Demolition near you

SafeWork NSW's instruction for demolition work is a three-step sequence: check the asbestos register before beginning demolition; if no register is available, have a competent person inspect the structure for asbestos; and remove all asbestos before beginning demolition work. That order exists because once a building containing asbestos has been knocked down, the material is broken, mixed through the rubble and no longer separable, which converts a manageable removal job into a contaminated site.

Australian houses built before 1990 are the ones to assume contain it until an inspection says otherwise, and it is rarely in one place. Eaves, wall sheeting in wet areas, backing to vinyl flooring, fencing, roof sheeting, flues and electrical backing boards are all common locations, and a competent person's inspection is what turns assumption into a register.

Where a building contains or may contain a hazardous chemical, SafeWork NSW says an unrestricted demolition licence is required to demolish or partially demolish it, and that a restricted licence holder may apply for a chemical installation condition to be added to their licence to undertake that work. Ask which licence the contractor holds and whether it carries that condition.

In New South Wales, the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017 permits removal without a licence of non-friable asbestos-containing material only where the area to be removed does not exceed ten square metres in total. SafeWork NSW sets out what that permission comes with: you must read and follow the Code of Practice on how to safely remove asbestos, be aware of and advise any workers of the health risks of exposure, undertake and provide asbestos awareness training, and provide health monitoring to workers where ongoing asbestos work is anticipated. SafeWork NSW recommends hiring a licensed professional regardless of the exemption.

Everything else requires a licence: more than ten square metres of non-friable material, and any quantity of friable asbestos at all. The work health and safety regulators are state and territory bodies, so confirm the position with your own regulator, but the ten square metre non-friable threshold comes from the model regulations and is broadly consistent across the country.

For a demolition, the exemption is practically irrelevant. A house full of asbestos sheeting is far past ten square metres, and the removal should be done under licence with notification, by the people who do it every day.

Demolition needs its own approval in every Australian state, and it is a separate matter from approval for what replaces the building. Which body issues it — council, a private certifier or a registered building surveyor — depends on the jurisdiction, and heritage listing, a conservation area or a tree on the site can each convert a routine application into a much slower one.

Notification obligations run in parallel and come from work health and safety law rather than planning law. Licensed asbestos removal and certain categories of demolition work have to be notified to the regulator in advance, with notice periods set by each state. Owners and occupiers of the premises, neighbouring properties and others who could be affected are also expected to be informed before asbestos removal or demolition begins.

Tell the neighbours yourself and early, regardless of what the rules require. A demolition affects the street for weeks, and a neighbour who was told is a very different proposition from one who woke up to an excavator.