Council demolition requirements
Demolishing a house in the Lane Cove Council area
What Lane Cove Council publishes about demolition approvals, heritage, trees and site conditions, read from its own pages on 21 September 2026 (updated 6 October 2026). The council or certifier confirms the pathway for your address.
Covers 9 suburbs we service across the North Shore.
How the council handles demolition approvals
If work isn’t exempt or complying, Lane Cove Council requires a DA through the NSW Planning Portal that meets zoning and planning controls, and issues a Notice of Determination once it’s decided.
Trees on the block
Lane Cove Council requires a permit to prune or remove a tree over 4 metres high, with a canopy spread over 5 metres, a trunk over 150 mm in diameter at 1 metre above ground or roots 40 mm or more across. Removing a tree on a heritage item or in a heritage conservation area needs a DA, though minor pruning may still be approved by permit.
Flood and bushfire mapping
Lane Cove Council points owners to the NSW Planning Portal’s ePlanning Spatial Viewer for bushfire prone land, Lane Cove Local Environmental Plan 2009 maps and other planning layers.
Fees, bonds and public land
Where work under a CDC, including one issued by a private certifier, has an estimated cost of $25,000 or more, Lane Cove Council requires a security damage bond to be paid before building work starts. Private certifiers should also check with the council whether Section 7.11 contributions apply.
Council pages change. Treat this as a starting point and confirm requirements with Lane Cove Council or your certifier before setting a demolition date. Lane Cove 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 Lane Cove 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.