Demolition near you

These are different products with different rules, and asking for the wrong one is a common way to overpay. Deconstruction in particular is a distinct trade: Portland requires that if you plan to tear down a house or duplex in the city, the structure must be deconstructed rather than mechanically demolished if it was built in 1940 or earlier, or if it was designated as a historic resource subject to demolition review or the city's delay provisions, and states that only certified deconstruction contractors can deconstruct your house.

A demolition permit is separate from a building permit and is issued on its own terms. Portland's rule is simple to remember: you need a demolition permit for any structure that needed a permit to be built, including structures that were improperly built without one. Seattle likewise treats demolition as permitted work. The permit is not a formality, because in many cities it carries a timetable attached to it.

Portland is a useful illustration of how long that timetable can be. There is a mandatory 35-day delay for demolishing a one- or two-family dwelling structure where the dwelling is designated residential by the Comprehensive Plan Map, which does not apply to residential structures in commercial or industrial zones or to garages and accessory structures. The city mails notice to properties within 150 feet within five business days of receiving the application, and the applicant must place door hangers on all properties within 300 feet between two weeks and 72 hours before demolition begins. The permit will not issue until the site controls form, the asbestos survey and the close-out letter are submitted.

Licensing applies to the work itself. California's licensing statute defines a contractor to include a person who undertakes, offers to undertake, or does by or through others, work to wreck or demolish any building or structure, and Florida's definition of contractor covers a person who for compensation undertakes to, submits a bid to, or does by others demolish a building or structure. Check the state licensing authority where your property is before agreeing to anything, and ask which class of license covers demolition there.

The federal asbestos standard for demolition and renovation is a real obligation with real notice requirements, and it is also narrower in residential work than contractors sometimes suggest. It applies to a facility, and the regulation defines a facility as any institutional, commercial, public, industrial or residential structure, installation or building, including any structure, installation or building containing condominiums or individual dwelling units operated as a residential cooperative, but excluding residential buildings having four or fewer dwelling units. A single-family house, a duplex, a triplex or a fourplex standing alone is therefore generally outside the federal scheme. The rule also defines an installation as any building or structure, or any group of buildings or structures, at a single demolition or renovation site that are under the control of the same owner or operator, which is why EPA states that the asbestos national emission standards apply to most demolition projects conducted by municipalities, counties and land banks.

Where the rule does apply, two duties matter to an owner. Prior to the commencement of the demolition or renovation, the owner or operator must thoroughly inspect the affected facility or part of the facility where the work will occur for the presence of asbestos, including Category I and Category II nonfriable asbestos-containing material. And notification is required even when there is very little asbestos or none: in a facility being demolished, where the combined amount of regulated asbestos-containing material is below the thresholds of 260 linear feet on pipes, 160 square feet on other facility components and 35 cubic feet off facility components, the notification requirements still apply, with notice required 10 working days before demolition begins. Where a state or local government has ordered a demolition because the facility is structurally unsound and in danger of imminent collapse, notice must be given as early as possible before, but not later than, the following working day.

The honest conclusion for a homeowner is that the federal exclusion for small residential buildings is not the end of the inquiry, because states routinely go further. Oregon requires that prior to demolition of a residence constructed prior to 2004 you hire an accredited inspector to conduct an asbestos survey, and although Oregon lets homeowners handle asbestos-containing material in their own primary residence during a renovation, owner-occupants are not allowed to perform friable asbestos abatement for demolition projects: friable material must be removed by a DEQ licensed asbestos abatement contractor before the demolition. Cities can require proof of the survey and of abatement before a permit issues, as Portland does. Ask your state air quality agency and your building department what applies at your address, and never accept a verbal assurance that a house is too small to be regulated.

The construction safety standard for demolition is worth reading as a checklist for choosing a contractor, because a company that does these things is a different company from one that does not.

Any house built before 1978 should be assumed to contain lead paint until tested, and the dust generated by breaking painted material up is the exposure route that matters. Interior demolition inside such a house is squarely within the federal renovation rule, which defines a renovation as the modification of any existing structure, or portion thereof, that results in the disturbance of painted surfaces and expressly includes the removal of building components such as walls, ceilings, plumbing and windows. The minor repair exemption reaches only 6 square feet or less of painted surface per room indoors or 20 square feet or less outdoors, does not apply to window replacement or to demolition of painted surface areas, and treats the entire surface area of a removed painted component as disturbed paint.

Local rules can add requirements at the site level. Portland's site control measures for residential demolition include removing lead paint by hand for structures built before 1978, along with dust suppression, debris containment, erosion control and suspension of mechanical work above a stated wind speed. The pattern is worth generalizing: the question is not only who is certified, but what is done on the day to keep dust on the property. Ask how the site will be wetted, how debris will be contained, where the wash-off goes, and what protects the neighbors' yards and vegetable gardens.

Demolition pricing is dominated by access, hazards and disposal. The variables that move a US quote most are the size and construction type of the building, whether machinery can reach it or the work has to be done by hand, the results of the asbestos and lead surveys and whether abatement is included or excluded, whether an ordinance requires hand deconstruction rather than mechanical demolition, how much of the foundation and slab is coming out, the volume and mix of debris and local tipping costs, utility disconnect fees and lead times, permit fees and any mandated delay period, and what site restoration is included. Ask each bidder to price abatement, foundation removal, backfill and haul-away as separate lines, and to state what happens if a survey finds more than expected.

LokalMatch is the first step. You describe the job once: what is being taken down, roughly how big it is, the age of the building, whether a machine can reach it, and whether you already have surveys or a permit. Demolition contractors working in your area receive the request and the ones interested contact you directly. Pros pay for the requests they receive, and homeowners pay nothing to use it. LokalMatch does not perform demolition, does not set prices, and does not vet, rank or recommend any company, so verifying licensing, insurance, the required surveys and notifications, and where the debris is actually going remains your responsibility.