Irwin & Hartshorn

Irwin & Hartshorn Group has provided transport and demolition services in Canberra and Western and Southern NSW since 1984. It was founded in 1985 by Tony Irwin and Ron Hartshorn, became Irwin & Hartshorn Pty Ltd in 1996, and on 1 July 2021 ownership passed to Irwin Hartshorn Group under second-generation directors Andrew Irwin and Mark Hartshorn.

The company operates a fleet of more than 90 vehicles, trailers and machinery, has completed more than 15,000 demolition projects, and is fully licenced for fuel demolition and decontamination works. It holds WorkCover approval in the ACT and NSW for the safe removal of underground fuel and gas tanks, and has completed projects including Blandford House in Batemans Bay and the RSL Club in Merimbula.

Canberra customers of Irwin & Hartshorn describe a demolition and excavation operation that runs smoothly from the first day to the last, with work starting when promised and finishing on schedule. Several accounts highlight the precision of the machine operators, including one who manoeuvred a container into a tight residential property, then returned to reposition it because the original placement did not meet his own standard.

Another customer notes the care taken on a cricket pitch, where a tracked excavator rolled the surface as part of the preparation. The condition in which sites are left is a point that comes up often, with one reviewer calling the finished job immaculate. Named team members, among them Andrew, Justin and Sean, are credited with maintaining consistent standards across the work. Clients in the surrounding district, including Murrumbateman, describe a crew that communicates clearly and delivers exactly what was agreed, from container placement through to the final clean-up.

The recurring picture is of a contractor whose operators take personal responsibility for the quality of each stage, adjusting their approach on site rather than leaving a task half done. That attention to detail, combined with punctual scheduling and tidy completion, shapes the experience customers report across demolition and excavation projects of varying scale.