When working in construction it’s essential to be compliant with relevant rules and regulations and adhere to environmental responsibilities and duty of care. A pre-demolition audit can help you be compliant and save money on your construction project.
What is a Pre-demolition Audit?
As the name suggests, a pre-demolition audit is an audit that is carried out before a building is demolished. Its purpose is to identify the construction waste materials that will come out of the demolition, and decide how to manage the construction waste disposal – for example can the waste be reused or recycled?
One of our recent pre-demolition audits was of two two-storey buildings which were old hospital wards. Using this real-life example, we’ll explain four reasons why our client benefited from a pre-demolition audit:
1.Identify Reusable Materials
A construction and demolition waste audit, held pre-demolition, identified that the hospital buildings were made from good quality red bricks which could be reused if the buildings were demolished correctly. Not only is it more environmentally friendly than disposing of these bricks, cost savings could be made in future projects using the bricks from this demolition waste.
A Pre-demolitoin audit not only identified which materials could be reused, but what actions should be taken to ensure as much material as possible could be reclaimed.
2.Reduce Waste
For construction waste materials that could not be reclaimed a construction and demolition waste management plan identified how the waste could be disposed of responsibly. In our hospital example, despite the poor quality of some of the window timber frames, some frames could be reused as too could some doorways. The pre-demolition audit helped to identify how much waste would be created and how this could be reduced.
3.Reduce Costs
There is much more to think about than simply bricks and mortar – the hospital buildings also featured metal fittings such as railings and downpipes, which are made from valuable material and could be reused or recycled, resulting in further cost savings for future projects. Reclaiming as much construction waste material as possible can also help save you money, by reducing the costs associated with waste disposal.
4.Comply With BREEAM
Buildings must have a pre-demolition audit in order to comply with BREEAM.
BREEAM is the world’s leading sustainability assessment method. Many councils require commercial projects to be BREEAM accredited. Projects within the healthcare or educational sectors also need to be BREEAM accredited to a ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’ standard, so for these projects a pre-demolition audit is essential.
Note: pre-refurbishment audits and site waste management plans are also required for BREEAM compliance, and WPS can help you with all of these.
If you need a pre-demolition audit or would like to find out more information please call 01604 859961.
