How to prepare Your House For Demolition?

It is important to understand the process as builders may not include demolition in your Building Contract. This leaves it up to the customer to arrange the demolition. Below is a list of the top five steps to prepare your house for demolition.

Request Consent Form from Your Local Council

Depending on the City Council where your property is located, you may be able to apply online or visit your local council to obtain the Consent Form (also known as Section 29A) for Melbourne house demolition. Before you can apply for the Demolition Permit, the Council must consent to the demolition. If the building is a heritage building or has some other cultural or historic significance, consent may not be granted. Other circumstances could lead to consideration of an Aboriginal Heritage Site. The council will advise you and provide any further steps for assessment.

We recommend that you apply for an Asset Protection Permit while you visit the council to discuss a Consent Form. It can be done online, over the phone, or in person. If there are COVID-19 restrictions on visiting the council, it is best to contact them first. This will ensure that you have all necessary documentation, make the payment, and only one visit to the council if the issue can’t be solved electronically. Asset Protection requires that you pay a Bond. This could cost a few thousand dollars depending on the property. However, once your project is complete, contact the council to request the release to your bank account. It is a good idea to keep an Excel spreadsheet of all payments and reminders. This will help you to remember important rebates such as Asset Protection Bond.

Get a soil report

To apply for a Demolition Permit, you will need to submit a Soil Report to your Demolisher. A Geotechnical Engineer will conduct a soil test to determine the soil types on your property. They will take soil samples from different depths to determine the soil’s behavior. Based on the soil type, this information will determine your soil’s “reactivity”, which is how it expands or moves and what foundation type is best.

Your structural engineer will need this information to create the right structure for your house. Your proposed design would be used by the Geotechnical Engineer to determine the best place to collect soil samples. This article is very informative about the importance of soil reports and possible mistakes that homeowners can make.

Submit Rates & Property Title Notice

While you wait for the council’s response on the above steps, you can obtain a copy of your Property Title as well as the most recent Council Rates Notice. Email both to your Demolisher. These documents are essential for your demolition contractor in Melbourne to apply for the Demolition Permit. You can order a copy online of your Property Title at very low costs from the Property Registry Website if you do not have one.

Apply for Tree Removal Permits

You would need an Arborist Report as part of your Building Design. This report will be required if there is any vegetation on the site. Your arborist report will show if any trees require a tree removal permit. Although the rules may vary slightly from one council to another.

There are three situations where you might need a permit to remove vegetation

• You might already have a planning permit, heritage overlay, or significant landscape overlay for your property.
• The Vegetation is Native or is located within the VPO3 (Vegetation Protection Overlay), which can be found on your council’s site.
• Conflict with trees on private property. This category includes a variety of variables, including the number and circumference of trunks that a tree might have on a property, whether it is registered in the Significant Tree Register, or is planted in accordance with the replacement planting condition.

Disconnect essential services

This important step may be affected by whether the property is currently occupied. This step can be taken at the same moment as step 1. Sometimes it may take longer to remove all services from the property. If the property is occupied by you or your tenants, it can be difficult to plan your move. You will need to remove all water and electricity services before disconnecting them. If you have circumstances that fall within the latter category, we recommend that you contact your Gas and Electricity Providers to discuss the time it takes to dismantle all services to your property. This will allow you to plan your move-out date and give enough notice to the providers so they don’t delay your demolition.

All service lines must be removed from your site. The gas and electricity meters must be removed. This can only happen after your billing providers have received the final readings of your meters. The process can take between 20 and 20 working days depending on the provider.

In the last

After the 4 main steps are completed, you can send all documentation to your demolition experts in Melbourne and you can begin Step 5. The demolisher will submit all information to the Building Surveyor to get your Demolition Permit.