Staged Strip Out, Asbestos and Lead Dust Removal, 1a Lyons Road, Drummoyne

Status: completed July 2026. Client: Lords Group Commercial NSW Pty Ltd. Location: 1a Lyons Road, Drummoyne. Scope: staged strip out of two multi storey buildings on a former aged care site back to structure, with non-friable asbestos removal, lead dust affected ceilings, temporary power and lighting, and investigative demolition openings for the next stage.

Lords Group engaged Perfect under an early contractor involvement arrangement to take two buildings back to structure before the redevelopment design was finished. That meant the strip out ran in stages: the buildings were opened up, the client's engineers and architects looked at what they had, asked for investigative openings, and released the next stage when they were ready. About 16 weeks of work on site were spread across a programme from November 2025 to July 2026.

What the job involved

• Hazmat pre-start against the register for both buildings, with further sampling of the ceiling spaces to confirm the lead classification before work started
• Non-friable asbestos removal under a documented control plan, with clearance by the independent licensed assessor before the strip out followed into each area
• Removal of lead dust affected ceiling material under continuous air monitoring, with the controls set to the sampled level and the areas already recorded as high kept under full lead controls
• Full internal strip out of both buildings: ceilings, partitions, floor tiles and screed, carpets, joinery, fixtures and redundant services
• Removal of cement render from columns and walls back to the brickwork
• Investigative demolition openings to slabs, walls and finishes so the client's engineers could confirm the structure, with temporary propping and edge protection at each one
• Temporary power and lighting installed through both buildings after the permanent services were disconnected, with power boards and lighting on every floor
• One passenger lift kept live and protected for moving plant, tools and material between floors
• Steel and copper segregated for recycling, plasterboard and mixed material to licensed facilities on tracked dockets

What made it hard

There was no final design when we started, so the job could not be run as one continuous programme. The crew came off site while decisions were made and came back when the next stage was released, and every return started with a fresh pre-start because the buildings had changed. The same supervisor and the same core crew came back each time, so the client dealt with people who already knew the buildings.

Both buildings carried non-friable asbestos and lead dust in the ceiling spaces, and the permanent power had been cut before we started, so nothing could happen on any floor until temporary power and lighting were in. The site itself is a tight suburban block: one access point off the street, neighbours on every side and a single laneway for the bins.

How it was run

Hazmat first. The ceiling spaces were sampled again before the strip out started, and the results allowed the lead affected material to be handled under a lower classification than the original register, under continuous air monitoring. The non-friable asbestos came out under the control plan with the assessor's clearance in hand before the strip out moved into each area.

Then the strip out ran top down and bottom up as the client's sequencing allowed: ceilings and services first, then partitions and joinery, then the floor tiles and screed broken out by compact machine and the column render taken back to brick. As the engineers worked through their design, the crew cut the investigative openings they asked for, propped and edge protected each one, and left it clean so it could be measured and photographed. Material went out through the laneway to bins in the yard, sorted so steel and copper went to the recycler and plasterboard and mixed waste went to the licensed facility.

How it went

Both buildings taken back to structure. Asbestos and lead affected material gone with clearances in hand. Investigative openings cut, propped and handed over for the client's engineers. Temporary power and lighting left in place for the next stage.

If you have something similar

Buildings that need to come back to structure before the design is finished, with asbestos or lead in the ceilings, are what Perfect Strip Out and Demolition does most. Have a look at our commercial strip out, ceiling space decontamination and demolition pages, or just get in touch and tell us what you are dealing with.