The pipe can be fine and the project still changes.
Older buildings may contain asbestos-containing material in many places: insulation around heating or hot-water lines, asbestos-cement products, drywall compounds and ceiling textures, floor tile or mastics, and some mechanical-room materials.
The key project question is not whether the replacement water pipe contains asbestos. It is whether the work needed to reach, remove, reroute, or restore the old system will disturb suspect building material.
The hazard is tied to disturbance.
The source distinguishes intact material left alone from material that is cut, drilled, scraped, or broken during construction. That is why hazardous-materials planning belongs before demolition or access work begins.
Sequence it before the plumbing crew arrives.
The practical sequence is straightforward: assess the work areas first, identify what may be disturbed, handle required hazardous-material work before plumbing access begins, then proceed with the repipe and restoration.
Doing that building-wide is more useful than rediscovering the same condition one suite at a time. A retained survey also becomes useful information for later projects and other trades.
Emergency work removes planning time.
A planned repipe gives the building time to investigate suspect materials and coordinate the work. A leak that forces emergency access does the opposite: wet walls and ceilings may need to be opened before the owner has assembled the same project information.
That is one reason aging piping should be treated as a capital-planning issue before a failure dictates the schedule.
The route changes what gets disturbed.
Routing decisions matter because a method that requires repeated openings through ceilings and walls can create a larger disturbance scope than a route planned to avoid unnecessary opening. That does not eliminate hazardous-material obligations, and it does not mean zero openings. It means access strategy belongs in the asbestos conversation.
Planning an occupied older building?
Pair the hazardous-materials conversation with the actual route, suite conditions, and resident plan before treating a plumbing schedule as complete.
Regulatory timing, notification, testing, and abatement requirements vary by jurisdiction and property. Confirm current requirements before planning work.