Council demolition requirements
Demolishing a house in the Northern Beaches Council area
What Northern Beaches 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 46 suburbs we service across the Northern Beaches.
How the council handles demolition approvals
Northern Beaches Council requires a Waste Management Plan with any application that includes demolition or construction. Its DA process includes a 14 to 28 day public exhibition period.
Heritage items and conservation areas
Buildings can’t be demolished without council consent. Owners of heritage items can develop but not demolish a listed building, need a DA with a Statement of Heritage Impact for changes, and demolition proposals usually go to the Local Planning Panel.
Trees on the block
Trees under 5 metres, exempt species, dead trees and trees within 2 metres of a building need no permit, but heritage trees, threatened species or habitat, and trees a consent requires to be kept need approval. Permits last 12 months, and tree removal won’t be approved for CDCs.
Flood and bushfire mapping
Mapped bushfire prone land carries extra planning controls, and building work there must meet Planning for Bushfire Protection (2019) and AS 3959. Applications on BAL-FZ land, or that don’t meet the performance criteria, go to the NSW Rural Fire Service.
Also worth knowing
Demolishing a heritage item counts as sensitive development that goes to the council’s Local Planning Panel.
Council pages change. Treat this as a starting point and confirm requirements with Northern Beaches Council or your certifier before setting a demolition date. Northern Beaches 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.
- Allambie Heights
- Avalon Beach
- Balgowlah
- Balgowlah Heights
- Bayview
- Beacon Hill
- Belrose
- Bilgola Beach
- Bilgola Plateau
- Brookvale
- Church Point
- Clareville
- Clontarf
- Collaroy
- Collaroy Plateau
- Cromer
- Curl Curl
- Davidson
- Dee Why
- Duffys Forest
- Elanora Heights
- Fairlight
- Forestville
- Frenchs Forest
- Freshwater
- Ingleside
- Killarney Heights
- Lovett Bay
- Manly
- Manly Vale
- Mona Vale
- Narrabeen
- Narraweena
- Newport
- North Balgowlah
- North Curl Curl
- North Manly
- North Narrabeen
- Oxford Falls
- Palm Beach
- Queenscliff
- Seaforth
- Terrey Hills
- Warriewood
- Whale Beach
- Wheeler Heights
Start with your property
Planning a demolition in the Northern Beaches 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.