02 Jul The importance of the demolition trade in modern society

Old buildings fall, new buildings are raised.

It has been this way for thousands of years. In modern, western society, the pace of this change is ever-accelerating. There doesn’t appear to be a week that goes by without a city experiencing a demolition project of its own.

You probably won’t notice such smaller projects, except perhaps when a road is closed, or your car gets covered in dust from a demolition site, carried by the wind hundreds of metres away. You definitely will notice larger projects though, which often have high fences sealing them off and yellow tape saying “site danger” or similar.

Something else you may notice is the people on site. For you see, as a modern industry, demolition has been largely untouched by automation. The machines, for example, are operated by people. The sites are managed by people. And those people are managed – you guessed it – by more people.

Employment

Which brings us onto our first reason for why the demolition trade is important in modern society: employment.

The demolition industry is part of the construction industry. Statistics from the Office of National Statistics show the number of firms operating in the industry is rising, and also that construction-related employment is rising. This is a trend felt across the construction sector, including in the demolition sector.

It stands to reason that with more construction, comes more demolition. But not just demolition – also site clearance and groundworks. After all, converting old ground into new ground suitable for a development is specialised work.

Skilled people need skilled work and the demolition sector provides that. It’s a specialised area of construction and a rewarding one too. In 2017, there were approximately 2.4 million workers employed in the construction sector.

The economy

Employment is directly linked to the economy, so it makes no wonder demolition and the construction sector is a vital cog in the wheel.

Statistics show the construction sector contributes more than £110 billion per annum to the UK economy, which is around 6-7% GDP. This is a considerable amount, when you also consider that the number of businesses operating in the sector is 1 million. The return these businesses generate, then, is huge.

But, it’s important to remember this would be nowhere near as high without the demolition industry which plays a crucial role in many projects.

Some of the services we provide, for example, include:

• Demolishing high rises, houses, office blocks
• Demolishing old, dilapidated buildings
• Demolishing buildings that do not comply with planning laws
• Clearing old sites
• Clearing fresh ground. This can include removing large quantities of earth and filling the hole back with something harder
• Pre-construction advice
• Asbestos removal
• Asset recovery. For example, copper wiring
• Temporary works. For example, to close a street
• Bulk excavation. For example, to remove land waste

Whether contracted as part of a larger construction project, or as a standalone project, demolition plays an essential role in the sector. Without this skilled work, the simple truth is stuff just wouldn’t get done.