Do you need a demolition permit in Massachusetts, and what is a demolition-delay bylaw?

Demolition is one of the activities 780 CMR 105.1 lists as requiring a permit, to "construct, reconstruct, alter, repair, remove or demolish a building or structure", and the same rule appears in the residential code for one- and two-family homes (780 CMR 105.1; 780 CMR 51.00 R105.1). Section 107.2.9 requires the site plan filed with the application, in the case of demolition, to show the construction to be demolished and the location and size of the structures and construction that will remain (780 CMR 107.2.9). Towns draw the line between a permit for demolition and an ordinary building permit in their own words: Somerville says an interior gut requires a building permit, not a demolition permit, while a total teardown requires a demolition permit (Somerville ISD). Plymouth requires an approved zoning permit before a demolition application and publishes a demolition packet; Grafton's demolition permit comes with a debris disposal affidavit and an owner authorization form; Attleboro posts a demolition checklist and Hingham a demolition sign-off form (Plymouth; Grafton; Attleboro; Hingham Building Department).

A demolition-delay bylaw is a local by-law, adopted by the town, that puts the historical commission between the applicant and the demolition permit for older or significant buildings. Hingham's is a worked example. It covers "regulated buildings or structures", those listed on the National or State Register of Historic Places, buildings within 200 feet of a historic district boundary, and structures in the town's historic asset inventory or designated by the Historical Commission, and excludes buildings inside a local historic district, which are governed instead by M.G.L. c. 40C. The Building Commissioner forwards a demolition application to the Commission within seven days; the Commission decides within 30 days whether the building is historically significant; if it is, the applicant submits a demolition plan within 60 days and the Commission holds a public hearing and files a written report within 60 days more; and if the report recommends preservation, the permit is withheld for six months from the filing of the report unless the owner shows an unsuccessful effort to find a preservation-minded buyer. Repair and renovation projects that leave the appearance substantially unchanged are excepted, as is emergency demolition for a serious and imminent threat to public safety with the inspector's approval (Hingham Demolition Delay By-Law).

Other towns run the same review with their own thresholds. Essex sends every demolition application to its Historical Commission whatever the building's age (Essex Building Inspector); Lynnfield publishes the list of properties subject to its demolition-delay by-law (Lynnfield Building Department). The delay is a pause, not a veto: when it expires the building official may sign the permit. Whether your town has a bylaw, what age or listing triggers it and how long the delay runs are questions for the town's historical commission page, linked from most building department pages.

MassDEP's asbestos regulation, 310 CMR 7.15, requires anyone planning a project involving asbestos abatement, removal or disposal to notify MassDEP and the Department of Labor Standards at least ten working days before beginning work, and to file a construction and demolition notification for any C&D project "except in a residential building with fewer than 20 units"; MassDEP also tells owners to check with the town's board of health, building inspector and fire department for local approvals (MassDEP asbestos, construction and demolition notifications). Towns fold that into the permit: Swansea requires Board of Health notification for hazardous material disposal on a demolition, thermostat mercury, oils, lead and asbestos, and Newton, since 1 July 2026, requires every full demolition to control dust with water from a truck or hydrant meter through hoses of at least 1.5 inches, on pain of a three-day stop-work order (Swansea Permits; Newton Inspectional Services).

The owner or the owner's authorized agent applies (780 CMR 51.00 R105.3). On an owner-occupied one- or two-family home the homeowner exemption from the construction supervisor licence applies to demolition as to other building-permit work, with the homeowner acting as supervisor of anyone hired (780 CMR 110.R5); otherwise the chapter requires a licensed construction supervisor or licensed designee to be present on site to approve demolition involving the elements it lists, foundations and structural members among them (780 CMR 110.R5). Disconnecting and capping the gas, and the electrical service, is trade work under the gas fitter's and electrician's own permits (plumbers and gas fitters fact sheet; electricians fact sheet).