---
id: KB-CN-011
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/construction/demolition-and-construction-waste
idioma: en
categoria: sector-construccion
subcategoria: demolicion
audiencia: usuario
nivel: avanzado
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-CN-005, KB-NO-003]
citadoPor: [KB-NO-020]
---

# Demolition and construction waste

_What gets thrown away is documented too, and some materials mean stopping before you start._

**Responde a:** construction waste documentation · waste management in a demolition · asbestos on site what to do · evidencing where the rubble went

On a site, what comes in is documented in detail and what goes out barely at all. And what goes out — rubble, stripped materials, hazardous elements — creates its own obligations, with the peculiarity that by the time someone asks, the material is no longer there to check.

## What you must be able to evidence

| Element | What it evidences | When it is produced |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pre-demolition survey | What is there and what is expected to come out | Before starting |
| Identification of hazardous materials | Whether anything requires special handling | Beforehand, by inspection or testing |
| Transfer documents | Where each waste type goes | At every collection |
| Waste contractor's certificate | That it arrived and what was done with it | Afterwards, and it must be chased |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The fourth row is the one left unclosed. The skip leaves, the works move on, and the contractor's certificate arrives weeks later — or never — when nobody is waiting for it. Without it you have evidence the waste left, but not where it ended up, which is exactly what gets asked.

## What means stopping

> [!WARNING]
> If a material appears that requires special handling — asbestos is the commonest case in older buildings, but not the only one — **work does not carry on as if nothing had happened**: there are procedures, specifically licensed firms and dedicated documentation that cannot be improvised or backdated. The expensive mistake is not finding it: it is continuing to work while deciding what to do, because from that moment any later record is compromised.

## How to organise it during the works

1. **The survey, in the file rather than a drawer** — It is the reference against which what actually appears is compared.
2. **Each collection, with its document and a photo** — Thirty seconds at the time; unreconstructable later.
3. **Pending certificates, recorded as pending** — With who issues them. Unrecorded, they are never chased.
4. **And the firms involved, with their licences checked** — Especially where materials require them.

## At completion

**En corto**

- The balance of what was removed against what was expected, with differences explained.
- All destination certificates, closed.
- And the documentation of everyone involved, valid on the days they worked.

That last has a practical consequence: it is not enough that a firm was licensed when you hired them, it must be valid during the days they worked. And that check is yours.

> [!NOTE]
> Which materials require special handling, which licences are needed and what documentation must be kept and for how long depend on the type of works and the applicable rules, which get updated. **Confirm that with your technical adviser or a specialist before starting**; this only describes what to record so that management is evidenced.

**What if the contractor never sends the certificate?**

Chase it in writing and keep the chase: it places you far better than silence.

**Must waste be separated on site?**

It depends on the waste type and your contractor; separating well is usually cheaper even where not required.

**Is the haulier's note enough?**

As evidence of collection yes; the destination is evidenced by the waste contractor.

## Ejemplos

**A company finishes a demolition and months later is asked where the rubble ended up.**

- Records destination certificates as pending at each collection
- Chases the contractor during the works, not at the end

→ Closes the file with every destination evidenced instead of with loose delivery notes.

**Waste leaves the site and the receipt arrives weeks later.**

- Requests and chases automatically

→ The document arrives without being hunted.

**Nobody knows how much has left a project.**

- Checks the history per project

→ The figure comes from the archive.

**Receipts are filed by date rather than by project.**

- Attaches them to the project that generated them

→ You search the way people ask.

**The contractor changes and the history goes with them.**

- Keeps its own copy of every receipt

→ The change does not take the previous years.

**Waste accumulates on site with no date.**

- Records the date when it is set aside

→ Elapsed time is a fact.