 2018 on occupational safety and health in the work environment. It sets threshold limit values for chemical factors at work and requires them to be measured and controlled. It does not single out engineered stone.
In Singapore, the Workplace Safety and Health (General Provisions) Regulations set permissible exposure levels for around 700 hazardous substances, and separate regulations require medical examinations for workers exposed to silica dust. Again, there is no product ban.
No ban is not the same as no risk. The dust is the same in Surabaya as in Sydney.
How do the rules compare?
| Place | Status, November 2026 | Key dates | What is covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | National ban in force | Use, supply, manufacture: 1 July 2024. Import: 1 January 2025 | Benchtops, panels, slabs with at least 1% crystalline silica; resin-free sintered stone and porcelain excluded |
| California | Rule being drafted, not in force | Petition granted 21 May 2026; draft circulated September 2026 | Proposed: fabrication of artificial stone above 1% crystalline silica |
| Great Britain | Guidance and inspections, no ban | Guidance published May 2026 | No dry cutting; low-silica stone, water suppression, RPE, health surveillance |
| Indonesia | No ban found | Permenaker No. 5/2018 | General workplace exposure limits |
| Singapore | No ban found | WSH (General Provisions) Regulations | General workplace exposure limits; medical exams for silica work |
What should buyers in Indonesia and Singapore do?
Nothing dramatic, but a few things deliberately.
- Ask for the safety data sheet of every engineered surface on your list, and read the crystalline silica figure for the exact range.
- Ask whether it contains resin. Resin-free does not mean silica-free, but it changes how a product is treated in Australia.
- If the project, or any piece of it, is bound for Australia, check it against the Australian definition before you specify it.
- Choose a fabricator who cuts wet and controls dust. Low-silica material does not remove the need; makers such as Caesarstone say so on their own pages.
- Expect the rules to change. A surface you can buy freely this year may face limits in another market next year.
If you are still weighing the material itself, our guide to what engineered stone is covers the basics, and our comparison of Lapitec and Dekton looks at two resin-free surfaces side by side.
Does any of this affect natural stone?
The bans do not. Marble, granite, travertine, onyx and quartzite are natural stones, and Australia’s ban covers artificial products only.
Silica rules still apply to natural stone dust, and some stones, such as granite and quartzite, contain crystalline silica naturally. Marble contains far less. Every workshop cutting any stone has to control its dust.
MM Galleri has worked with natural stone since 1992. Our collection holds more than 400 types of marble and more than 100 types of granite. Alongside them we carry Lapitec, Dekton, Silestone, Vicostone and SINISO.
Whatever the surface, read the maker’s safety data sheet before relying on any exclusion. If your project crosses a border, tell our team where it is going at the start.
Frequently asked questions
Which countries have banned engineered stone?
Australia is the only country with a national ban. It covers using, supplying and making engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs from 1 July 2024, and importing them from 1 January 2025. California is drafting a rule, and Britain relies on guidance and inspections. We found no ban in Indonesia or Singapore.
What counts as engineered stone under the Australian ban?
An artificial product with at least 1% crystalline silica, made by combining natural stone materials with constituents such as water, resins or pigments, and then hardened. The ban covers benchtops, panels and slabs. Resin-free sintered stone and porcelain, finished items such as sinks, and natural stone fall outside it.
Is engineered stone banned in Indonesia?
Not as of November 2026, in the official sources we checked. Indonesia regulates workplace exposure to chemical hazards under Permenaker No. 5 of 2018, which sets threshold limit values and requires measurement and control. It does not single out engineered stone, but the dust risk in fabrication is the same.
Is engineered stone banned in Singapore?
We found no ban as of November 2026. Singapore’s Workplace Safety and Health (General Provisions) Regulations set permissible exposure levels for around 700 hazardous substances, and workers exposed to silica dust are subject to required medical examinations. Fabricators still need proper dust controls when cutting engineered stone.
Is an engineered stone countertop dangerous at home?
Australian regulators say installed engineered stone poses no safety risk while it is not being cut, ground or polished. The danger is to the workers who fabricate it, and to anyone who later cuts or modifies it without controls. Any later work on an installed top should go to a qualified tradesperson.
Is California banning engineered stone?
It may. In May 2026 California’s safety standards board voted to begin rulemaking, and a September 2026 draft would prohibit fabricating artificial stone with more than 1% crystalline silica. As of early November 2026 nothing has been adopted, so check Cal/OSHA’s current status before relying on a date.
The material on a kitchen island is a design decision. The dust in a workshop is a human one, and the best surfaces of the next decade will be chosen with both in mind.
