Demolition SWMS

For licensed demolition contractors taking down houses, sheds, buildings, structures and concrete slabs, and the builders and principal contractors who engage them. It follows the job in order: the licence, regulator notice and engineering investigation, asbestos and other hazardous materials, services isolation, exclusion zones, stability and sequence, hand and machine demolition, slabs and footings, dust, debris and making the site safe. Internal strip-out, asbestos removal and silica dust control are separate SWMS.

Demolishing a load-bearing or integrity-related part of a structure is high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 291), so that item is ticked, with energised services and powered mobile plant because this SWMS covers services isolation and machine demolition; also tick falls over 2 metres for roof and upper-level work, asbestos disturbance, and trenches deeper than 1.5 metres where they apply, and the contaminated atmosphere item (s 291(l)) when breaking or cutting concrete and masonry creates silica dust, because the approved Queensland silica code treats construction work with a risk of silica exposure as work in an area that may have a contaminated atmosphere.

New to SWMS? Read What is a safe work method statement?

What is covered in our demolition SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the demolition: investigation, licence and notice” to “Make the site safe and hand over”. The hazards and controls include:

• Collapse of walls, floors, roofs and frames
• Disturbing asbestos, lead and other hazardous materials
• Contact with live cables and overhead power lines
• Cutting gas, water, sewer and fuel lines
• Falls from roofs, walls and upper levels
• Falling and flying debris
• People entering the exclusion zone
• Plant overturning or striking workers
• Overloaded suspended floors
• Silica dust from breaking concrete and masonry
• Noise and vibration from breakers
• Striking buried services
• Open pits and voids left after demolition

High risk construction work

These high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are already ticked because they are part of this work. Tick any others that apply to your job:

• Involves demolition of an element of a structure that is load-bearing or otherwise related to the physical integrity of the structure
• Is carried out on or near energised electrical installations or services
• Is carried out in an area at a workplace in which there is any movement of powered mobile plant

Licences, training and competency

• Demolition work licence (WHS Regulation s 143): a business licence held by the business doing the demolition or having it done (a commissioning business must make sure of it), lasting 2 years, covering only the work and conditions it states; an equivalent licence from another jurisdiction counts (ss 144A, 144K, 144L). The licence holder’s named competent supervisor (18 or over) is readily available whenever demolition is under way, and every worker is appropriately trained (ss 144, 144D)
• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work, and site induction
• Competent person, such as a structural engineer, for the engineering investigation and advice on load-bearing elements, temporary support and suspended floors
• High risk work licence for the class of any crane, boom-type elevating work platform (boom 11 m or more), forklift truck or scaffold (fall more than 4 m) used; intermediate rigging class or higher for rigging in demolition of structures or plant; dogging class or higher to sling loads or direct a plant operator when the load is out of the operator’s view (Schedule 3 items 4 to 7)
• Operators competent on the plant and attachment used (no high risk work licence class covers excavators), and workers trained on any hand-held saw, breaker or grinder
• Asbestos: competent person to identify it; licensed removalist to remove it before demolition, except 10 square metres or less of non-friable asbestos, which a competent person trained under section 445 may remove (section 458); training in identification, safe handling and control measures for workers the business reasonably believes may be involved in asbestos removal or asbestos-related work (section 445)
• Licensed electrician, gas work licence holder or authorisation holder, and licensed plumber to disconnect and cap services
• Spotters briefed on hand signals, exclusion zones and power line distances; trained operator for any cable and pipe locator
• Crystalline silica training (VET accredited course or training approved by the regulator) for workers who may do or be exposed to high risk silica processing (s 529CD)
• Respirator users trained in fitting, cleaning and storing them; an adequate number of workers trained in first aid (s 42)

Legislation and codes of practice referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Demolition Work Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Safely Remove Asbestos Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021 (scaffold, hoarding and overhead protection)
• Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Mobile Crane Code of Practice 2024 (where a crane is used)
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021 (underground services, footings and basements)
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Traffic Management for Construction or Maintenance Work Code of Practice 2008 (where plant or hoarding affects a road or footpath)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld): electrical work needs a licensed electrical worker (ss 18 and 55)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): overhead and underground electric lines (ss 13 to 15), exclusion zones in Schedule 2, and construction site equipment (s 140)
• Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004 (Qld): gas work licences and authorisations
• Plumbing and Drainage Act 2018 (Qld): plumbing and drainage licences
• AS 2601 The demolition of structures (as named in the Demolition Work Code of Practice 2021)
• AS/NZS 3012 Electrical installations – Construction and demolition sites (named in Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 s 140)

What you get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (21 pages), laid out on A4 landscape pages. Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 11 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: hard hat, and safety glasses or goggles with a face shield for breaking, cutting and grinding; safety boots with steel or composite toe caps and puncture-resistant soles; high-visibility clothing
• Emergency arrangements for: cracking, movement or collapse, struck electrical, gas or other service and suspected asbestos or other hazardous material exposed
• Plus the parts every Work Safety QLD SWMS shares, from the s 291 checklist to the worker sign-on sheet (see the layout in our free SWMS template)

Adjust it for your site, plant and crew, and talk it through with your workers before work starts.

Checked against the Queensland laws and codes of practice listed above. Last reviewed November 2026.