Council demolition requirements
Demolishing a house in the Randwick City Council area
What Randwick City 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 15 suburbs we service across the Eastern Suburbs.
How the council handles demolition approvals
Randwick City Council requires a Construction Certificate from the council or a private accredited certifier before any building work, including associated demolition or excavation.
Heritage items and conservation areas
Randwick publishes a map and statement of significance for each heritage conservation area. If your site is in one or near a heritage item, you must consider whether the work will affect heritage significance.
Conservation areas the council names: Botany Bay National Park, Caerleon Crescent, Dudley Street, Edgecumbe Estate, Former Bunnerong Power Station, Gordon Square, High Cross, Malabar Headland, Moira Crescent, North Randwick, Old Tote/Fig Tree Theatre (UNSW), Prince Henry Hospital, Racecourse Precinct, Randwick Environment Park, Randwick Junction, Sacred Heart, Struggletown, St Judes, St Marks, The Spot, West Kensington.
Trees on the block
Most trees on private property are protected and need a tree permit or development consent. A DA is required for trees that are heritage items, on the Significant Tree Register, or in a heritage conservation area where heritage significance is affected.
Fees, bonds and public land
Any work in the public road reserve, including footpaths, kerbs and gutters, needs a Civil Works application. Fees include application, inspection and design check fees plus a damage deposit based on the cost of works, refunded after the final inspection.
Council pages change. Treat this as a starting point and confirm requirements with Randwick City Council or your certifier before setting a demolition date. Randwick City 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 Randwick City 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.