Demolition prior notification and the method statement

Demolition prior notification is the application you make to the local planning authority before pulling a building down, asking it to determine whether its prior approval is required for the method of demolition and the restoration of the site. Demolition counts as a building operation under section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, so it is development. Part 11 of Schedule 2 to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 grants permission for most of it, subject to that prior approval step.

Get the notification in early. The 28 day clock and the separate six week Building Act notice run in parallel, and demolition contractors price differently once the dates are fixed.

When demolition needs prior approval

Three questions decide the route.

Is the building listed, or in a conservation area? If so, the permitted development route does not apply and you need listed building consent under section 7 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, or planning permission for relevant demolition in a conservation area.

Is the demolition part of a wider redevelopment for which you are applying for planning permission anyway? If the demolition is described in that application, the permission covers it and a separate notification is unnecessary. This is the cleanest route on a redevelopment site and avoids the awkward position of a cleared site with no consent for what follows.

Is the structure small or excluded? The Town and Country Planning (Demolition, Description of Buildings) Direction 2014 takes certain buildings outside the definition of development, including very small buildings and most gates, fences and walls below the stated heights. Read the Direction rather than assuming, because it was amended after litigation and the older summaries circulating online are wrong.

What Part 11 covers and what it excludes

Part 11 permits the demolition of a building, subject to prior approval of the method of demolition and any proposed restoration of the site. The permitted development right is not a licence to demolish anything. It is subject to conditions and it is disapplied in the situations above.

It does not cover the works that follow. Clearing a site under Part 11 gives you a cleared site, nothing more, so the erection of anything in its place needs its own permission. It does not remove obligations under other legislation, and it does not override an Article 4 direction where the council has made one.

Where the building is part of a Schedule 2 development under the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017, demolition can form part of the project for screening purposes. On a large urban site that question should be settled before the notification goes in.

The method of demolition and site restoration

This is the substance of the submission and it is where thin applications get delayed. The council is entitled to approve the method and the restoration, so both need describing properly.

A workable statement covers:

1. The sequence of demolition, floor by floor or element by element, and the plant to be used.
2. Whether demolition is by machine, by hand, or by a combination, and where hand demolition is needed because of proximity to other structures or the highway.
3. Hoarding, scaffolding, protective fans and the extent of any highway licence or footway closure required.
4. Dust suppression, water use and the control of noise and vibration, cross-referenced to BS 5228 Parts 1 and 2.
5. Hours of working, wheel washing and haul routes.
6. Segregation and destination of arisings, with the proportion targeted for recovery.
7. The restoration proposal: what the site will look like when the machines leave, including surfacing, boundary treatment, drainage and security.

Restoration is the part applicants under-write. A council does not want a fenced hole in a street frontage for two years. Where redevelopment will follow immediately, say so and give the programme. Where it will not, propose a treatment: hardstanding or seeded surface, a permanent boundary, and a maintenance commitment.

Much of this overlaps with a construction management plan, and where one is required by condition on a related permission it makes sense to write the two documents so they agree.

Asbestos and hazardous materials

Before demolition, regulation 5 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 requires the duty holder to take reasonable steps to identify asbestos-containing materials. In practice that means a refurbishment and demolition survey by a competent surveyor, carried out to the standard set out in the Health and Safety Executive's guidance, before any intrusive work.

Asbestos is not the only issue. Older buildings can hold lead paint, fuel tanks, refrigerant gases, contaminated made ground and, in industrial premises, process residues. A pre-redevelopment audit records the materials present and identifies what must be removed by licensed contractors and what can be recovered.

Where the ground beneath is suspect, the demolition survey and the contaminated land assessment should be commissioned as one exercise. Land contamination reporting is expected to follow BS 10175 and to be prepared by suitably qualified and experienced persons, so this is not a document to draft and submit without professional input.

Licensed asbestos removal is notifiable to the Health and Safety Executive with a statutory notice period, and that period sits on the critical path.

Neighbouring structures and support

Terraced and semi-detached demolition raises the question of what holds up the building next door. Removing one half of a pair exposes a flank that was never designed to be external.

The planning authority will want to know that support and weathering are addressed, though the detailed duty sits under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. A structural survey of the retained and adjoining structures, with a temporary works design, is the evidence that answers both.

Party wall notices for demolition works to a party structure must be served on adjoining owners with the statutory notice period. That process is civil and separate from planning, but neighbours who have been notified properly object less often, and an adjoining owner who first learns of the works when the scaffold arrives will go to the council.

Weatherproofing the exposed flank, making good the party wall and dealing with chimney stacks and flues should all be in the method statement, because these are the items neighbours complain about after the fact.

Timescales and starting work lawfully

The prior approval application is determined within 28 days. If the authority notifies you that its approval is not required, or does not respond within the period, the demolition may proceed subject to the conditions attached to the permitted development right.

Running alongside it, section 80 of the Building Act 1984 requires notice of intended demolition to the local authority, and section 81 allows the authority to serve a counter-notice imposing requirements about making good, weatherproofing, sealing drains and removing rubbish. That process has its own six week period and it is administered by building control rather than by planning. Notify the utility undertakers at the same time so services can be disconnected and capped.

The practical sequence on most sites is: settle the planning route, commission the asbestos and structural surveys, serve the Building Act notice and the party wall notices, submit the prior approval application with the method and restoration statement, disconnect services, then start. Skipping straight to the contractor's programme is how a site ends up waiting six weeks for a gas disconnection.

Browse the full list of planning report types to see which supporting documents a demolition and redevelopment site usually needs.

PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval. For specialist technical reports, qualified professional input may be required. This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.