REBRI Waste reduction: Demolition (PDF)

This guide is part of the REBRI series developed to encourage and assist everyone involved in the construction and demolition (C&D) industry to reduce waste disposal to landfill and cleanfill.

In the long term, design for deconstruction is a key solution to reducing waste at the end of a building’s life. In the shorter term, however, reducing building waste by focusing on dismantling and deconstruction rather than demolition will help achieve this objective.

This guide provides good practice guidance to:

• demolition firms
• building owners
• builders and developers.

The aims of this guide are to:

• help maximise the amount of material recovered at the end of a building’s life (and reduce waste to landfill and cleanfill)
• foster environmental awareness among those involved in building demolition and deconstruction.

The guidelines cover:

• planning for deconstruction
• initial assessment of site and building
• reusable and recyclable building materials
• deconstruction scheduling
• monitoring and recording procedures
• tendering and contracts
• setting up a waste minimisation system
• principles for deconstruction and dismantling
• on-site sorting and storage of materials
• when deconstruction is complete
• marketing and external accreditation
• training staff and subcontractors
• links, resources, and information.

Disclaimer: Please note that our publications reflect the regulations and best practices on the date of release, which is shown on the publication. As regulations and industry standards evolve, we always recommend that our publications be read in conjunction with the latest building code clauses and standards.