General information. Demolition Service is a guide to the small demolitions around a home, written and published by Dotto. It describes the rules and the trades involved, with every rule linked to the agency that sets it. Approvals differ between states, councils and properties, so check with your council, a certifier or building surveyor, and the state regulator for your own house.
1Six guides, one cutting list
Each guide takes one job and works through it in order. They are written for the person who owns the house and wants to understand the work before anyone starts, whoever ends up doing it.
- 1Removing an internal wall
The approval question in NSW and Victoria, heritage areas, and what runs inside the frame.
- 2Pulling down a shed or garage
From the exempt test to the slab, in the order the questions come up.
- 3Removing a swimming pool
Pipes out, compacted fill in, and taking the pool off the register.
- 4Lead paint in older homes
Where lead hides in a pre-1970 house, and the NSW EPA’s safety steps kept whole.
- 5Dust and silica at home
Which materials carry crystalline silica, and what the engineered stone ban covers.
- 6Before you swing a hammer
A checklist for what may be behind the plaster or under the ground.
2What older walls can hide
Three things turn a small job into a careful one, and all three are about the age of the house.
Lead
The NSW Environment Protection Authority lists lead-based paint on houses built before 1970 among the places lead is found, along with lead dust in roof and wall cavities. Its renovation fact sheet names demolishing or repairing walls, floors or ceilings as work that can create or disturb that dust. The lead paint guide gives the EPA’s main warnings and links its fact sheet.
Asbestos
The national agency says a home built or renovated before 1990 might contain asbestos.
The national Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency says it is “not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself”, and in some places the law goes further: in the Australian Capital Territory any removal needs a licensed removalist, unless it is part of minor routine maintenance or other minor work, and in Queensland a home owner must be trained before taking out more than 10 square metres of non-friable material, and only a removalist holding a Class A licence may remove friable material. The agency adds that a professional makes the job easier and safer, and often cheaper too. It explains that under environmental protection laws, asbestos waste “must be disposed of” at a landfill licensed to accept it, and putting it in a domestic rubbish bin can bring a fine.
Wiring
Queensland’s Electrical Safety Office says the risk of damaging or touching wiring inside a wall cavity has to be considered and controlled, especially when cutting holes or driving screws or nails into a wall. The hammer checklist goes through the rest of what can sit behind the plaster.
3The first question: does it need approval?
In New South Wales, exempt development is work that needs no planning or construction approval from a council or private certifier, provided it meets every standard in the state policy. Demolition can be exempt when it relates to a low-impact minor building or structure, and it must still follow Australian Standard 2601-2001 and the Work Health and Safety Regulation.
In Victoria, the Building and Plumbing Commission explains that the Building Act and Regulations require a building permit for all building work unless the Regulations exempt it. Among the possible exemptions it lists some minor alterations or demolitions and some garden sheds under 10 square metres, and it suggests asking the local council or a building surveyor.
4Who may do the work
In NSW, a licence is needed for residential building work worth more than $5,000 including GST in labour and materials, and for all specialist work whatever it costs (as at October 2026, Building Commission NSW).
NSW Fair Trading says electrical installation work must, by law, be carried out by a licensed electrician. And in NSW, only licensed gasfitters can do repairs or renovations involving gas.