General information, not legal or planning advice. Approvals differ in every state and territory: in NSW check with your council or the NSW Department of Planning; in WA, with your local government.
Note 1 · NSW
Three ways through in NSW
The NSW planning system matches the approval to the risk: the kind of consent a project needs, if any, depends on its scale and its likely effect on neighbours, such as traffic, noise, privacy and sunlight. For small residential work the department names three pathways.
| Pathway | What it is | Who signs it off |
|---|---|---|
| Exempt development | Minor work with minimal impact that needs no consent or approval if it meets the standards in the state’s Codes SEPP or the council’s local environmental plan. | No one, if every standard is met. |
| Complying development | A combined planning and construction approval for straightforward development that meets pre-set standards; demolition of a building is one of the things it covers. | A council or an accredited certifier. |
| Development application | A formal application for development that needs consent under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, made with forms, technical reports and plans. | A consent authority, usually the local council. |
The department says a fast-tracked complying development approval can be issued in as little as 20 days, against an average of 70 days to determine a development application. That speed is the reason to check first whether a demolition fits the complying rules.
Note 2 · NSW exempt
When a small structure can come down without approval
The department’s fact sheet on demolition explains the test: a minor building or structure may be demolished as exempt development if it could itself be built as exempt development under the policy. Its example is a deck or a shed that meets the criteria to be built as exempt development; that deck or shed can also be demolished as exempt development. The detail sits in Subdivision 13 of the General Exempt Development Code.
Exempt demolition still has to follow Australian Standard 2601–2001, The Demolition of Structures, and if the structure contains asbestos, the asbestos removal rules apply on top. The department’s 2024 asbestos fact sheet adds that the property owner is responsible for finding out whether planning or other approvals are needed.
Exempt from approval does not make asbestos a do-it-yourself job. The Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency says it is “not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself”, and New South Wales and Western Australia set limits in law: in New South Wales a home owner may legally take out non-friable material covering less than 10 square metres themselves, but must take the same strict safety precautions as professional removalists, and any friable material, or more than 10 square metres, needs a licensed removalist; in Western Australia a home owner may remove non-friable material covering less than 10 square metres themselves but must follow strict safety precautions and wear personal protective equipment, and any friable material, or non-friable material over 10 square metres, must be removed by a licensed removalist. The national agency adds that asbestos waste can only go to a landfill licensed to accept it. It also says that even if you follow every safety step, hiring a licensed asbestos removalist who is trained, insured and equipped for the work is much safer and easier. NSW’s planning department says there is “no safe level of exposure to asbestos”, and that you must not do anything that can release asbestos fibres into the air from material that may contain it, including cutting, drilling, sanding, scraping, scrubbing and water-blasting. In NSW it also cannot go into demolition waste skip bins or kerbside bins. In WA, check your own state’s disposal rules; the national agency keeps a list of the organisations in each state and territory that deal with asbestos.
Note 3 · NSW complying
Demolishing a house under a complying development certificate
Under the Demolition Code, the fact sheet says, you can usually demolish other buildings and structures with a complying development certificate (CDC): a dwelling, attached and detached development including garages and swimming pools, and industrial buildings. Exempt and complying development cannot be carried out on certain land, so the land comes first.
The fact sheet lists these development standards for the Demolition Code:
- All essential services, such as water, gas and electricity, must be disconnected in line with each authority’s requirements, and the application for the CDC must say how. Sheet 04 covers the services.
- The structure being demolished must not be relocated unless it meets the relevant complying development standards.
- An attached or semi-detached dwelling must not be demolished for its front 6 metres, or forward of the roof ridge line, which protects the street frontage of both dwellings.
- Where a wall near a side or rear boundary sits next to or joins a wall on the neighbouring lot within 900 mm of the boundary, a professional engineer’s report on keeping that support is needed, and any exposed part of a common wall must be weatherproofed.
- Where a swimming pool is removed, its piping must be removed too and the ground restored to the level beside it with compacted fill.
On land in a heritage conservation area, or a draft one, a CDC covers much less. Sheet 02 sets out what it allows.
Schedule 9 of the policy sets conditions for a demolition CDC. The department’s fact sheet names these among the important ones:
- an adjoining wall dilapidation report where a wall within 900 mm of a boundary faces a wall on the neighbouring lot within 900 mm
- a waste management plan given to the principal certifying authority at least 2 days before work begins, and a site clear of waste and debris at the end
- run-off and erosion controls in place before work begins and kept up while it lasts
- demolition between 7 am and 5 pm, Monday to Saturday, and none on Sundays or public holidays
- all demolition carried out in line with AS 2601–2001
Neighbours must also be told before demolition work begins.
The demolition fact sheet was written in January 2022; the department updated the codes policy in November 2024, and it exhibited further proposed changes to complying development between 14 May and 24 June 2026, to be finalised later this year, so read the current policy, or ask a certifier, before relying on any single standard here. Its September 2024 asbestos fact sheet says that a CDC for demolition or building work must “be issued with conditions that ensure asbestos is safely removed and disposed of.” Sheet 03 covers that step.
Note 4 · Western Australia
The demolition permit in Western Australia
In WA the Building Commissioner approves the forms used for building approvals, and the local government assesses the application. The state suggests asking your local government what it will need and which local laws apply. The form is BA5, Application for demolition permit, made under the Building Act 2011 and the Building Regulations 2012.
The form is a good preview of what a permit authority wants to know. It asks for:
- the year the oldest building to be demolished was built
- whether the demolition is full, partial, or a relocation of a building to another site
- the floor area to be demolished, the number of dwellings and storeys, and the estimated value of the work
- the owner’s details and signature, and the demolition contractor’s details, with a demolition licence number where one applies
The applicant signs a statement that a demolition permit cannot be granted unless all the prescribed information is provided; all relevant prescribed authorities have been obtained and all prescribed notifications given; and, if the work may adversely affect land beyond the boundary, every consent or court order has been obtained.
One WA rule touches the sale before a knock-down. Owners must have compliant smoke alarms before a dwelling is sold or its ownership transferred, but since 23 January 2018 the seller may skip them if the buyer gives a declaration of intended demolition: a statutory declaration that the buyer intends to demolish within six months of the transfer day. If the dwelling is not demolished, the new owner must install the smoke alarms within six months of the transfer.
Note 5 · Everywhere else
Other states and territories
Each state and territory has its own planning and building laws, and this sheet describes only NSW and WA. Both states point to the same first step. WA suggests asking your local government what it will need; in NSW, a council or an accredited certifier can say which complying development standards would apply. Approval is one gate of several. The same site may also need a heritage check, an asbestos inspection and the services cut off before the first wall comes down.