3 . PLANNING THE DEMOLITION WORK
All electric , gas , water , sewer , steam and other service lines not required in the demolition process should be shut off , capped , or otherwise controlled , at or outside the building line , before demolition work is started .
In each case , any utility agency involved should be notified in advance and its approval or services , if necessary , obtained . Any service retained for the demolition work should be adequately protected as required by the relevant authority ( for example , the protection of overhead electric lines ).
Regulation 304
UNDERGROUND ESSENTIAL SERVICES
Where there are underground essential services that may be disturbed by the work , the demolition contractor must take all reasonable steps to obtain current information on the services prior to commencing work and :
• have regard for the information
• keep the information readily available for inspection under the WHS Act , and
• make the information available to any principal contractor and subcontractors
• retain the information until the excavation is completed or , if there is a notifiable incident relating to the excavation , 2 years after the incident occurs .
The available information about existing underground essential services may not be accurate . Therefore it is important that demolition methods include an initial examination of the area to be demolished .
FIGURE 1 : Underground essential services exposed by ‘ potholing ’.
Further guidance on underground essential services and how to locate them is available in the Code of Practice : Construction Work .
CODE OF PRACTICE | DEMOLITION WORK 15