Commercial Demolition: Understanding the Factors Influencing Project Costs
Posted on: 15 March 2017
Commercial demolition is necessary if you would like to replace your old building with a bigger and more beneficial alternative. You can also make structural modifications through partial demolition, making your building more suitable for specific applications. Regardless of your reason for knocking down, it is important to understand the financial implications of this type of project. This will help you budget sufficiently for the work and minimise total costs.
There are some aspects of the project that will affect your total demolition expenses. These include the size of your structure, the project timeline and even the rate of worker labour. However, there are other crucial but less apparent cost considerations; these are likely to be overlooked during the planning process. Therefore, you should evaluate the outlined financial factors prior to the commercial demolition for better project budgeting.
Hazardous Material Removal
If you have a relatively old building, there might be some hazardous construction materials present in the structure. These cannot be eliminated normally after knocking down the building because the release could cause environmental contamination. Therefore, you should have the property assessed thoroughly for hazardous materials prior to the commencement of the project. If you have asbestos in the building, you must account for proper removal, according to the appropriate legislation, before demolition.
The costs associated with this hazardous material include initial inspection, laboratory testing of suspect asbestos-containing materials, removal and clearance inspection. If there are other hazardous materials such as formaldehyde, synthetic mineral fibres or even lead paint, you will be charged a higher rate because specialty personal safety gear will be required. For accurate financial planning, discuss the extra charges related to dangerous materials with your contractor before hire.
Special Rental Equipment
The demolition process is complex and, often, time-consuming. Therefore, you should ensure that the right equipment is available to facilitate fast and efficient structural destruction. The common heavy machines which you might require include high reach arms, bulldozers, cranes and wrecking balls. You should inquire about the availability of the pertinent equipment directly from your demolition contractor. If they do not own the machines, it might be cheaper to acquire from a specialist renter as opposed to relying on sub-contracting.
Rubbish Haulage and Disposal
Finally, you must account for the safe removal and disposal of the waste materials produced during the demolition process. In general, you will probably have to rent a dump truck for efficient collection of the construction rubble. However, if the volume is relatively small, you can hire multiple skip bins for efficient disposal.
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