Deconstruction & salvage

Choose what is worth recovering

Start with a shortlist of items you want to keep, donate or sell: cabinetry, doors, hardware, fixtures or other materials suitable for a future use. Ask the assessor and receiving organization to review condition and suitability before relying on recovery. An attractive item may still be unsuitable for reuse because of its condition, dimensions or material concerns.

Photograph the shortlist, record measurements and identify its intended destination. The aim is a manageable recovery plan with a real next use for each item.

Confirm acceptance before scheduling collection

A donation or resale assumption should become an actual agreement before it shapes the demolition programme. Confirm the receiver's current criteria, available space and collection arrangements. Ask what happens if an item is damaged during removal or declined when it arrives.

Identify who owns the recovered material, who pays for careful removal, and who handles storage and transport. Do not count an estimated resale value, donation receipt or tax benefit as a guaranteed saving in the project budget.

• Keep: identify the future location and storage responsibility.
• Donate or sell: confirm a receiver and agreed collection window.
• Recycle: confirm the material stream and facility acceptance.
• Dispose: identify the fallback when recovery is not feasible.

Make careful removal a priced part of the scope

Ask for recovery work as a defined part of the proposal, including the expected condition on handover. Separate it from general removal so you can judge whether the extra handling fits the item's value to you. Include protection, labelling and transport where they are needed.

Have the contractor establish a suitable sequence alongside the structural and material assessments. A wish to save a finish or fixture should not bypass specialist review or expand the work beyond the agreed plan.

Measure the outcome you can actually show

List recovered items and their destinations. Request available receiving records for recycled or disposed materials. These support a useful account of what happened without claiming an unmeasured diversion rate.

Calgary example: the City's commercial waste guidance distinguishes recyclable wood from other wood products and applies material-specific acceptance conditions. Verify the receiving site's criteria before treating every timber load as the same recycling stream.

Source: City of Calgary — Commercial landfill materials and rates