Improving demolition licensing in NSW

Have your say on improvements to the licensing scheme for demolition work in NSW.

Demolition work is a high-risk activity. The NSW licensing scheme protects workers and others by making sure that people who carry out demolition work have the training and experience to do it safely.

The NSW Government is proposing to move the demolition licensing scheme into the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017, where it will better align with other types of licensing schemes for high-risk work in NSW.

This change is expected to make the legislation that covers this type of work easier to find and ensure the rules are clearer for licence holders and the community.

We want to hear from licence holders, demolition workers and the community. Please let us know what you think about the proposed changes and if there’s anything else we could do to improve the scheme.

An opportunity to improve the scheme

We are also proposing to improve the scheme through some key changes, including:

  • increasing licence duration to five years for new applications and renewals
  • ensuring all demolition workers have been appropriately trained.

The changes are described in detail in the Consultation paper and the draft Work Health and Safety Amendment (Demolition Licensing) Regulation 2022.

Tell us what you think

This engagement closed on Monday, 2 May 2022.

We will post any final reports, including findings and recommendations here when available.

In the meantime, please sign up to Foundations, a NSW Fair Trading newsletter for the building and construction industry, covering new laws, regulations and legal requirements of relevance.

Thank you for your feedback

This engagement is now closed. Thank you to participants for providing your input, which we have reviewed. You can find out about the outcomes of this consultation in the Updates section below.

Have your say on improvements to the licensing scheme for demolition work in NSW.

Demolition work is a high-risk activity. The NSW licensing scheme protects workers and others by making sure that people who carry out demolition work have the training and experience to do it safely.

The NSW Government is proposing to move the demolition licensing scheme into the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017, where it will better align with other types of licensing schemes for high-risk work in NSW.

This change is expected to make the legislation that covers this type of work easier to find and ensure the rules are clearer for licence holders and the community.

We want to hear from licence holders, demolition workers and the community. Please let us know what you think about the proposed changes and if there’s anything else we could do to improve the scheme.

An opportunity to improve the scheme

We are also proposing to improve the scheme through some key changes, including:

  • increasing licence duration to five years for new applications and renewals
  • ensuring all demolition workers have been appropriately trained.

The changes are described in detail in the Consultation paper and the draft Work Health and Safety Amendment (Demolition Licensing) Regulation 2022.

Tell us what you think

This engagement closed on Monday, 2 May 2022.

We will post any final reports, including findings and recommendations here when available.

In the meantime, please sign up to Foundations, a NSW Fair Trading newsletter for the building and construction industry, covering new laws, regulations and legal requirements of relevance.

Thank you for your feedback

This engagement is now closed. Thank you to participants for providing your input, which we have reviewed. You can find out about the outcomes of this consultation in the Updates section below.

  • Consultation updates

    Thank you to participants for providing input. We have reviewed all feedback submitted.

    The feedback helped to shape the Work Health and Safety Amendment (Demolition Licensing) Regulation 2022 (the Regulation).

    The Regulation was approved by the NSW Government on 21 September 2022. It will begin on 1 March 2023, except for the new training provision which will begin on 1 March 2025.

    The Regulation makes some amendments to the WHS Regulation 2017, to transition the existing demolition licensing regime from the repealed Occupational Health and Safety Regulation 2001 to the WHS Regulation. A list of key changes can be found on SafeWork NSW’s Legislation page.