Narrow Blocks, Tight Access and the Machine That Fits

People assume demolition is priced by the square metre. It is not, really. It is priced by the hour, and access is what decides how many hours the job takes.

What access actually determines

**Machine size.** A 20-tonne excavator brings a house down quickly and sorts material on the ground as it goes. A 3-tonne machine takes the same building apart in stages. Same result, very different day count.

**Where the trucks stand.** On a driveway is efficient. On the street needs a permit, a traffic plan on busier roads, and someone managing the footpath. In a shared laneway may not be possible at all.

**How the material moves.** Straight into a truck from the machine, or staged into a pile, then barrowed, then loaded. The second one doubles the handling.

**How the perimeter is prepared.** Where the machine cannot safely reach, the work is done by hand first — roof off, sheeting stripped, structure reduced — before any plant touches it.

The measurements that matter on your block

Worth checking before anyone quotes:

- **Narrowest point of side access** — including the gate, the meter box that sticks out, the air conditioner unit, and the tree - **Overhead clearance** — power lines, verandah roofs, low branches - **Ground condition** — what the machine has to cross, and whether it will destroy a driveway or a service run on the way - **Street width and parking** — can a truck stand and load without blocking traffic - **Whether there is a rear laneway** — often better access than the front

Inner Melbourne is the hard case

Single-fronted cottages in Fitzroy, Footscray, Carlton and Yarraville, terraces through the inner north, workers' cottages in Richmond and Collingwood. Frontages of six metres, side access measured in centimetres, laneways designed for a horse and cart, and neighbours whose walls are part of your building.

The method there is different rather than simply slower: hand-strip first, work top-down, prop before cutting, protect the party wall, and stage the loading around whatever access window the street allows.

The other side of it

A 700m² block in Reservoir or Werribee with a driveway to the back fence is the opposite proposition. The big machine comes in, the material is sorted on the ground, and a house that would take a week in Fitzroy is finished in days.

That is why the same house on two different blocks is two very different prices, and why a phone quote from someone who has not stood on your property is a guess.

What to do about it

Nothing, really — you cannot change your block. But you can:

- Get quotes from contractors who actually attend the site - Ask what size machine they intend to use and why - Ask how trucks will be staged and whether a permit is included - Ask what happens if the machine cannot get where they assumed

The last one is the important question. A quote based on access that turns out not to exist becomes a variation on day one, and by then you have no leverage at all.