Council demolition requirements
Demolishing a house in the Ku-ring-gai Council area
What Ku-ring-gai 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 16 suburbs we service across the North Shore.
How the council handles demolition approvals
Ku-ring-gai Council requires a DA where work isn’t exempt or complying, usually with a Waste Management Plan, plus a Bushfire Risk Assessment Certificate on bushfire prone land. The infrastructure bond must be paid before any demolition starts.
Heritage items and conservation areas
Heritage conservation areas protect whole areas from inappropriate development. A section 10.7 planning certificate or the council’s online map confirms whether a property is in one, and the council lists the areas by suburb.
Conservation areas the council names: Mahratta Conservation Area, Heydon Avenue Warrawee Woodville Avenue Wahroonga Conservation Area, Wahroonga Conservation Area, Warrawee Conservation Area C3, Laurel Avenue King Street Conservation Area, Bobbin Head Road Conservation Area, Hillview Conservation Area, Ku-ring-gai Avenue Conservation Area.
Trees on the block
Ku-ring-gai treats a plant 5 metres or taller, or with a trunk 150 mm or wider at ground level, as a tree. Work on non-exempt trees needs an application, including every tree on a heritage property or in a conservation area, and dead trees aren’t automatically exempt.
Flood and bushfire mapping
Most vegetated areas of Ku-ring-gai, and land within a set distance of them, are bushfire prone, and development there must meet Planning for Bushfire Protection 2019 and AS 3959-2018. The map can be checked online, through the RFS tool or on a section 10.7 certificate.
Fees, bonds and public land
An infrastructure damage bond and inspection fee apply to DAs over $10,000 and CDCs over $25,000, payable before any demolition starts. The bond is released after a final inspection if there’s no damage, or held six months for developments of more than two dwellings.
Council pages change. Treat this as a starting point and confirm requirements with Ku-ring-gai Council or your certifier before setting a demolition date. Ku-ring-gai 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 Ku-ring-gai 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.