The demolition is the tearing down of buildings and other structures, as opposed to the construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking apart a building while carefully preserving valuable elements for reuse.

For small buildings such as houses, which are only two or three floors, demolition is a fairly simple process. The building is demolished, either manually or mechanically using large hydraulic equipment: platforms for high labor, cranes, excavators or bulldozers. Larger buildings may require the use of a wrecking ball, a heavy weight on a cable that is swung by a crane on the side of buildings. Wrecking balls are especially effective against masonry, but are less easily controlled and often less effective than other methods. New methods may use rotational hydraulic shears and silenced rock-breakers attached to excavators to cut or drill into wood, steel and concrete. Using scissors is especially common when flame cutting would be dangerous.