What happens during a house demolition: a step-by-step guide

A house demolition looks, from the footpath, like one dramatic event: a machine arrives, and within a day or two a house is gone. In practice a compliant demolition runs through a defined sequence of steps long before any wrecking or excavation equipment starts moving, and most of that sequence is about managing risk and regulatory requirements rather than the physical knock-down itself.

The starting point on almost every project is an asbestos check. Before demolition or refurbishment work begins, an existing asbestos register should be reviewed, or a proper assessment carried out, to establish whether the building contains asbestos-containing material. This matters because asbestos was used extensively in Australian building products until a total ban on its manufacture, use, import and sale took effect on 31 December 2003, so any older home is treated as a candidate for this kind of check rather than assumed to be clear. Where asbestos-containing material is identified, its removal is handled separately, by a contractor holding the appropriate licence, before general demolition work proceeds.

Alongside the asbestos check, the contractor arranges whatever demolition licence and council approval the project requires. What is actually needed here varies by state and by the size and type of the structure — our separate article on permits, notifications and service disconnections goes into the state-by-state detail, but the short version is that a licensed demolition contractor and, separately, local council approval are both commonly required, and neither one substitutes for the other.

Where licensed asbestos removal work is involved, the removalist also has to lodge written notice with the relevant state work health and safety regulator before starting, with the required notice period varying by state and by the scale of the job. This notification step is separate from, and additional to, any demolition licence or council approval, which is one reason a compliant demolition project can take longer to reach the actual knock-down than people expect.

Before physical work starts, services to the property are dealt with. Electricity is permanently disconnected ahead of demolition, gas is capped and disconnected by the gas network provider, and water is commonly kept connected, capped at the mains, since site water is often needed during the works themselves, including for dust suppression. Arranging this can take some weeks with the relevant provider, and because of privacy rules it generally has to be requested by the account holder, though many demolition companies will arrange this on a client's behalf or advise exactly what needs to be submitted and when.

Only once the asbestos position is confirmed, licences and approvals are in place, and services are dealt with does the physical demolition itself typically start — mechanical demolition using appropriately sized excavation equipment for most residential jobs, with the contractor managing dust and, where relevant, salvaging reusable materials such as steel, brick and timber along the way. Waste generated by the demolition, including any confirmed asbestos-containing material, then needs to go to an appropriately licensed disposal facility — asbestos waste specifically can only be received at a landfill holding an EPA licence to accept it, in every Australian jurisdiction.

The order and detail above is a typical sequence rather than a fixed national process, and the specific licences, notice periods and council requirements that apply to a given project depend on the state or territory and the local council involved. This article is general information, not a project plan or legal advice, and it does not describe how to carry out any of these steps yourself — asbestos identification and removal, demolition licensing, and service disconnection are all jobs for a suitably licensed contractor and the relevant regulator or provider. Our directory lists Australian demolition contractors by area if you are ready to start comparing.

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