For most Australians, the most significant expense in their lifetime is their home. The risk they can incur by not hiring an INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTOR is something that’s better to avoid.
You shouldn’t brush it off too quickly as well by having a carpenter or builder acquaintance stick their head onto the property. After all, it isn’t an alternative to professionals who conduct inspections every day and know how severe defects can affect your home.
It’s important to note that no home comes without issues. House inspections allow you to make informed decisions about the property you’re considering buying. When an inspector arrives, they check it thoroughly for potential problems, giving you a better idea of what kind of maintenance it might require in the future.
If you’re buying a house, an INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTIONS team might save you a significant amount of money in future repair. It can also prevent you from purchasing a money sinker. However, that’s not the only type of building inspection you can find.
What to Expect at a Home Inspection in Melbourne
During a building inspection in Melbourne, the inspector visually assesses the property’s mechanical and structural systems. These include ceilings, roofs, floors, windows, doors, and more.
Most inspectors first check if the major appliances are in working order. They scrutinize heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, examine plumbing and electrical wiring, and poke around the roof space and subfloor.
Building inspectors are usually thorough in property inspections as the goal is to uncover any issues, even if they are minor. However, they don’t let you know whether you’re getting a good deal or offer opinions on the property’s sale price.
Overall, a thorough inspection of the property should take a couple of hours to finish. If you’re tagging along, the inspector may comment on what he sees during the process. They don’t necessarily determine whether a property is compliant with the Melbourne City Code or Australia’s Building Code and Standards. However, they do follow a standard when it comes to writing a detailed report.
Inspectors don’t comment on anything aesthetic unless it’s a sign of a problem. For instance, they might mention that a ceiling stain indicates water damage. Also, they don’t check parts of the property that aren’t readily accessible. These might require specialized evaluations.
Types of Building Inspections -Melbourne
Most property inspection agencies across Melbourne offer several comprehensive inspections for property buyers and investors. They can provide you with a detailed report that specifies the structural reliability of the house in question. Here are some of the common types of building inspections Melbourne companies tend to offer:
Pre-Purchase Building Inspections – Melbourne
A pre-purchase inspection is a comprehensive visual inspection carried out by a professional inspection at the request of someone looking to purchase a house. In most cases, it’s carried out once both parties sign the contract. It includes assessing the property’s exterior, interior, roof void, sub-floor area, roof, and immediate surroundings.
Hiring a legitimate third-party building inspection company and not one from a real-estate business can prove invaluable. While you may incur some expenses, it brings about peace of mind knowing that you can trust the report of the pre-purchase building agency. After all, they are working in your best interests.
With the information you gain from a pre-purchase building inspection, you can either proceed normally or renegotiate the purchase price depending on what faults the review found.
Timber Pest Building Inspections – Melbourne
A timber pest inspection tries to identify any signs of pest activity or any condition that may be favourable to pests, such as borers, termites, and timber fungal decay. Timber pests usually have detrimental impacts on a property, and most of these result in financial damages.
Experienced professionals carry out these inspections using the appropriate equipment, such as thermal imaging tools, which allow them to identify alarming issues related to pests. A timber pest inspection can let you prevent or identify your house’s damages, but you can also request one for a property you’re interested in.
Remember that not only wood-frame homes are breeding grounds for wood borers and termites. Brick houses with concrete foundations can also be prone to termite damage. This pest only requires a gap of two millimetres to lay and cause significant damage.
Combined Building and Pest Inspections – Melbourne
As the name implies, a building and pest inspection is a combination of the previous two. It’s one of the most solicited inspections as it’s the one that covers most of the usual damages and structural defects a property may present.
You can receive a thorough building and pest inspection and evaluation that provides a detailed report on the property’s internal and external structure, roof exterior and its cavities, and sub-floor. The building inspector also looks for wood decay, which is evidence of termite and wood borers.
