Before you demolish
What the law in England requires before a building comes down.
Checked against the legislation on .
Tell the council (Section 80)
Before most demolitions, the council's building control team must get a notice under Section 80 of the Building Act 1984. The duty falls on whoever begins the work. Copies go to the occupiers of buildings next door and to the gas and electricity suppliers.
The council then has up to 6 weeks to reply with its conditions, such as shoring up the building next door or sealing the drains. Work can start sooner if the council replies sooner. Planning permission does not replace the notice.
There are exemptions: a building of 1,750 cubic feet (about 50 cubic metres) or less, internal work in a building that stays in use, and most agricultural buildings.
Planning permission and prior approval
Outside conservation areas, demolishing a building is usually permitted development, so it does not need full planning permission. Before starting, you ask the council whether it wants to approve the method of demolition and how the site will be left. The council has 28 days to decide, and a site notice must be shown for 21 of those days.
You do not need to ask when the land already has planning permission for its redevelopment. Pubs, theatres, concert halls and live music venues always need full planning permission to demolish.
Conservation areas and listed buildings
In a conservation area, most demolition needs planning permission, and demolishing without it is a criminal offence. Very small buildings and some low walls and gates are exempt; the council's planning team can confirm.
A listed building needs listed building consent before any part of it is demolished, inside or out.
Asbestos
The law does not allow demolition of any premises until asbestos has been assessed, and in a final demolition it must be removed before the main works begin. For most buildings that means a refurbishment and demolition survey, which opens up walls, floors and ceilings to find asbestos hidden in the structure.
Higher-risk materials, such as sprayed coatings, pipe lagging and loose fill, must be removed by a contractor licensed by the HSE, who notifies the HSE at least 14 days before starting.
Source: Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, regulations 5 and 7
Neighbours and party walls
The occupiers of the buildings next door receive a copy of the Section 80 notice. If the demolition exposes a wall you share with a neighbour, you must serve a party wall notice at least 2 months before the work. If you dig within 3 metres of their building and deeper than its foundations, the notice is due at least 1 month before.
Gas, electricity and water
Every supply must be cut off before work starts. The gas and electricity suppliers get a copy of the Section 80 notice, and the council can require the gas, electricity and water to be disconnected through the suppliers. Underground and overhead services near the work must be found and made safe before any digging or demolition.
Source: Building Act 1984, section 82
A written demolition plan (CDM 2015)
Demolition must be planned and carried out so that it does not put anyone in danger, and the arrangements must be written down before the work begins. For a house, the duties of the client pass to the contractor when there is only one contractor, so the homeowner does not have to write the plan.
A project that lasts longer than 30 working days with more than 20 people on site at once, or that exceeds 500 person days, must also be notified to the HSE.
Noise and working hours
A council can serve a notice that sets working hours, noise levels and the plant allowed on a demolition site. A contractor can apply in advance for consent under Section 61, giving the method and the steps to reduce noise. The council must decide within 28 days, and working to that consent is a defence against a later notice.
What happens to the waste
Only a carrier with an upper tier Environment Agency registration may take away demolition waste for you. Check the carrier on the public register before the first load leaves.
Demolition waste can go only to authorised carriers and sites, with a written description of each load. Waste transfer notes are kept for 2 years, and hazardous waste such as asbestos is recorded on consignment notes kept for 3 years.
Search the Environment Agency register of waste carriers
What Hodge does for you
- We write the method statement before work starts.
- We carry the waste under our Environment Agency registration, CBDU447191, with a transfer note for every load.
Tell us about your site
Call us or send four details. We visit the site, then quote in writing.