3 Production Sites in Guangdong, China · 10,000+ m² Slabs in Ready Stock · Factory-Direct Export
Silica free engineered stone is a quartz-look surface made with less than 1% crystalline silica, and that is the figure where the law now draws its line. Australia’s engineered stone ban has applied since July 2024 to anything at or above it. California’s Standards Board is due to vote this autumn on an emergency rule that would do the same. The UK has stopped short of a ban but is inspecting fabricators and shutting down the ones that fail.
Almost every quartz design we press can be produced below that line, on the same 3200 × 1600 mm slabs and the same finishes, and cut into silica free benchtops, vanity tops and countertop slabs. The material fits the specification rather than the exemption.
This is a sample of the third-party testing behind this page. SGS tested a sample of our Zero Silica material, batch No. 2508, by FTIR and XRD, and did not detect crystalline silica. Almost every quartz design we make can be produced silica free; ask for a copy of the report with your quotation.
| Report | Detail |
|---|---|
| Laboratory | SGS-CSTC Standards Technical Services Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Branch |
| Report No. | GZMR250902911401 |
| Issued | 9 September 2025 |
| Sample | Zero Silica, batch No. 2508, submitted by us |
| Test methods | Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) |
| Crystalline silica | Not detected: characteristic peaks of crystalline silica were not found |
Scan the QR code on page 1 of the report to see it on SGS’s own system. The result applies to the sample tested.
Every design below is in current production as standard quartz, and every one of them can be produced silica-free. Tell us the design numbers and the quantity, and we will quote both versions side by side before you decide.
Three markets, three different answers, and a lot of second-hand information in circulation. This is where each one actually stands.
| Market | Position | What it means for a buyer |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Banned since 1 July 2024 | The prohibition covers manufacture, supply, processing and installation of engineered stone. The law defines engineered stone as an artificial product containing at least 1% crystalline silica by weight. A product below that figure is outside the definition and is not caught by the ban, as WorkSafe Victoria and Safe Work Australia both set out. A 2025 review of the prohibition found it working as intended and asked for national testing criteria to decide whether a product is engineered stone. From 1 September 2024 a separate set of duties applies to work with any material at or above 1% crystalline silica, including porcelain and natural stone. |
| United Kingdom | No ban. Enforcement instead. | The HSE has said a ban is not the approach it intends to take. In May 2026 it published its first COSHH guidance sheet written specifically for engineered stone and opened a national inspection programme of more than a thousand fabricator visits running through 2026 and 2027. Dry cutting is no longer acceptable; water suppression is the legal expectation. Enforcement notices have already stopped work at fabricators that failed inspection. |
| California | Draft emergency rule, vote pending | The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board voted unanimously on 21 May 2026 to direct Cal/OSHA to draft an emergency standard prohibiting fabrication and installation of artificial stone above 1% crystalline silica. The draft was released in mid-September 2026 and public comment closed on 30 September 2026. The Board is expected to vote at its October or November meeting; if it adopts the rule, it could take effect as early as December 2026 or January 2027. California would be the first US state to follow Australia. |
| Rest of the United States | Federal exposure limits apply | No federal ban. The OSHA respirable crystalline silica standard sets the permissible exposure limit and the associated control duties, which fall on the fabricator rather than on the material. Several states are watching California. |
Read the three positions together and one thing stands out: none of them bans quartz as a material. They draw a line at a crystalline silica content of 1% by weight and regulate what sits above it. Australia writes that line into the definition of the banned product, so the engineered stone ban stops at 1%. California’s draft rule uses the same figure. The UK does not ban at all, but its duties bite hardest on the dust that high-silica material produces when it is cut.
That matters commercially, because it changes the question from “can I still sell engineered stone” to “can I document what is in the slab”. A fabricator in Melbourne cannot legally process a standard quartz slab. The same fabricator can process a slab below 1%, because the law does not classify it as engineered stone. A fabricator in Birmingham can still process standard quartz, but is now subject to inspection and will be stopped if the controls are not in place.
The practical consequence for anyone importing is that the specification has to be provable. A claim on a website is not a specification. What travels with the goods — the test evidence on the material you actually bought — is what an inspector will ask for.
