Collection and treatment of waste – Obligations for construction and demolition work

General information

Anyone who

• demolishes,
• converts,
• renovates or
• commissions or carries out other demolition work

is obliged to take precautions as per waste law. These obligations include inspections of contaminated sites and buildings, the obligation to dismantle and the obligation to separate construction and demolition waste.

Inspection for contaminants and impurities

The scope of the inspection for contaminants and impurities is hierarchized according to the scope of the demolition project:

• If a demolition project generates more than 750 tonnes of construction and demolition waste, an orienting assessment of contaminated sites and buildings must be carried out by a dismantling expert in all cases as per Austrian standard ÖNORM B 3151.
• If the building has a gross capacity of more than 3.500 m³, assessment of contaminated sites and buildings as per Austrian standard ÖNORM EN ISO 16000-32 must be carried out by an externally appointed specialist or specialised institute.

As part of the (orienting) assessment of contaminated sites and buildings, any parts that can be sent for preparation for reuse must also be documented.

Obligation to dismantle

For demolition projects which generate more than 750 tonnes of construction and demolition waste, demolition must be carried out in the form of recovery-orientated dismantling as per Austrian standard ÖNORM B 3151.

Dismantling means that the demolition of a building generally needs to take place in reverse order to the construction of the building with the aim of sending as many of the materials generated during demolition as possible for reuse, preparation for reuse of components or for recycling. During this process, special attention must be paid to removing contaminants (above all hazardous substances) and impurities (e.g. gypsum-based waste) as well as ensuring that reusable components are removed before any mechanical dismantling is performed.

Austrian standard ÖNORM B 3151 provides for the specific procedure for dismantling and the documentation. A copy of the documentation for the dismantling must be sent by the constructor and any other transferee with the waste when the first load of mineral waste or wood waste is handed over to a third party for the production of recycled construction materials.

Obligation to separate construction and demolition waste

In the case of construction and demolition activities, there is also an obligation to separate the waste produced. The following must be borne in mind for the separation obligation:

• On site, hazardous substances (e.g. asbestos, tar-based materials, [H]CFC-based insulation boards [XPS]) must be separated from hazardous waste.
• Excavated soil, mineral waste, excavated asphalt, wood waste, metal waste, plastic waste and municipal waste must also be separated on site.
• If you are obliged to carry out dismantling, the main components defined in the dismantling plan must be separated on site.
• If the separation at the place of generation is not technically possible or is associated with excessive costs, the separation can be carried out in an approved processing facility.

For new buildings from a total gross capacity of more than 3500 m³, the material groups of excavated soil, mineral waste, wood waste, metal waste, plastic waste and municipal waste must be separated from each other on site. If separation at the place of generation is not technically possible or is associated with excessive costs, it can be carried out in an approved processing facility.

Enterprises affected

• Clients for construction and demolition projects
• Building contractors

Competent authority

The district administrative authority in whose jurisdiction the demolition is carried out.

• The District Authority^{German text}
• in Chartered Cities: the Municipal Administration^{German text}
  • in Vienna: MA (Municipal Department) 22 (→ City of Vienna) ^{German text}

Procedure

The documentation must be submitted to the authorities on request.

Required documents

The requirements for the documentation and the required documents are described in detail in Austrian standard ÖNORM B 3151 and ÖNORM EN ISO 16000-32 among others.

Costs and fees

No fees or charges are payable.

Further information

The constructor is responsible for lawfully carrying out the assessment of contaminated sites and buildings and the dismantling.

This does not mean that the tasks must be performed by this person themselves in all cases; they can also be contractually assigned to other parties. The administrative responsibility cannot be transferred – insofar as section 9 paragraph 2 of the VStG (Austrian Administrative Penal Act) has not been met.

Legal bases

Recycling-Baustoffverordnung (Recycling Building Material Ordinance)

Link to form

ÖNORM B 3151 (→ BMK)^{German text}:

• Form A: Orienting assessment of contaminated sites and buildings
• Form B: Dismantling plan