For demolition workers and the supervisors who run their crews: confirm the job is ready to start, control openings, chutes and debris drops, keep the structure stable as it comes down, and stay clear of mechanical demolition hazards.
Based on OSHA 29 CFR 1926 Subpart T, Demolition (1926.850, 1926.851, 1926.852, 1926.853, 1926.854, 1926.856, 1926.857 and 1926.859) · about 7 min read
Need proof of training? The full course (20 min) adds practice questions, a job scenario, the final quiz and a certificate your employer can verify.
Before employees are allowed to start demolition, a competent person must make an engineering survey of the structure. It checks the condition of the framing, floors and walls, and the possibility of unplanned collapse of any part of it.
Any adjacent structure where employees may be exposed must be checked the same way.
The employer must have written evidence that the survey was done.
Damaged buildings
When employees are required to work inside a structure damaged by fire, flood, explosion or other cause, the walls or floor must be shored or braced.
Supervisors: ask to see the written survey before you send your crew in.
Before demolition work starts, all electric, gas, water, steam, sewer and other service lines must be shut off, capped, or otherwise controlled, outside the building line. Any utility company involved must be notified in advance.
If power, water or other utilities must stay on during demolition, those lines must be temporarily relocated as necessary and protected.
What was in the pipes and tanks?
It must be determined whether hazardous chemicals, gases, explosives, flammable materials or similar dangerous substances were used in any pipes, tanks or other equipment on the property. When they are apparent or suspected, testing and purging must be done and the hazard eliminated before demolition is started.
Glass
Where a hazard exists from fragmenting glass, that hazard must be removed.
Employee entrances to multi-story structures must be completely protected by sidewalk sheds or canopies, covering at least 8 feet out from the face of the building. All such canopies must be at least 2 feet wider than the building entrances or openings (1 foot wider on each side) and able to sustain a load of 150 pounds per square foot.
Use only the stairways, passageways and ladders designated as access. Other access ways stay entirely closed at all times.
Wall openings
Where you could fall through a wall opening, it must be protected to a height of approximately 42 inches.
Dropping debris through floor holes without a chute
The landing area must be completely enclosed with barricades not less than 42 inches high and not less than 6 feet back from the projected edge of the opening above.
Warning signs for falling materials go up at each level.
No removal from the lower area until debris handling ceases above.
Other floor openings
Openings not used as material drops must be covered with material strong enough for any load that may be imposed, and secured so it cannot move by accident.
Floor openings within 10 feet of any wall being demolished must be planked solid, except when employees are kept out of the area below.
Material may not be dropped outside the exterior walls of the structure unless that area is effectively protected. A chute is the usual way.
Guardrail
Any chute opening where workers dump debris needs a substantial guardrail approximately 42 inches above the surface they stand on.
Toeboard or bumper
Where material is dumped from mechanical equipment or wheelbarrows, each chute opening needs a securely attached toeboard or bumper not less than 4 inches thick and 6 inches high.
Openings and closures
A chute at more than 45° from horizontal is entirely enclosed except for openings with closures at or about floor level. Openings are no more than 48 inches high along the chute wall, and below the top floor they stay closed when not in use.
Discharge gate
Each chute has a substantial gate at or near the discharge end. A competent employee is assigned to control the gate and the backing and loading of trucks.
Discharge area
When operations are not in progress, the area around the discharge end must be securely closed off.
Exterior walls and floors come down starting at the top and moving downward. Each story is removed and dropped into the storage space before removal starts on the story below. The exception is preparatory work, such as cutting holes for chutes or drops and preparing storage space.
Leave the supports alone
Structural or load-supporting members on a floor are not cut or removed until all stories above have been demolished and removed. Cutting floor beams to dispose of materials or install equipment is still allowed when the rules for floor openings and manual floor removal are met.
Walls
A wall section more than one story high may not stand alone without lateral bracing, unless it was designed and built to stand on its own and is in safe enough condition to support itself.
All walls are left stable at the end of each shift.
No one works on top of a wall when weather makes it hazardous.
Masonry may not fall onto floors in masses that exceed what the floors can safely carry.
Openings cut in a floor for disposing of materials may be no larger than 25 percent of the aggregate total floor area, unless the lateral supports of the removed flooring remain in place.
Floors weakened by demolition must be shored to safely carry the load the demolition will put on them.
Waste and debris stored on any floor may not exceed the allowable floor loads.
Mechanical equipment is not used on a floor or working surface unless it is of sufficient strength to support the load.
Floor openings need curbs or stop-logs so equipment cannot run over the edge.
When balling or clamming is being done, no workers are allowed in any area that can be adversely affected. At other times, only the workers needed for the operation are allowed in that area.
The demolition ball
Its weight may not exceed 50 percent of the crane's rated load (based on boom length and the maximum angle it will be used at), or 25 percent of the nominal breaking strength of the line it hangs from, whichever is less.
The crane boom and loadline are kept as short as possible.
The ball is attached with a swivel-type connection and by positive means so it cannot come loose by accident.
Pulling walls over
All affected steel members are cut free first.
Roof cornices and other ornamental stonework are removed first.
The first survey is not the last look. During demolition, a competent person makes continuing inspections as the work progresses, looking for hazards from weakened or deteriorated floors or walls, or loosened material.
When a hazard is found: no employee may work there until it is corrected by shoring, bracing or other effective means.
Workers: if a floor sags, a wall cracks or material is hanging loose, stop and tell the competent person.
Reference: 29 CFR 1926.859(g)
Need proof of training? The full course (20 min) adds practice questions, a job scenario, the final quiz and a certificate your employer can verify.
Fact-checked against the regulation text on October 09, 2026. This certificate records completion of awareness training based on OSHA 29 CFR 1926.850, 1926.851, 1926.852, 1926.853, 1926.854, 1926.856, 1926.857 and 1926.859. It is not an OSHA card or license, and it does not make anyone a competent person. Subpart T has no training paragraph of its own, and this certificate does not by itself meet the general training requirement of 29 CFR 1926.21(b)(2). Your employer must still instruct you in the recognition and avoidance of unsafe conditions and the regulations applicable to your work environment to control or eliminate any hazards.
This guide explains the rule in plain words. Always read the regulation itself and your employer's site-specific procedures.