Council demolition requirements
Demolishing a house in the Hornsby Shire Council area
What Hornsby Shire Council publishes about demolition approvals, heritage, trees and site conditions, read from its own pages on 21 September 2026. The council or certifier confirms the pathway for your address.
Covers 26 suburbs we service across the North Shore, the Hills District and Parramatta.
How the council handles demolition approvals
Hornsby Shire Council requires a Waste Management Plan for any development creating demolition or construction waste, aiming to reuse or recycle at least 76%. Demolishing a heritage item or a building in a heritage conservation area needs a Heritage Impact Assessment.
Heritage items and conservation areas
Hornsby has six heritage conservation areas, with owners’ obligations set out in the council’s development control plan. Demolishing a heritage item or a building in a conservation area needs a Heritage Impact Assessment.
Conservation areas the council names: Beecroft/Cheltenham Heritage Conservation Area, Hornsby West Side Heritage Conservation Area, The Crescent (Pennant Hills) Heritage Conservation Area, Wahroonga Heritage Conservation Area, Wahroonga (North) Heritage Conservation Area, Barker College Heritage Conservation Area.
Flood and bushfire mapping
The NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner certifies Hornsby’s bushfire prone land map. Complying development there needs a Bush Fire Attack Level certificate, and DAs need a bushfire risk assessment or detailed bushfire report.
Council pages change. Treat this as a starting point and confirm requirements with Hornsby Shire Council or your certifier before setting a demolition date. Hornsby Shire Council website
The same across NSW
What applies in every council area
Council requirements sit on top of state rules that do not change from one area to the next.
Approval pathway
Most house demolition needs either a development application to the council or a complying development certificate from the council or a registered certifier under the state Demolition Code. Heritage items and conservation areas are generally excluded from the complying pathway.
Read the approvals guideLicensed demolition
Demolition work is licensed by SafeWork NSW. Gabrael holds restricted demolition licence AD202697 (DE2) and lodges the required notifications for the work it carries out.
How to check a contractorAsbestos
Suspected asbestos must be assessed before the building is disturbed. Our Class B licence AD211249 covers bonded, non-friable material; friable asbestos is removed by our Class A licensed partner.
Asbestos before demolitionUtilities
Water, sewer, electricity, gas and telecommunications are disconnected or abolished through the providers before demolition, and Before You Dig Australia is checked for services.
Utility disconnections guideNeighbours
Approval conditions commonly set working hours and neighbour notice, and a dilapidation report protects both sides where buildings sit close to the boundary.
Neighbours and noticeWaste
Concrete, timber and metals are sorted for licensed recycling and asbestos goes to an approved disposal facility with documentation. Some councils ask for a waste plan with the application.
Where the waste goes
Suburbs we service in this council area
Suburbs that sit across a council boundary appear under each council. We confirm the council for the exact address before preparing an application.
Start with your property
Planning a demolition in the Hornsby Shire Council area?
Send the property address and what needs to go. We check the council, planning controls and heritage status for the address, then arrange a free site assessment.
7am to 7pm, seven days.