Three steps to your Building and Pest inspection
You think you’ve found it. You think it’s perfect. You’re just about ready to sign that dotted line on your first property. But forgetting or simply brushing off building and pest inspections on your first property could result in devastating surprises. Here’s all you need to know to organise your inspections.
Step 1: Find a service provider
If you’re looking for a service provider a great place to start is by asking around friends and family for any recommendations. If that fails jump online or grab the phone book and do a bit of research. Look for a provider who conducts their inspections according to the industry’s AS4349.1 and AS4349.3 standards and be sure to shop around for at least two or three quotes. (Expect to pay anywhere around $350 to $450) If you’re looking to save time, most inspection companies provide both services, allowing you to kill two birds with one stone.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Step 2: Inspect
It’s essential to have your inspections carried out before you buy the property. An ideal time to do this is during your cooling off period, during which you have five business days to make sure you’re happy with a property before completely committing to the deal. In some cases the property vendor may have carried out an inspection before putting their property on the market but be sure to examine their provided assessment to be sure of its genuineness, reliability and timeliness.
Step 3: Analyse and assess your options
Most inspection companies provide a full assessment and report within one or two days of the inspection. Problems your inspection might uncover range from dampness, cracking and lack of ventilation to poor tradesmen work or termite infestation. No property is perfect so if a defect is reported this won’t necessarily mean the property is a no-go, it may just require work. Whether you choose to move forward will depend on the severity of any problems and whether measures can be taken to repair or prevent any further damage.
