Canberra Building Inspections – ACT

With regards all property inspections ACT, there is fundamentally a package of five inspections the vendor of a house or townhouse must undertake before they are allowed to put the house/townhouse on the market. Unlike other states, here the vendor engages the building inspector for his residential reports. However, for home units and flats, it is still the purchaser who must order the pre-purchase inspection, though the vendor must still get the below energy rating done.

The five inspections are:

.

1. ACT Building Inspections

Mostly the Building Inspection is about the workability of the home but in relation to its age. A house of ten years age will be expected to have lesser problems compared to a house of thirty years old.  We check not just the structural integrity of the home, and the home’s workability, but our residential reports also check that the electrical and plumbing has basic workability. Do the lights work, the smoke detectors, taps and drains and so on. This kind of ACT property inspection also gives the vendor the chance to fix any problems found. For the seller, it is good to have a property that is workable as it assists his sale price. Most people are proud of their homes when they sell them. So if they need help on how to fix some items we can offer good advice. Also, note from this link here what we do not inspect.

.

2. The Timber Pest Inspection

This inspection covers borer, termites and so on. It includes pest-conducive material that might breed timber pests such as loose timber lying around. The inspection is quite thorough. Again, there is advice available on how to fix anything found. But mostly, Canberra, with its cold winters, does not have the termite problems of others states. However, in saying this, we still need to be vigilant that timber pests do not invade our homes, and we do have a few suburbs where termites are known to nest.

Timber Pest inspections should also include not just current termites and other timber pests. The reports should also include previous damage found, and what is seen as conducive material that would encourage future attack. Such conducive material should include stacks of untreated timber, areas that are damp under a house, as termites like damp areas. Plus one should report on any materials found in construction that are untreated. And lastly, one should mention anything that is seen as dangerous as a result of timber pests. There is more on this subject here: Timber Pests and here as well.

.

.

It should be noted that as vigilant and as professional as one can be, termites have survived through hiding. An unobtrusive inspection has its limits.

.

3. The Energy Efficiency Rating

This is a star system of rating your home so that a buyer can compare one home to another with regards its energy rating. It is true that as homes are newer their ratings are generally better as designers and builders became more aware of energy conservation needs. This rating also has a section which shows how a low energy efficiency rating house can be made into a good rating home. This is so the buyer can evaluate one house to another, new versus old. This report is generated by getting the details from the plans of the home, and then after verifying these against the house on site, the information is entered into a computer program algorithm and that program then explicitly shows what the rating is. There is virtually no room for the inspector to evaluate what he might think. This program is very clear cut, black and white.

.

4. The Compliance Report

This inspection is to simply compare what the government has on record as being approved to be on the property and what is really there. Some structures do not need approval, such as garden sheds, so long as they are not on an easement and so on. We evaluate all that, and then prepare a compliance report. Generally, there are no problems on this report, but the buyer does want to know if the home is all approved or not.

.

5. The Conveyancing File.

Then once all the above is done, the building file history summary is supplied by us, to you, from ACTPLA. The vendor then has a copy of this file in the contract. A copy should also be at the home so that prospective buyer can see in the report any items, and can compare it to what is really there on site. This is a summary of all the pages of plans, with their respective approvals stamped on them, with notices of completions, and Certificates of Occupancy of the premises as issued by ACTPLA.

.

New South Wales: We do inspections in many parts of New South Wales. Of course, we go to Queanbeyan, Googong and so on as part of our regular service. We also inspect at Yass,  Bungendore, and those surrounding areas. We also inspect farm houses, farm sheds and the like.

.

Distance is no problem. We have done inspections in Cooma and Sydney

.

