Pre-1999 asbestos was commonly used in insulating materials, so the building is in the right time frame, but there is also the possibility that the ceilingb hasv been replaced in the meantime. One tell tale of asbestos vs. Supalux (modern) fireboard is that Supalux has reflective flecks in the surface which I believe is bronze powder (but I could be wrong there) whilst asbestos doesn't, but to really tell takes a lab because asbestos fibrer are much nthinner than human hair and very short
As to "that's asbestos but not the dangerous stuff", whoever said that is talking utter b@ll@x. All asbestos-containing boards are dangerous to an extent (please go to the HSE web site or the UKATA web site and read what better informed people say), the difference is that cement asbestos boards were generally made using a form of asbestos called chrysotile, which is the least harmful variety of asbestos, but nonetheless it should still be treated with appropriate caution. The standard advice with ALL forms of asbestos is to avoid disturbing them by cutting, sawing or drilling and that encapsulation and documentation (of the potential hazard - for future tradesmen, etc) is less hazardous than removal. So why do you need to drill into it? Or is it possible to do things another way?
BTW I'm not frightened of asbestos, having installed quite a bit of fire boarding in the past (and so far gotten away with it), but I am wary these days having seen a former friend and colleague die of mesothelioma a few years back. As a decorator he was not even someone who installed the stuff - he reckons it was dusting artex and anaglypta ceilings off prior to painting them back in the 1970s and '80s was what did for him. Either way not a pleasant way to die.
