How much does commercial demolition cost in South Carolina?
HomeGuide’s cost guide puts commercial demolition at $4 to $7 per square foot, with debris disposal included in its totals. Its table lists a 1,000 square foot shop at $4,000 to $7,000. A 12,000 square foot warehouse runs $48,000 to $84,000. HomeGuide notes heavy machinery lowers the per foot cost on larger jobs.
South Carolina adds its own steps to that number. A commercial building gets an asbestos inspection first, and the demolition application goes to SCDES before work starts. The local permit and the landfill fees by the ton come on top. Dirt Cheap handles strip mall and church teardowns with full size CASE excavators, and the estimate is free.
Every figure below comes from a published cost guide or a government source. A real number for your building starts with a look at it in person.
What do published cost guides say commercial demolition costs?
HomeGuide puts commercial demolition at $4 to $7 per square foot, and its totals by building type include debris disposal. Fixr’s demolition guide puts the cost to demolish a commercial building at $12,000 to $150,000. Fixr ties that number to the building’s type, size, location and materials.
| Building type | HomeGuide’s published cost |
|---|---|
| Shop, 1,000 sq ft | $4,000 to $7,000 |
| Restaurant, 2,000 sq ft | $8,000 to $14,000 |
| Office, 8,000 sq ft | $32,000 to $56,000 |
| Warehouse, 12,000 sq ft | $48,000 to $84,000 |
| Foundation removal, added | $1 to $3 per square foot |
Each HomeGuide total is the building’s square footage times $4 at the low end and $7 at the high end. A 2,000 square foot restaurant at $4 a foot comes to $8,000, and at $7 it comes to $14,000.
The same guide adds $1 to $3 per square foot for foundation removal. It says asbestos raises the overall cost too. Ask whether each bid takes the slab and footings out, since that line moves the total.
What does SCDES require before a commercial building comes down?
SCDES requires an asbestos building inspection before any commercial building is demolished. A person licensed as an asbestos building inspector does it, within three years of the demolition. The demolition application then goes to SCDES at least 10 working days ahead, even when the inspector finds no asbestos. Each commercial building also needs a $50 demolition project license.
South Carolina’s asbestos rule, Regulation 61-86.1, covers the demolition of any institutional, commercial, public or industrial building. It leaves out residential buildings with four or fewer dwelling units. So a strip mall or a church is always covered. A house follows its own rules, laid out in our guide to house demolition costs in South Carolina.
The building owner hires the inspector. An inspection more than three years old has to be confirmed by a licensed inspector before it counts. When asbestos turns up, the building owner also hires a licensed abatement contractor.
The application goes to SCDES through its ePermitting system. The fees and a copy of the inspector’s report go with it. SCDES issues a permit before the demolition starts.
Regulation 61-86.1 sets a $50 fee for the demolition project license. Every commercial building to be demolished needs one. That includes a building destroyed by fire and one whose inspection found no asbestos.
A building ordered down by a state or local government agency may skip the 10 working day wait. It has to be structurally unsound, in imminent danger of collapse and a threat to public health or safety. The full application, with written reasons, still goes to SCDES for approval before work starts.
What permits and work rules come with commercial demolition?
The building office that covers the property’s address issues the demolition permit. Lexington County’s fee schedule lists it at $21. West Columbia lists $100 for commercial demolition on its published schedule, and the Town of Elgin lists $150. Inside the City of Columbia, call the city for its fee.
Elgin’s $150 permit covers work inside town limits. Our page on demolition work around Elgin covers the Town’s other rules. Call the office for the property before you set a start date.
Before demolition work starts, OSHA rule 1926.850(a) calls for an engineering survey of the structure by a competent person. It checks the framing, floors and walls, and the chance of an unplanned collapse.
OSHA also has every service line shut off, capped or otherwise controlled outside the building line first. That covers electric, gas, water, sewer and the rest. Each utility company involved gets notice in advance.
Pulling footings and slabs out is digging, so South Carolina’s locate law applies. Whoever digs gives SC811 notice 3 to 12 full working days ahead, not counting the day it is given.
How do landfill fees add up on a commercial teardown?
Lexington County’s solid waste fee schedule lists clean concrete at $20 a ton and metal at $28. Mixed construction and demolition debris runs $38 a ton. A load not properly separated, with trash mixed into the debris, costs $56 a ton. Sorting the concrete and metal out of the debris lowers the bill.
| Load on Lexington County’s schedule | Published fee |
|---|---|
| Clean concrete | $20 a ton |
| Metal | $28 a ton |
| Mixed construction and demolition debris | $38 a ton |
| Not properly separated (trash mixed with construction or yard debris) | $56 a ton |
Concrete is heavy, so its rate adds up fast. Ten tons of clean concrete come to $200 at the county rate. Inside a mixed load, the same ten tons cost $380, or $560 in a load not properly separated.
The schedule sends all waste from contractors and commercial customers to the landfill, where these fees apply. HomeGuide’s totals already include debris disposal, so ask whether each bid does too.
Kershaw County runs a construction and demolition debris landfill at 860 Park Road in Cassatt. County rules send contractor debris to the landfill, since its convenience centers are for residents only. Clean broken concrete can also go to a concrete recycling yard. Either way, the debris leaves on our own trucks.
What moves the cost of commercial demolition in the Midlands?
Size sets the base, since HomeGuide’s totals grow with square footage. From there, it moves with the building materials, the number of stories and asbestos. Whether the slab and footings come out matters too, along with room for full size machines and the finish grade.
Size. Two buildings the same size can still land far apart once the details come in. The rest of this list shows why.
Building materials. Steel, brick, block and wood each come apart at a different speed. Fixr says buildings of concrete, brick and other hard materials may cost more to take down than wood ones. Heavier debris also costs more at a landfill that charges by the ton.
Stories. A second or third floor adds height to work down and more debris over the same footprint. More debris means more tons at the landfill.
Asbestos. Fixr notes older buildings have greater chances of containing asbestos, which raises the demolition price. The inspection comes first either way. When asbestos turns up, the building owner hires the abatement contractor separately.
The slab and footings. A thick commercial slab takes more breaking than the slab under a house. Dirt Cheap takes the slab and footings out with full size CASE excavators, and the concrete rubble is loaded out. When the building is already gone and only the concrete is left, see our page on slab and footing removal.
Access. Fixr says a building in a heavily built-up area, with other buildings nearby, can cost more than one standing alone. A tight site means smaller bites and more truck trips. An open lot gives full size machines room to work.
Utilities. Every service line is shut off, capped or otherwise controlled before the first wall comes down. Each utility company sets its own timing, so ask for the disconnects early.
The finish grade. After the slab comes out, the lot gets a finish grade for the next building. The hole where the slab sat gets backfilled first. Around Columbia, lots run from loose sandy Sandhills soil to heavy red clay that holds water. Wet clay can push the grading back after a hard rain.
How do you get a commercial demolition estimate around Columbia?
Start with the building’s address, size, number of stories and what it is made of. Have the asbestos inspection report ready if you already have one. Then a contractor can look at the building and the lot in person and price the actual work.
Dirt Cheap is a family and woman owned demolition and site-work contractor. Our shop sits on Edmund Highway in West Columbia, and we work about 50 miles around it. Larger demolition jobs take us anywhere in South Carolina.
We take down strip malls and churches with full size CASE excavators and dozers. Towns and counties call us for dilapidated and burnt structures too. The debris is loaded out on our own trucks as part of the job.
Ali Jenkinson’s review reads: “Great communication, great price, would work with them again.” Estimates are free, so call (803) 796-4727 and tell us about the building.