Programme overview
Introduction:
Demolition management goes wrong when a redundant building or plant is handed to a contractor before anyone has confirmed its structural form, traced live services or found the asbestos and process residues it still holds. Unplanned collapse, service strikes, dust complaints and contaminated rubble follow. This Core Concept course equips facility, estates, project and HSE managers to take a facility from the decision to decommission through surveys, isolation, decontamination, demolition method selection and contractor supervision to a clean, handed-over site. Participants produce a Decommissioning and Demolition Management Plan with Method Statement Review.
Course Objectives:
- Build the business case and scope for retiring a building or industrial facility, choosing between immediate dismantling, deferred dismantling with safe store and partial reuse
- Commission and interpret pre-demolition structural surveys and refurbishment and demolition asbestos surveys, and register residual process hazards in redundant plant
- Plan isolation of electrical, gas, water, process and below-ground services, then drain, purge, decontaminate and certify plant as safe to dismantle
- Select a demolition technique for each structure and challenge demolition method statements, sequencing and exclusion zones for collapse and debris risk
- Set dust, noise and vibration limits and a demolition waste segregation and recycling plan that maximises material recovery
- Prequalify, appoint and supervise demolition contractors through to site clearance, close-out records and handover
Target Audience:
- Facility and estates managers accountable for redundant buildings, plant rooms and site infrastructure due for retirement
- Project and engineering managers who plan and deliver decommissioning, strip-out and demolition packages
- HSE managers and advisers who review demolition risk assessments, method statements and permits
- Operations and maintenance managers responsible for shutting down, isolating and making plant safe before handover to contractors
- Asset owners' and developers' representatives who appoint demolition contractors and accept cleared sites
Course Outline:
Day 1: Decommissioning Decisions and the Redundant Facility Baseline
- End-of-Life Decision Drivers: Obsolescence, Redevelopment, Consolidation and Condition
- Immediate Dismantling Versus Deferred Dismantling With Safe Store Options Appraisal
- Deconstruction, Partial Reuse and Full Demolition Scope Comparison
- Client, Demolition Engineer, Surveyor and Contractor Responsibility Matrix
- Redundant Facility Baseline Record: Drawings, Alterations, Utilities and Occupancy History
Day 2: Pre-Demolition Surveys and Hazard Registers
- Pre-Demolition Structural Engineering Survey and Unplanned Collapse Assessment
- Refurbishment and Demolition Asbestos Survey Scope, Sampling and Register
- Lead Paint, Silica, PCB Equipment and Legacy Chemical Identification
- Post-Tensioned Concrete, Cantilevers and Hidden Load Path Recognition
- Contaminated Plant Hazard Register: Tanks, Pipework, Sumps and Process Residues
Day 3: Isolation, Decontamination and Demolition Method Selection
- Service Disconnection Schedule and Below-Ground Utility Tracing Procedure
- Plant Draining, Purging, Gas-Freeing and Clean-Certificate Procedure
- Demolition Techniques Compared: Hand Dismantling, Mechanical, High-Reach and Controlled Collapse Overview
- Top-Down, Inside-Out and Deconstruction Sequencing for Confined Urban Sites
- Demolition Method Statement Structure and Competent Person Sign-Off
Day 4: Exclusion Zones, Environmental Nuisance, Waste Streams and Contractor Control
- Exclusion Zone Sizing From Debris Fall Distance, Technique and Neighbouring Structures
- Wet Demolition, Dust Suppression and Airborne Fibre Monitoring Arrangements
- Noise and Vibration Limits, Monitoring Points and Neighbour Liaison Log
- Demolition Waste Segregation, Crushing On Site and Recycled Aggregate Recovery Plan
- Demolition Contractor Prequalification, Hold Points and Daily Supervision Checklist
Day 5: Site Walkthroughs and the Decommissioning and Demolition Management Plan
- Redundant Office Block Walkthrough: Survey Gaps and Strip-Out Sequence
- Disused Process Plant Walkthrough: Isolation Points and Decontamination Evidence
- Method Statement Challenge Exercise Against a Scored Review Checklist
- Site Clearance, Ground Condition Record and Handover Certificate Pack
- Decommissioning and Demolition Management Plan Drafting and Peer Review
Skills You Will Gain:
- Decommissioning Options Appraisal
- Pre-Demolition Survey Interpretation
- Asbestos Register Review
- Service Isolation Planning
- Plant Decontamination Verification
- Demolition Method Statement Review
- Exclusion Zone Planning
- Demolition Waste Recovery Planning
Why Attend This Course:
- Return with a Decommissioning and Demolition Management Plan with Method Statement Review for a building or plant you are responsible for
- Recognise the survey gaps, live services and hidden load paths that cause unplanned collapse before a contractor mobilises
- Hold demolition contractors to agreed sequences, hold points and nuisance limits with evidence rather than opinion
- Compare decommissioning practice with peers from commercial property, utilities, manufacturing and process industries
Conclusion:
Retiring a building or industrial facility safely depends on knowing what it is made of, what it still contains and how it will come down before the first machine arrives. The course moves from the decommissioning decision and baseline records, through structural and hazardous materials surveys, to isolation, decontamination and method selection, and then to exclusion zones, nuisance control, waste recovery and contractor supervision. The final day applies these controls in site walkthroughs and produces a Decommissioning and Demolition Management Plan ready for use on a live project.