Knock Down Rebuild Cost Calculator

How the knock down rebuild estimate is built

Most knock down rebuild “from” prices are the house only. They leave out the part that makes a KDR a KDR: getting rid of the existing one. This calculator starts there. Demolition is a fixed line, with asbestos removal added unless the house is post-1990, because on Sydney's fibro and brick-veneer stock the hygienist finds it far more often than not.

The new home is priced per square metre at a knock down rebuild rate, which sits a little above a vacant-block custom home because the site is never quite clean, then scaled for finish level, storeys, slope and access. Site works take 6.5% of the build plus fixed allowances for retaining and reactive clay. Approvals use the selected council's typical CDC or DA fee, the s7.12 levy at 1% of the build, and HBCF insurance. Contingency sits at 8.5%, GST at 10%, and rent while you build is shown as its own line so you can see the true cost of the year out of the house.

What it cannot know is your soil and your survey. Those two documents, about $7,000 between them, are the difference between this range and a fixed price. We run both before we quote. If the numbers here look workable, that is the next step, and the knock down rebuild cost guide walks through every line in more depth.