Council demolition requirements
Demolishing a house in the North Sydney Council area
What North Sydney 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 14 suburbs we service across the North Shore.
How the council handles demolition approvals
North Sydney Council’s DA checklist requires a demolition plan for any development that includes demolition, with every building and structure to be demolished clouded or outlined in red. Every DA also needs a waste management plan explaining how waste is handled during demolition, construction and occupancy.
Heritage items and conservation areas
North Sydney Council says heritage items and buildings in conservation areas can’t be demolished, additions must sit at the rear and be smaller in scale than the original building, and extra storeys are generally not supported. Development around heritage items is also regulated under the heritage controls, even where neighbouring properties aren’t listed.
Trees on the block
North Sydney Council requires a permit to prune or remove trees on private land that are more than 5 metres high, have a crown more than 5 metres wide or a trunk circumference over 500 mm at ground level, with a $90 application fee from 1 July 2026. Building or excavation within 5 metres of a tree needs a DA, and fines for unauthorised tree work can reach $1.1 million.
Flood and bushfire mapping
North Sydney Council treats land in the orange, yellow or red areas of its bushfire prone land map as bushfire prone, with yellow buffer zones 100 or 30 metres wide. DAs on that land need a Bush Fire Assessment Report, and extra setbacks, landscaping or construction materials may be required.
Fees, bonds and public land
Hoardings and temporary fences on council property need approval, usually only alongside approved building work, with fees set case by case. Occupying roads or footpaths for construction needs a separate permit.
Council pages change. Treat this as a starting point and confirm requirements with North Sydney Council or your certifier before setting a demolition date. North Sydney 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 North Sydney 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.