We are the closest  for Building Inspections Canberra in: Kippax, Holt, Belconnen, Macgregor, Florey, Bruce, Flynn, Frazer, Evatt, Gungahlin, Ngunnawal, Mckeller, Spence, Latham, Charnwood, Hawker, Macquarie, Cook, Aranda, Mckellar, Giralang, Kaleen, Lawson, Cook, Hawker, Hall, Nicholls, Grace, and Palmerston. We inspect in all other areas such as Woden, Kaleen, Wright, and Tuggeranong.   We inspect in New South Wales: Boorowa, Bungendore, Cooma, Goulburn, Gundagai, Harden, Jindabyne, Murrumbateman, Queanbeyan, Googong, Sutton, Tumut, Wagga Wagga, Yass, Young and all the other country NSW regional areas.

AUSTRALIA WIDE

If you need inspections done in another state of Australia, that can be arranged as well. We have affiliate organizations in other Australian cities.

ASIA

Commercial inspections can also be done in Asian cities, but sufficient notice needs to be given. To date, a dozen commercial inspections have been conducted in Asia. But as said, these need to be commercial and around 5,000 square meters on up in size.

Are You Selling, or Building?

Click inspection types here for more detail of the  different ACT Building Inspections.

Here’s an inspection page with photographs:

.

.

Read our Statement of Commitment to Quality of Service. Also, read the Statutory Requirements for Pest and Building Inspections Canberra.

.

ACT BUILDING INSPECTIONS

Practical Completion Inspections

Practical Completion is a legal term used to describe the stage of a building’s progress. It is the point here the person could not live in the building. Most builders like to hand the building over to the owner at this stage and get the last major payment.

There are two major types of practical completion inspections. They are:

.

1. The House
2. The Home Unit bought off the plan

.

HOUSES

ACT HOUSE INSPECTIONS

ACT house inspections usually has the owner and builder starting off on a good footing and in apparent amicable agreement. That agreement is strained at times, and by the end of the build, the two parties may not even be speaking to each other. That is not uncommon. Thirty years ago architects were the go-between, using the human element to overcome strained relationships, but today this profession is missing in home builds.

The house builder usually can be expected to attend the practical completion inspection, and it is important for the inspector to also bring these two parties more together. While the inspector is just the inspector, we provide the service where what we want is a good home that the two parties feel is fair to each other. It would be fair to say that as an inspector, often we also end up being a mediator.

If the builder is not present for an ACT house inspection, then the inspection is done very matter of fact and all the items noted needing correction. It is important that drawings be provided if possible. For example, in one home it was found that under floor insulation was in the documentation, but not installed on the job.

These reports can have anything up to fifty to seventy pages of photographs.

.

Authorization Form:

From September 2015, the ACT government require from inspectors a signed authority by the vendor. Please download the form here, fill it in, and return it. This form will be forwarded to ACTPLA when we apply and pay for the conveyancing package set of plans that they send us.

.

DOWNLOAD THE AUTHORISATION FORM HERE

.

UNITS OFF THE PLAN

HOME INSPECTIONS ACT

ACT BUILDING INSPECTIONS

When the building to be inspected is being bought off the plans, the new owner is not dealing with the builder, but rather the managers and sales representatives. They will often try to limit the time allowed to be spent on site to do this inspection. Do not allow yourself to be bullied. The needed time will be taken to do the job.

Things to look out for with home inspections ACT are: You may be told you only have an hour to do the inspection, but your contract will not say that; you may be told certain things are a trade standard where they are not. On one block of units, for example, we found an average of sixty-five items needing to be fixed on all three units inspected for different buyers. A fourth inspection was booked by a fourth buyer but they canceled and having completed the inspection themselves, they informed us that there were no problems with the unit and they did not need an inspector after all. That is their right, but probably was not the best decision they made. Those items needing fixing in the other units would have been needed in the fourth unit as well.

.

.

Special Inspections

You might have a need for a special inspection. These could be anything you can imagine. It could be in an existing home, or it could be to do with a home that is being built.

INSURANCE?

Should you need an inspection for insurance purposes, we can do those. We have also given evidence in court as an expert witness. Contact us if you have a special need for an inspector for any reason.

FIXING YOUR HOME?

If you need help fixing your home, please look at this page here: Recommended services to fix your home: These can help you with plumbing, electrical and bathroom and kitchen remodeling. They can also supply handymen for any of your homes.

.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Network

.

.

.