CANBERRA BUILDING INSPECTIONS ACT, & NSW
Selling or Buying your Home? You Need an Inspection now? Try My Canberra Building Inspections ACT.
0418 388 911
Open Monday – Friday 9 am – 5 pm.
Often Canberra Building Inspectors are not Registered Builders, but at My Canberra Building Inspections ACT we are.
At My Canberra Building Inspection ACT our work is in ACT, Canberra and nearby NSW. We do house inspections in the main. However, we also inspect houses, home units, townhouses, shops, offices, and factories.
Plus, we inspect almost anything you think you can use us for. We also provide expert witness testimony.
The Legislated House Inspection Package
In ACT, any house put on the market must have its package of building inspections. However, this can apply to some townhouses as well. The four inspections in the sale package for ACT are listed below. Other states do not have all this exactly.
It is the vendor who must supply these in ACT. Our price for this package is from $1,397 plus GST of 10%. See our pricing page for more information. However, our prices are for average sized properties in an average condition. Contact us at My Canberra Building Inspections ACT.
So, for home units, most apartments and flats, the purchaser arranges all these as needed. However, the vendor of these must still get the below energy rating done in ACT.
Here are the five:
1. ACT Building Inspections
The inspection is mostly about the workability of the of the house in relation to its age. A forty year old house is viewed slightly differently to that of a two year old house. The structural integrity is looked at, as is a basic workability of the electrical and plumbing items.

Bad piers under a house – My Canberra Building Inspections ACT
On the right is a correct pier. On the left is a pier that is dangerous and was only one of several hastily put together.
We turn on and off power points and stoves and ovens and hotplates. However, we do not test dishwashers, farm pumps or solar panels. We check that lights turn on and off. Do the smoke detectors work? Though, we do not test NBN or security.
For the seller all this assists their sale price when the buyer knows the house works. Most people are proud of their homes. If a seller needs help on how to fix some of these items, we can give free advice. We can also give free professional handyman referrals. See this page.
Our price for just the home inspection alone is $577 plus GST for an average size house.
2. The Termite and Timber Pest Inspections
Here we cover the mandated timber pests, meaning fungi, borer, termites and so on. With the Canberra cold the wood also sometimes rots as it freezes and expands. We need to also search for termites, and that they stay out of our home. No one wants an infestation. Canberra and rural New South Wales are high risk termite prone regions. Fortunately, the cold can keep some of the termite problems down.

Borer hole in a tree – My Canberra Building Inspections ACT
Borers in trees also have to be reported.
The inspection will also mention materials found conducive to having termites live there, or being food for termites. Damp areas in the house are looked at. Please consider valid all warnings in our reports.
Timber Pest inspections should also include not just current termites and other timber pests. The reports should also include previous damage found. Plus, what is seen as conducive material that would encourage future attack. Such conducive material should include stacks of untreated timber, and areas damp under a house, as termites like damp areas. Plus one should report on any materials found in construction that are obviously untreated.

Fence of timber falling apart – My Canberra Building Inspection.
Fungal decay causes backyard fences to fall apart. This is not uncommon, but must go in the report.
Access Inhibitions
The report should note the site access and its limitations. Termites have often survived through hiding.
This is a visual inspection only. However, an unobtrusive inspection has its limits. Furniture can hide pests. And the inspector does not have a duty to move furniture, timber, bricks or anything else. He may, however, note what he could not see, and why. Then he can recommend an intrusive test if needed. But in saying this our inspector is professional. For more information: See this page.
Our price for the Building and Timber Pest Package is $797 plus GST. This also applies to nearby NSW as well as ACT.
3. The ACT Energy Efficiency Rating
This is a report from a computer-program, of which there are different versions in Australia. Contact us and we will give you our best advice. It is part of the overall mandatory building inspection package for ACT. Those who do the ratings are Building Assessors. Why pay more?
Why The EER report
Newer homes have been built with more energy efficient materials and designs. The report also has a section that shows how an owner can increase the energy efficiency of their home. This is so a buyer can evaluate one home from another. Thus a buyer knows what he or she is buying in relation to energy efficiency.
The report gives ratings in stars. For example, a three star property is not as energy efficient as a four or five star property. There is little room for the building assessor to evaluate the report. It is simply what it is. For more information: See this page.

Reduced insulation in your Energy Efficiency Rating, by My Canberra Building Inspections ACT.
Much of this blown-in insulation has blown out over the years. It might state there is to be 75 mm on the plans, but there is 25 mm or less now.
4. The ACT Compliance Report
This inspection is to look at what was approved by the ACT Planning Authority, now known as Access Canberra. We compare what was approved to be there to what is there now. Were all building additions approved? Were all the backyard changes approved? Such as the sheds and pergolas, were they approved or are they exempt from approval? This is all evaluated and put in the report. The report is precise.
What is looked for are unapproved-structures on the site. This affects the buyer, by way that insurance companies generally will not insure unapproved structurers. For more information: See this page.
This inspection is part of the overall overall mandatory building inspection package for ACT.
Commercial Compliance Reports
The compliance report is also recommended for all major commercial building inspections.
Some councils make this easy, but the smaller the council in NSW the more difficult it might be. Access Canberra is easy to work with. Why pay more?
5. The ACT Conveyancing File
Then, once all the above is done, the building file history summary is supplied by us, to you. We buy this from Access Canberra and supply a copy of it to you. The vendor then has a copy of this file in the contract for the buyer. A copy should also be at the home during open house, so that any prospective buyer can see items reported. Thus, buyers can read the report and see how compares to what is really there on site.
This conveyancing file includes a summary of all the pages of building plans plans, with their respective approvals stamped on them.
For NSW councils it can be more difficult. However, we always advise that someone obtain these for any buyer. Even the buyer’s legal conveyancer can obtain these.
For more information: See this page.
Commercial Inspections
Commercial inspections can be, as examples, of a shop, motels, or a medical centre. These are not uncommon. We have inspected buildings up to ten stories. Existing buildings they can be a swiftly inspected. Shops and offices are usually open, without much furniture, with little vegetation.
We also inspect factories, and even pups, small or big. But if big they may also need an engineer or a professional roofing plumber to check out the roofing. Such professionals will often be recommended on bigger properties with the applicable reasons for that property.
Commercial Inspections can also be a development off-the-plan. This gets more complicated as that requires plans to be sent to us, and what the buyer is contracting. This can also include looking at common areas. Also, see this page.
Generally a small shop costs $577 plus GST, but can cost more depending on the building, its size, and where it is. We recently did a pub a few hours out from Canberra.
Special Inspections
These inspections are anything from legal needs, insurance, court attendance, a call out for a second opinion, just to know what is happening with their house. Generally these are $647 plus GST. The report writing is longer and the inspection needs more time on site explaining what is there, and why, with the client.
Some of these inspections are simply because the client is worried about some work done by others. Occasionally these inspections are done for legal cases and they cost more. Some are done for submitting to legal bodies in ACT or NSW. There is also Expert Witness testimony.
Please see this our prices page, and here: See this page.

Repaired wall – My Canberra Building Inspections ACT.
This client just wanted to know, what was this discolouring from.