10 questions that expose a cowboy demolisher in minutes

Demolition has real professionals and real cowboys, and their quotes can look identical on page one. The difference surfaces in what happens to asbestos, where the waste actually goes, and who's holding the risk when something cracks next door. Ask these ten questions and the decision usually makes itself.

1. "Are you a registered demolisher, and will you arrange the building permit and Section 29A consent?" Right answer: yes and yes, with the permit as a line item and the paperwork lodged on acceptance. Demolition work in Victoria requires registration appropriate to the class of building — ask for the registration number and check it. Any suggestion that you pull the permit as an owner-builder for them is risk-shifting, not a favour.
2. "How are you handling asbestos, and who's the licensed removalist?" On any pre-1990 house the answer must include a survey, a named Class A or B licensed removalist, and disposal at a licensed facility with dockets to you. "We'll deal with it if we find it" on a 1962 fibro-eaved house means the quote is fiction.
3. "Is the quote fixed, and exactly what site finish does it include?" Fixed price, in writing, with the finish defined: to natural ground, footings and slab out, rough level or compacted pad. "Demolished and cleared" has cost variations of $5,000+ hiding inside it.
4. "What insurance do you carry?" Public liability at a level that matches dropping a building near a boundary — $10–20 million is standard — plus the certificate of currency, current-dated, in your hand. Demolition next to a neighbour's house is precisely what public liability is for.
5. "Where does the waste go, and do I get the dockets?" Named facilities, sorted loads (concrete to the crusher, metal to the recycler, asbestos to licensed disposal), and tipping/disposal dockets supplied. Illegal dumping is the demolition industry's ugliest corner, and the dumped load traces back to your site.
6. "How is salvage handled?" Either credited in the price or listed as yours to keep — in writing. See the salvage guide for what's at stake. "We'll see" is the wrong answer to a question about money.
7. "Who books the service abolishments, and when?" Right answer: "we do, on day one — power, gas, water, sewer — and we don't mobilise until every clearance is sighted." The contractor who leaves this to you is the contractor whose schedule slips a month.
8. "How will you protect the neighbours and their property?" Dust suppression method, hoarding/fencing plan, protection works notices where the boundary is close, working hours, and a dilapidation photo record of adjoining structures before starting. Professionals volunteer this; cowboys look surprised by the question.
9. "How many days on site, and when can you start?" Specific answers reflect a real schedule: "asbestos crew Monday–Tuesday, machines Wednesday, five days, trucks out by the following Tuesday." Vagueness here predicts vagueness everywhere.
10. "Can I speak to two recent local customers?" The gold-standard question in every trade. A professional working your region has happy customers within twenty minutes' drive and offers them readily.

The paperwork file a professional hands over

Before signing, confirm you'll receive all six of these at completion — they're the physical evidence the ten questions were answered honestly:

1. Fixed written quote/contract with scope and site finish defined
2. Building permit and Section 29A consent documentation
3. Asbestos survey, removal clearance and disposal dockets
4. Public liability certificate of currency (sighted before work)
5. Tipping and recycling dockets for the demolition waste
6. Compaction/fill documentation where a builder-ready finish was specified

Your builder's surveyor will ask for several of these; a future buyer's conveyancer may ask for all of them. A contractor who produces them without being asked twice is a contractor who ran the job properly.

Reading the quotes side by side

When one quote is thousands under the rest, find the missing line: it's almost always asbestos, disposal, or site finish. Cheap demolition quotes aren't cheaper — they're shorter. Print this list, ask all ten, and keep the answers with the contract. We're happy to be asked all ten.