The four things a quote is actually made of
Strip away the presentation and a demolition price is four numbers.
Disposal. The largest, usually. Charged by weight, split by stream, and dependent on an assumption about how heavy your house is. Clean concrete goes to one facility at one rate; mixed waste goes elsewhere at a considerably higher one; asbestos-containing material goes to a licensed facility at a different rate again.
Labour and plant. Operators, machines, trucks, and the mobilisation cost of getting them onto your block. Constrained access raises this — smaller machines are slower and more truck movements means more trips.
Compliance. Site fencing, hoarding, sediment control, traffic management where material loads from the road, dilapidation reports on adjoining property, and the administrative work around approvals.
Risk margin. What the contractor is carrying for the things nobody can see yet. A quote with a clear variation process carries less of this than one where the contractor has to price for the unknown, which is one reason a well-specified job often comes in lower.
Where the differences come from
When two quotes diverge sharply, it is nearly always one of these.
Different tonnage assumptions. One contractor has assumed 40 tonnes and the other 60. On a big cost line, that is thousands. Neither is dishonest — but only one will be right, and if it is the low one, the over-run comes back to you unless the quote says otherwise.
Asbestos treated differently. One has excluded it pending a survey and said so. The other has not mentioned it. On a pre-1990 Illawarra house, silence is not the same as absence. The asbestos guide explains why this is the region's defining variable.
Different boundary scope. One includes the slab, footings and driveway. The other quotes the house only. These are very different jobs described in similar language.
Different disposal strategy. Sorting on site costs labour and saves disposal. Mixed loading saves labour and costs disposal. The net can go either way depending on the material, but the quotes will look different.
Different access assumptions. A contractor who has seen your steep Thirroul driveway prices differently from one who has looked at a satellite image.
The six questions
Ask these of every quote and the comparison becomes straightforward.
- What tonnage is this built on, and what happens if we go over?
- What is your position on asbestos — surveyed, assumed present, or excluded pending survey?
- What exactly is included at the boundary? Slab, footings, driveway, crossover, fences, retaining walls, trees.
- Who arranges the service disconnections, and have they started?
- How are variations priced and approved?
- What condition is the site left in? Level for a surveyor is a different standard to "cleared".
A contractor who answers those without hesitation is telling you the quote was built rather than guessed.
Provisional sums are a good sign, not a bad one
People sometimes read a provisional sum as evasion. Usually it is the opposite.
Asbestos before a survey genuinely cannot be priced precisely. Disposal on a house with an unusual construction genuinely has a range. A quote that says "provisional sum of $X, final figure determined by the removalist's report, approved by you before work proceeds" is more honest than one that buries a guess in the total and hopes.
What matters is that the quote states how the final number is determined and who approves it.
Where you can actually move the price
Haggling on the same scope rarely achieves much — margins in demolition are not where people imagine. Changing the scope achieves a lot.
Leave the slab if you are not building on that footprint. See concrete removal for when this makes sense and when it does not.
Salvage beforehand. Bricks, roof tiles, timber, fittings and appliances can be worth removing, and it reduces what goes on the truck. The salvage guide covers what is worth the effort. Anything involving possible asbestos material is not a salvage job.
Be flexible on timing. A contractor with machines already working nearby can price a job differently to one mobilising specially.
Get the approvals and disconnections done early so nothing sits idle. Waiting costs money and it is the easiest cost to avoid.
What owner-demolition actually costs
A recurring idea: strip it out yourself first and save.
In practice this usually costs more. Owner-stripped sites tend to produce mixed waste that disposes at the highest rate, partially removed material that has to be re-handled, and — in the genuinely bad version — disturbed asbestos sheeting, which converts a demolition into a remediation with a paper trail attached to your property.
Salvaging clean, identifiable items before the crew arrives is worth doing. Demolition is not.
Two structures you will see, and what each means
Fixed price. One number for a defined scope, with variations only for genuine discoveries handled through the agreed process. This is what most residential demolition should be, and it is what we quote. It transfers the estimating risk to the contractor, which is where it belongs — they are the ones who can assess it.
Schedule of rates. Priced per tonne, per square metre or per hour, with the final figure determined by what actually happens. Common on larger commercial jobs and on sites with genuine unknowns. It can be fair and it can also be open-ended, so if you are offered one, ask for an estimated total and what would push it up.
A hybrid is common and sensible: fixed price for the structure, provisional sum for asbestos pending the survey, and a stated rate for disposal over the assumed tonnage.
The question that tells you the most
If you ask a demolition contractor only one question, make it this: "What have you assumed, and what would change it?"
A contractor who has assessed the job answers immediately and specifically — tonnage, asbestos position, access constraints, what is coming out at the boundary. A contractor who has produced a number from a satellite image and a phone call cannot, because there are no assumptions behind it to describe.
The answer to that question is worth more than the price itself, because it tells you whether the price is likely to survive contact with the site.
Reading the total
Once the scopes match, the total is meaningful. Until they do, comparing totals is comparing different jobs.
The cost bands will tell you whether a number is plausible for the structure. The approvals guide covers what has to happen before anyone starts.
Call 02 4214 4202 or send the site details through for a written price with the assumptions visible.
More from Demolition Guides
- Asbestos in Illawarra homes: how to tell and what to doWhy so much Illawarra housing contains asbestos, where it hides, how it is identified, who may lawfully remove it, and what it does to a demolition program.
- CDC or DA? Which demolition approval you needThe two NSW demolition approval pathways explained, what takes a property out of complying development, and why nobody can promise you an outcome.
- Class A vs Class B asbestos licences explainedThe difference between friable and non-friable asbestos, which NSW licence class covers each, and how to check a removalist holds the right one.
- What it costs to demolish a house in NSW2026 house demolition cost bands for NSW and the Illawarra, the five variables that move the number, and the lines cheap quotes leave out.
Frequently asked questions
What should a demolition quote include?
The disposal tonnage assumption and what happens if it is exceeded, an explicit position on asbestos, what is included at the boundary (slab, footings, driveway, fences, retaining walls), who arranges service disconnections, the approval pathway, site controls, the condition the site is left in, and a written variation process.
Why would one quote be twenty thousand dollars cheaper?
Usually because it excludes something. The most common exclusions are the slab and footings, asbestos, the driveway, site controls and disposal over-run. Occasionally it is a genuinely better disposal strategy or easier access assumptions. Ask what is excluded before you assume it is efficiency.
Should I always take the cheapest quote?
Only after confirming the scopes match. In demolition the cheapest price is frequently the most expensive outcome, because the excluded items arrive later as variations at a point where you have no leverage and no alternative contractor.
What is a provisional sum?
An allowance for work that cannot be priced precisely until something is known — commonly asbestos before a survey, or disposal where tonnage is uncertain. It is legitimate and useful, provided the quote states how the final figure is determined and who approves it.
Can I negotiate a demolition price?
You can usually influence it more by changing the scope than by haggling. Deciding the slab can stay, salvaging valuable material yourself beforehand, or allowing flexible timing so the job fits around other work in the area will move a price further than asking for a discount on the same job.