Less than you would expect. The change is to the filler, not to the product, so nothing your fabricator does has to change. The honest differences are in the designs available and the lead time.
| Item | Standard quartz | Our silica free engineered stone |
|---|---|---|
| Crystalline silica | High — above the 1% line in every market above | Third-party FTIR and XRD testing detects no crystalline silica peaks |
| Slab size | 3200 × 1600 mm | Unchanged |
| Thickness | 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 mm | Unchanged |
| Finishes | Polished or honed | Unchanged |
| Fabrication | Standard stone tooling | Unchanged — the difference is in the mineral filler, not in how the slab behaves on the saw |
| Designs available | Many in current production | Almost all of them can be produced silica-free |
| Availability | Stock colours ship in 7 to 15 days | Made to order, about 30 days — not held in stock |
| Price | — | Competitive overall cost; ask us and we reply within 24 hours |
Two of those rows deserve a straight answer rather than a footnote. It is made to order, so it will not ship on the seven-to-fifteen-day stock lead time — plan the schedule around a production run of about 30 days. And on price, the overall cost is competitive: we quote against your design, thickness and quantity and reply within 24 hours.
Most of what we make below the 1% line goes to Australia as silica free benchtops, and the questions from fabricators there are practical ones. The answers:
Importers and fabricators in Australia. Silica free engineered stone is the only version of the material you can legally process. Standard quartz is not an option, and it has not been since July 2024.
Fabricators in the United Kingdom. You can still work standard quartz, and many will continue to. But a shop under inspection with a silica-free line has a materially easier conversation, and a specifier writing a large project may prefer not to carry the risk at all.
California, and anyone selling into it. If the draft emergency rule is adopted in its current form, fabrication above 1% stops. Anyone with a project in the pipeline should be planning for that now rather than after the fact.
Project buyers who want the question closed. Hotels, developers and institutional clients increasingly ask what is in the surface before they sign. Specifying below 1% removes the question from the table for the life of the building.
Engineered stone is. Since 1 July 2024 Australia has prohibited the manufacture, supply, processing and installation of engineered stone containing 1% or more crystalline silica, so only a slab below 1% is outside the ban. Quartz itself is not banned as a material. Separate duties, in force since 1 September 2024, apply to work with any material at or above 1% crystalline silica, including porcelain and natural stone.
Yes, and zero silica engineered stone is a third name for the same kind of product; none of them is a legal term, because the law looks at crystalline silica content. Strictly, zero silica quartz is a misnomer, since quartz is itself crystalline silica, and in these slabs it is replaced by another mineral filler. SGS tested a sample of our material, batch 2508, by FTIR and XRD and detected no crystalline silica; ask for the report with your quotation.
No. The HSE has said a ban is not the approach it intends to take. Instead, in May 2026 it published COSHH guidance written specifically for engineered stone and opened a national inspection programme of more than a thousand fabricator visits through 2026 and 2027. Dry cutting is no longer acceptable, water suppression is the legal expectation, and enforcement notices have already stopped work at fabricators that failed inspection.
Not yet: as of 6 October 2026, a ban was still in draft. On 21 May 2026 the Standards Board voted unanimously to direct Cal/OSHA to draft an emergency standard prohibiting fabrication and installation of artificial stone above 1% crystalline silica. The draft was released in mid-September 2026 and public comment closed on 30 September. A vote is expected at the October or November meeting, and the rule could take effect as early as December 2026 or January 2027.
No. Slab size, finishes and fabrication are unchanged: 3200 × 1600 mm, polished or honed, the same thicknesses as our standard quartz, and cut with standard stone tooling. Almost all of our quartz designs can be made silica free. The change is to the filler, not to the product, and it does not alter how the slab behaves on the saw.
Test evidence on the material itself, not a general claim about the product line, because that is what an inspector will ask for. Safe Work Australia is still developing national testing criteria, so until they are published a laboratory report on the slabs you bought is what counts. Our sample report from SGS, by FTIR and XRD, found no crystalline silica. Tell us the destination market so the documents match your regulator.
Yes. We press these slabs at our factory in Guangdong and cut them to each customer's drawings: silica free benchtops, vanity tops and splashbacks, with edges and cut-outs done in house. In the workshop nothing changes: cut it wet and extract the dust as you would with any stone.
Silica free slabs are made to order, not held in stock, so the minimum is one container mixing up to five designs, in about 30 days. Standard quartz slabs in stock start at one; check stock with us if a project needs both. Cut benchtops have no minimum, though freight on a few is high. Send design numbers and quantity and we quote both versions side by side.
Stock availability, factory pricing, lead time and container loading advice, straight from our export team.
Samples are free. For serious buyers, we can also cover the courier cost, subject to G-Stone’s approval. Tell us where to send it — we reply within 24 hours.
