Unless absolutely unavoidable, the Sukkah should not be dismantled or made unusable until after Shmini Atzeret / Simchat Torah.
Some have the custom for the Sukkah to be decorated. If decorations are hung from the Schach, they should hang no lower than 4 Tefachim (32cm or 12.5 inches) from the Schach. Similarly, decorative chains should droop no lower than 4 Tefachim.
Sukkah decorations are Muktzah on Shabbat and Chag, and no personal benefit may be derived from them until after Shmini Atzeret / Simchat Torah, even if they fall off. However, these prohibitions may be avoided by verbalizing the following stipulation before the onset of Sukkot:
Similarly, the Sukkah walls and Schach are Muktzah on Shabbat and Chag, until after Shabbat Bereishit. One may not derive personal benefit from them in a manner which disrupts their primary use, such as snapping off a sliver of wood to use as a toothpick. [However, one may rest items on, or in, the walls of the Sukkah, since doing so does not disturb their function.]
These restrictions apply even if the Sukkah was dismantled during Sukkot (e.g. a Sukkah at work).
A verbal stipulation is ineffective in permitting the Schach. A verbal stipulation also does not help with regards to the walls of a Sukkah built prior to Chag. However, if a Sukkah is built during Chol Hamoed and will be dismantled before the last day of Chag (e.g. a Sukkah at work), its walls remain permissible, if one verbalized the following stipulation before first sitting in the Sukkah:
All the prohibitions in this section only apply after at least one male over Bar Mitzvah (who is obligated in the Mitzvah of Sukkah) sat in the Sukkah at least once for the sake of the Mitzvah.
