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Demolition licence

The Occupational Safety and Health Regulations 1996 define demolition and include regulations which relate specifically to demolition. These are regulations 3.114 to 3.128 in Subdivision 7, Division 9 of Part 3 of the regulations.

In the regulations 'demolition' means the complete or partial demolition of a building or structure by pre-planned and controlled methods or procedures.

Not all work commonly understood to be demolition work is covered by regulations 3.114 to 3.128. These regulations do not apply to the demolition of a building or structure by a person in the metal fabrication or engineering industry in the course of maintaining, refurbishing, upgrading, modifying or decommissioning plant. The exemption applies only to these particular regulations.

Demolition work in mines is covered by the Mines Safety and Inspection Act and regulations made under that Act.

The licensing system
It is an offence to do any work described as 'class 1', 'class 2' or 'class 3' demolition work without an appropriate licence. 
The person making the application is assessed on:

  •  the extent of his or her knowledge of:
    •  safe working methods relating to demolition work;
    • Australian Standard AS 2601–2001 The demolition of
      structures;
    • the relevant parts of the Occupational Safety and Health
      Regulations 1996 and the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984;
  •  other relevant training/qualifications;
  • relevant experience; and
  • OSH performance and policies.

The WorkSafe Western Australia Commissioner may exempt an applicant from the requirement to demonstrate the extent of his or her knowledge for a class 2 or class 3 licence on the basis of prior learning or experience and being a registered builder.

Details of previous relevant demolition work must be provided with your application. This includes:

  • The address of each project 
  • A description of the demolition work carried out 
  • A description of the structures that were demolished 
  • The applicant's role in the demolition work 
  • The date of when the demolition work was undertaken 
  • The clients name and contact details

Providing additional occupational safety and health information such as a Safety and Health Management Plan, Safety and Health Policy and a copy of employee training records will also assist in your application being processed in a timely manner.

After three months, licensed demolition applications which are incomplete, or where the applicant has failed to respond to requests for further information or to make themselves available for an interview or assessment, the application fee will be refunded.

Licence conditions

The following are general conditions applicable to all demolition licences:

  • every employee engaged to do demolition work has, or will be trained before the demolition work commences, in safe methods of demolition work by a registered training organisation 
  • all demolition work will be directly supervised by a competent person.

A competent person would be one who has completed an approved course delivered by a registered training organisation or who the WorkSafe Western Australia Commissioner considers to have appropriate experience in carrying out demolition work.

Direct supervision means oversighting the work while it is being carried out having regard to ensuring by way of direction, demonstration, monitoring and checking that the work is being performed in a safe manner in accordance with agreed procedures and that there is a capacity to respond immediately to emergency situations.

  • before any demolition takes place, the licensed person must ensure an investigation of the structure and site has been conducted, the results are recorded in writing and form the basis for decisions made about the sequence of work; and
  • adequate precautionary measures are taken to protect people in adjoining buildings and the public.

There may be instances where additional conditions or restrictions may be endorsed on a particular licence.

The WorkSafe Western Australia Commissioner may suspend or cancel a licence

Notification of demolition work being undertaken

The WorkSafe Western Australia Commissioner must be notified at least 5 working days before any class 1, class 2 or class 3 demolition work is intended to begin. Notification of demolition work form

A copy of the notification form must be kept at the demolition site whilst the work is being done. A copy of Australian Standard 2601: The demolition of structures and a copy of the workplan required by the regulations must also be kept at the site.

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