DeconCut
Frequently Asked Questions
Complex cutting and decommissioning scopes come with complex questions. Here we answer the most common ones around our methods, capabilities, regions and how we work, so you can quickly assess whether DeconCut is the right fit for your project.
1. Where does DeconCut operate?
DeconCut runs from two yards, Granville in Sydney and Slacks Creek in Brisbane, and operates across Australia, up and down the East Coast and beyond. For the right projects, we also mobilise to New Zealand and selected Austro‑Asia / Asia-Pacific locations.
2. What makes DeconCut different from general demolition or cutting contractors?
We focus on complex, high‑risk cutting scopes for heavy industry. Our work is engineering‑led, technology‑driven and integrated with shutdowns, decommissioning and asset upgrades, rather than small‑scale or residential cutting.
3. What cutting methods do you use?
We specialise in wire sawing, hydrodemolition/ultra‑high‑pressure water jet cutting and cold cutting, supported by conventional cutting methods where appropriate. This mix allows us to choose the best method for each part of the scope.
4. When is wire sawing the right solution?
Wire sawing is ideal for cutting large, heavily reinforced concrete and steel sections, particularly where access is restricted or deep, complex cuts are required.
5. What is hydrodemolition and when is it used?
Hydrodemolition uses ultra‑high‑pressure water to remove or cut concrete without creating micro‑cracks. It is used for selective concrete removal on bridges, dams, tanks and other structures where structural integrity must be preserved.
6. What is cold cutting and why is it important?
Cold cutting is cutting without heat or sparks. It is critical in hazardous or explosive environments, such as refineries, LNG plants and chemical facilities, where hot‑work is restricted or prohibited.
7. Can DeconCut help design cutting methodologies before tender or shutdown?
Yes. We offer Cutting Engineering & Decommissioning Methodologies as a service, helping clients design safe, efficient methodologies and sequences before works are committed.
8. What information do you need to provide an initial assessment?
Ideally: drawings, photos, asset type, location, timeframe, operating status (live, offline, hazardous), and any site constraints. Our contact form allows you to upload supporting documents.
9. Do you provide budget pricing or only detailed quotes?
We can provide budget estimates early in planning and then refine them into detailed quotes as scope, methodology and constraints become clearer.
10. How does DeconCut manage safety and environmental requirements?
We operate under a comprehensive safety and environmental framework aligned with Perfect Group systems. This includes detailed risk assessments, SWMS, permit‑to‑work integration, isolation procedures and waste/slurry management plans.
11. How thick can a wire saw cut?
There is no practical depth limit. A wall saw is limited by its blade diameter, but a diamond wire wraps around whatever the pulleys can reach: walls several metres thick, complete beams, machinery and steel sections. On deep cuts the limiting factor is wire storage on the saw, which is why we specify our machines by how much wire they can manage in the cut, not by motor power alone.
12. Can you cut steel structures, not just concrete?
Yes. Diamond wire cuts structural steel, heavily reinforced concrete and composite sections in the same operation. That matters on industrial decommissioning, where a single cut line often passes through plate, rolled sections and concrete together. See our heavy steel and industrial cutting page.
13. Can you dismantle a TBM?
Tunnel boring machines are segmented where they stand, with each piece sized to the crane chart and the shaft opening it must pass through. Diamond wire handles the mix of hardened steel, tungsten and grout that makes up a TBM. The critical work is the staging plan: what carries the load after each cut, and how each segment is restrained before the wire breaks through. See TBM and tunnel cutting.
14. Do we need a hot work permit if you use cold cutting?
That is the point of cold cutting: it produces no heat, no sparks and no ignition source, so it can proceed in hazardous atmospheres and on live tanks and pipelines without a hot work permit and without gas-freeing the asset first. On many oil, gas and petrochemical sites, removing the hot work permit from the critical path is worth more than the cut itself. See cold cutting.
15. What happens to the cutting water and slurry?
Diamond cutting uses water, and that water becomes high pH slurry that state EPAs treat as a pollutant. It never goes to stormwater. We contain slurry at the cut, collect it, and remove it through EPA licensed facilities, with waste separated by stream: concrete to recyclers, steel to scrap, slurry to licensed liquid waste treatment. On sensitive sites the water management plan is part of our methodology submission.
16. Are your water jetting operators trained to AS/NZS 4233?
High pressure water jetting in Australia is governed by AS/NZS 4233, and industrial hydrodemolition equipment operates in Class B, the highest classification. All Class B operators must hold nationally recognised competency (MSMWJ301), and every scope runs with a dedicated safety observer, exclusion zones and independent shutoffs. Wherever possible we favour robotic and remote operation, which keeps people out of the jet zone entirely.
17. Can you cut inside a live operating plant?
Yes, and it is some of the most valuable work we do. Cutting in a live asset means vibration-free methods, physical overcut protection such as stitch-drilled cores, exclusion zones that respect operations, and water controls the asset owner can sign off. Our Prospect Pre-Treatment Plant case study shows a 23 metre wall opening delivered inside an operating Sydney Water plant.
18. Should I use a wire saw or a wall saw?
Wall saws win on precision and flush finishes up to their blade depth. Wire saws win on mass, depth and awkward geometry, with no depth limit. Most complex jobs use both. We compare them with two real projects in this article, and the honest answer is that the choice is made on the drawings, cut by cut.
19. Do you work in regional and remote Australia?
Yes. Specialist cutting is exactly the kind of scope that travels, because the alternative is mobilising heavy demolition plant that many remote sites cannot accept. We plan remote work around equipment redundancy, spares on site and self-sufficient water handling, so a breakdown does not strand the programme. See high hazard and remote projects.
20. Is DeconCut part of Perfect Group?
Yes. DeconCut is Perfect Group's specialist industrial cutting business, with yards in Sydney (Granville) and Brisbane (Slacks Creek). It draws on the crews, plant and delivery record of Perfect Contracting and Perfect Concrete Care, including the projects in our portfolio, under the same safety and environmental management systems.
21. How early should we engage you before a shutdown or outage?
Earlier than feels natural. The biggest savings on shutdown cutting come from moving work outside the outage window: surveys, anchor setting, track mounting and services can often be done while the plant is still running. Engaging us at methodology stage rather than mobilisation stage is the difference between cutting on day one and unloading on day one. See how we plan fixed outage windows.
22. Why do you cut in panels instead of breaking the concrete out?
Because breaking transmits force into the structure that stays, and cutting does not. Panels sized to the crane chart come out vibration free, with clean edges, predictable weights and no microcracking in the retained concrete. On live assets and structures under load, panelised removal is usually the only method the owner's engineers will accept.
DeconCut 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.