From 1 July 2026, approved codes of practice in NSW stopped being guidance. A new section 26A of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) says a business must follow the code that applies to its work, or show that its own method gives an equal or higher level of safety. Here is what that means on a demolition, concrete cutting or concrete repair job.
Our safety team raised this at our latest safety meeting, and it is worth every contractor in NSW reading the fine print. Since the WHS Act started in 2012, a code of practice in NSW was something a court could look at after an incident, to work out what a business should have known and done. It was evidence, not a rule. That changed on 1 July 2026.
The Industrial Relations and Other Legislation Amendment (Workplace Protections) Act 2025 passed the NSW Parliament in June 2025 and inserted section 26A into the WHS Act. The section started on 1 July 2026. A person conducting a business or undertaking now has two options. Comply with the approved code of practice that covers the hazard, or manage that hazard a different way that gives a standard of health and safety equal to or higher than the code.
SafeWork NSW describes the codes as the minimum performance standards a business is expected to meet. The Minister for Work Health and Safety, Sophie Cotsis, said in the Government's release that NSW now has the strongest position on codes of practice in the country. No transition period or grace period has been announced.
The rule in one sentence
Follow the approved code of practice that applies to your work, or be able to show that your own method is at least as safe. Since 1 July 2026 in NSW, and since 2018 in Queensland.
Is this happening in every state?
No. This is often reported as a national change and it is not. Queensland has had the same rule since 2018, under its own section 26A, and NSW has now copied it. Victoria runs a separate system under its Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004. A Victorian compliance code is a safe harbour: follow it and you are taken to have met that part of the duty, but not following it is not automatically a breach. Everywhere else, codes are still admissible evidence of what is known about a hazard and what is reasonably practicable, which is the model WHS law position NSW just moved away from.
Status of approved codes of practice by jurisdiction
The codes that now carry legal weight on our jobs
SafeWork NSW lists 50 current codes. For the work our divisions do, these are the ones that now carry legal weight. The date is the edition SafeWork NSW currently lists.
- Construction work (August 2019)
- Demolition work (August 2019)
- How to safely remove asbestos (December 2022)
- How to manage and control asbestos in the workplace (December 2022)
- Excavation work (January 2020)
- Managing risks of falls at workplaces (August 2019)
- Managing risks of respirable crystalline silica in the workplace (February 2026)
- Managing the risks of plant in the workplace (December 2022)
- Moving plant on construction sites (December 2025)
- Tunnels and shafts in construction (August 2026)
The general codes apply on top of these, including how to manage work health and safety risks, and managing psychosocial hazards at work. The full list, with the current edition of each, is on the SafeWork NSW codes of practice page.
What it means for demolition
The Demolition work code covers the things a demolition contractor already lives by: planning and sequencing, keeping the structure stable at every stage, finding hazardous materials before the first wall comes down, exclusion zones, falls, plant and dust. What has changed is the weight those pages carry. A SWMS that says "we will do it this way" now has to match the code, or carry a written reason why the alternative is at least as safe.
Three areas deserve a hard look on every demolition job in NSW. First, structural stability and temporary works. Propping, sequencing and engineering input are set out in the code and an inspector can now measure a job against them directly. Second, dust. Breaking concrete releases silica, so the silica code applies to demolition as much as it does to cutting, and water suppression on the breaker or the excavator is the obvious control. Third, asbestos. The two asbestos codes cover the survey, the removal method, the air monitoring and the clearance. They were already tight. Now they are the law unless you can prove something better.
What it means for concrete cutting and coring
For concrete cutting, coring and grinding the code that matters most is the one for respirable crystalline silica. SafeWork NSW currently lists a February 2026 edition, so it was already fresh when section 26A started. The code works through the hierarchy of controls: water suppression or on-tool extraction first, isolation of the work area, then respiratory protection and health monitoring where exposure cannot be brought low enough by other means.
The practical test is simple. If a saw or core drill is running dry with no extraction, the business needs to be able to explain why that method is at least as safe as the code. On most jobs that is a hard argument to win. Noise, plant and falls codes sit alongside silica on cutting work, and the confined spaces code comes in when coring in pits and tanks.
