Perfect Contracting shared expertise at Aging Assets & Decommissioning 2025, presenting practical ways to improve asset handover for safer demolition.
Perfect Contracting was proud to take the stage at the Aging Assets & Decommissioning 2025 conference in Brisbane, hosted by Marcus Evans. Representing the company, Director Mateusz Jedruszek delivered a presentation focused on one of the most decisive factors in demolition and decommissioning (D&D): the timing and discipline of asset handover.
His message was clear: get handover right, and you protect workers, budgets, and schedules. Get it wrong, and projects bleed time, money, and safety margins.
Why Asset Handover Defines Demolition Outcomes
Every demolition and decommissioning project begins with assumptions about site conditions, safety, and readiness. Yet too often, assets are handed over with incomplete surveys, unclear ownership, or optimistic drawings. The result is costly surprises: hidden contamination, unstable structures, or unresolved stakeholder clashes.
Jedruszek emphasised that handover is not a paperwork formality — it is the foundation of execution. The better it is defined, the safer and more predictable the project becomes.
Ten Non-Negotiables for Smarter Asset Handover
Perfect Contracting’s experience on Tier 1 projects has distilled ten lessons that every client and contractor should embed into their processes:
One person in charge – Assign clear ownership for handover on both sides.
Do a closure study early – Modest upfront costs prevent major blowouts later.
Check hazardous materials properly – Intrusive testing uncovers asbestos, PCBs, PFAS, methane, and lead dust.
Double-check all services – Drawings are rarely accurate; verify isolations on the ground.
Make the structure safe first – Temporary works and stabilisation before productivity.
Manage live interfaces – Rail, utilities, neighbours, and heritage must all have a plan and owner.
Respect environment and heritage – Build controls into the method from the start, not bolted on later.
Start with the end in mind – Design methods around client acceptance criteria.
Define “done” clearly – Agree on certificates, clearances, and documentation upfront.
Be ready to execute properly – Organised sites with permits, registers, and supervision run safer and faster.
Case Studies: Lessons from the Field
Horsley Park Brickworks – The Cost of Incomplete Surveys
When Perfect gained access, kilns were still hot, services not isolated, and the hazmat report outdated. Works quickly uncovered friable asbestos, PCB oils, PFAS in drains, methane pockets, and lead dust. The program and budget blew out by three to four times. Lesson: a proper closure study with intrusive surveys would have identified these risks early.
Flour Silo Explosion – Emergency Readiness in Action
After a structural failure at a live flour mill intersected by a rail corridor, Perfect was engaged for emergency dismantling. The team mobilised rapidly, engineered a make-safe approach, and sequenced works around live operations. Strict permits and controls ensured zero incidents and no disruption. Lesson: systems and methodology allow safe speed under pressure.
Heritage Coke Ovens – Balancing Safety and Preservation
At a heritage-listed industrial site, Perfect carried out heavy demolition of coke ovens while protecting retained heritage fabric. With contamination risks and multiple regulators involved, clear governance and sequencing were essential. Lesson: demolition, remediation, and heritage can coexist — but only when interfaces are led and acceptance criteria set from day one.
The Common Traps — and How to Avoid Them
Mateusz highlighted four recurring traps that derail projects:
Light surveys → heavy variations – Superficial surveys miss risks, leading to costly changes.
Services and structures rarely match drawings – Only on-site verification prevents dangerous surprises.
Siloed stakeholders – Without interface plans, rail, utilities, and remediation teams clash and cause delays.
Unclear acceptance criteria – If “done” isn’t defined, scope creep is inevitable.
The solution: verify early, coordinate stakeholders, and define “done” from the outset.
Closure Studies: A Smart Investment
A closure study is one of the best tools an asset owner can deploy before tendering. For a modest cost, it provides a reliable map of site risks and conditions. A comprehensive closure study delivers:
A scope map linking demolition, remediation, and services to the end state.
A contamination and hazmat plan with proven and pending tests.
Verified isolation and structural stability assessments.
A stakeholder and interface matrix with clear ownership.
A methodology sequenced around acceptance criteria.
A risk register with agreed variation triggers.
Permit pathways with realistic lead times.
Budget and program ranges that reflect reality.
A deliverables pack of hygiene clearances, test certificates, waste dockets, isolation certificates, as-built drawings, and a residual chemicals register.
This preparation reduces disputes, controls risk, and enables predictable delivery.
The Asset Handover Readiness Scorecard
To help asset owners benchmark their readiness, Perfect Contracting has developed the Asset Handover Readiness Scorecard. In just a few minutes, the tool highlights gaps, risks, and opportunities across the ten non-negotiables — offering a practical starting point for closure studies or tender strategies.
It is not a substitute for a full closure study, but it acts as a quick health check to guide planning and strengthen collaboration between owners and contractors.
Perfect Contracting’s presence at Aging Assets & Decommissioning 2025 reaffirmed the company’s leadership in demolition, decommissioning, and remediation for Australia’s most complex assets.
Mateusz Jedruszek’s presentation offered an educational and experience-based roadmap: from intrusive surveys and clear ownership to closure studies and acceptance criteria, asset handover discipline is the difference between projects that succeed and projects that stumble.
As Mateusz closed: “It’s not the bit you knock down that gets you. It’s the un-surveyed bit you didn’t know was there.”
To learn more about Perfect Contracting’s expertise, visit our Demolition Services and Remediation Services pages.
Perfect Contracting acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Isander people as Traditional Custodians of the country on which we live and work. We pay our respects to the Traditional Custodians and Elders past, present and future, and honour their connection to the land and ongoing contribution to society.