What to consider when choosing a demo company
- Will they clean materials to separate asbestos. If they don’t then the amount they will need to dispose of will cost significantly more
- What asbestos do they cover eg. what happens if they find it under the house
- Have you spoken to other clients to see what variations have been raised (I would try to find independent referrals, not just from the demolished). Many people go for cheaper quotes and then get hit with variations of like $8k, $15k, or considerably more. Just because they are nice on the phone doesn’t mean they will be when you question the variation.
- Don’t trust Google reviews or unverified productreview sources. You might find a lot of people have only left a single review and they opened their account at a similar time
- Facebook groups are a great source of referrals
- How long has the company been in business and did they have a previous one which went into liquidation.
How to get ready for demolition
CDC Application
Cost: $935 Validity: 5 years
You can apply for demolition through CDC and approvals last for 5 years. You dont need to sign up with a demolition company before however they can advise on what’s required in the application. The process takes around 3 weeks as neighbours need to be notified. They will be sent your contact details by letter and everyone within 20m of the property will be notified.
The application is straightforward. You will need to specify what will be demolished, an example is below. If you specify over $25k you will fall into the next band of costing from the council.
Abolishments
Before demolishing a property the gas, electrical, and NBN service needs to be disconnected or the demolition company cannot do anything.
Gas
Timeframe: 4-6 weeks Cost: $1151.70 (NSW) Requirement: Vacant property
For a house to be demolished you are required to remove/decommission your gas connection to the property. In NSW Jemena manages gas abolishments and they require the property to be vacant before submitting the application. Once submitted it can take 4-6 weeks (20 business days or more) for them to come out to remove it. It can take less however you cant easily get in touch with them to find out when they will do it.
Electrical
Timeframe: 1 week Cost: $385
If you have a smart meter and its managed by Energy Australia the process can be fairly quick, possibly a few days.
Cancel your supply with your electrical company who will do a final reading. A level 2 electrician will be required to disconnect the power cables that connect from the road to your house. They can also take the meter box back to Ausgrid so someone may not be required to come out to do a final reading. The Optus cable can also be cut by the electrician.
NBN
Timeframe: 1 week Cost: N/A
For houses being demolished you wont be charged for an abolishment. Raise a case with NBN directly however you need to also cancel the service with your NBN service provider.
Selling Items in your House
You cannot sell your flooring in some cases. When the walls are demolished they fold onto the floors. If the floors arent there then the walls would smash into the brick piers and the soil. This is applicable for certain types of houses
Some things you can consider selling are:
- Sliding doors
- Windows
- Doors
- Security doors
- Kitchen cabinets
- Oven and Stove
- Garage door
- Trees of various ages
- Deck
- Air Conditioning units (remember to degas the units while you still have power connected)