What it means for concrete repair and remediation
Concrete repair touches more codes than people expect. Breaking out spalled concrete and concrete cancer is silica work. Facade and balcony repairs are falls work, and the plant code covers the elevated work platforms used to reach them. Epoxy injection, coatings and rust treatments bring in the hazardous chemicals code. Repairs inside pits, tanks and culverts bring in confined spaces.
Temporary works matter here too. Where a repair means removing a section of slab or beam, the same propping and stability logic as demolition applies before anyone starts breaking. The code sets the benchmark, and the method statement needs to show how the job meets it.
What happens if a code is not followed
Not meeting an approved code, without an equal or higher alternative, is a failure of the health and safety duty. SafeWork NSW inspectors can issue improvement or prohibition notices on the spot. Serious cases go to prosecution under the existing offence categories, and an insurance industry briefing we read points out there is no sign the regulator plans a moratorium or soft start.
For a Category 3 offence, the lowest tier, the 2026 to 2027 maximum penalties in NSW are $779,145 for a company, $155,829 for an officer or a sole trader, and $77,914 for a worker. The figures come from Safe Work Australia's current penalty table. Category 1 and 2 offences carry much higher maximums. Directors and managers also hold a due diligence duty, so this is not only a site supervisor's problem.
What we are doing about it
Perfect Contracting, Perfect Concrete Care and Perfect Remediation work across NSW and Queensland, so the comply or justify rule has applied to our Queensland jobs since 2018. The job now is matching every NSW SWMS to the code it sits under, and writing down the reasoning wherever our method differs from the code. Our safety people sit outside production and that is deliberate. You can read how we run safety across the group on our safety page.
Four questions to ask your contractor
If you engage a subcontractor in NSW for demolition, cutting or repair work, four questions are worth asking before they mobilise.
- Which approved codes of practice apply to the scope, and does the SWMS name them?
- Where the method differs from a code, where is the written reason that it is at least as safe?
- What is the dust control on every cut, core and break, and who checks it is running?
- Who signed off the temporary works and propping before the breakout starts?
A contractor who can answer those on the spot is one you can put on a program. One who cannot is a risk to the project as well as to the people on it.
Common questions
Are codes of practice legally binding in Australia?
Only in NSW (from 1 July 2026) and Queensland (since 2018). In both states a business must comply with the approved code or show its own method gives an equal or higher level of safety. In Victoria, compliance codes give deemed compliance but are not mandatory. In the other states and territories, codes are admissible evidence of what is reasonably practicable.
Can we still use our own method instead of the code?
Yes, if you can show it gives an equal or higher standard of health and safety than the code. Write the reasoning into the SWMS or risk assessment before the work starts, not after an inspector asks.
Which codes apply to demolition in NSW?
Demolition work, Construction work, both asbestos codes, Excavation work, Managing risks of falls, the silica code, the plant code and Moving plant on construction sites, plus the general codes on managing WHS risks and psychosocial hazards.
Does dry cutting concrete breach the silica code?
The code puts water suppression and on-tool extraction at the top of the control hierarchy. Cutting dry without extraction would need a documented reason showing it is at least as safe, which is difficult to make out on most sites.
What are the penalties?
Failing a health and safety duty is prosecuted under the existing offence categories. For a Category 3 offence the 2026 to 2027 NSW maximums are $779,145 for a company, $155,829 for an officer or sole trader and $77,914 for a worker. Inspectors can also issue improvement and prohibition notices.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Check the current codes on the SafeWork NSW website for your own work, and get advice on your own situation.
To talk through a demolition, cutting or concrete repair job in NSW or Queensland, call the Perfect Group head office on (02) 7912 2914 or use the contact page.
Sources checked 21 October 2026: NSW Government release, 3 July 2026; SafeWork NSW codes of practice; WorkSafe Queensland codes of practice; Safe Work Australia maximum penalties 2026 to 2027.
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