Questions and Answers
Frequently Asked Questions
The costs are on the Inspection Prices page. But the Building Inspection ACT Pre-Purchase package is $1,297, plus GST, and that includes the fees to the ACT government. The average standard building inspection then is $547, plus GST. There is extra for travel and so on for long trips.
If the house is really big there should be more. I like to be fair so we can talk about it if the house is big and out of the metro area and interstate. All Building and Pest Inspectors are registered here at Access Canberra. Our number is 111.
The inspection takes one to two hours depending on the size of the property. If it is rural one must inspect a long way from the house for termites and so on. In Metro areas it less time and apartments are relatively short in time.
The real time in the pre-purchase package is getting the files from ACTPLA and for those we need the authorization form sent to us. You can download those forms from the front page.
There are tips listed on other pages how to do well on inspections. There is no overall pass, however. If there are termites, they need to be remedied. Termites can live a street away, and they are a natural way of decomposing timber. Any home can end up with them.
But if you want a good clean inspection, call me when the building is free of obstruction, inside, outside and underneath and in the overhead ceiling. All that obstruction goes in the report. But look, let’s be reasonable. If you have to fix a leaky tap, after the inspection, fix it and I will return to see it is no longer a problem.
The hours are Monday to Friday and I do not arrive on site before 10 am. I do inspections no later than 3 pm. That way I am out of your home at proper hours of sunlight and not burdened by traffic.
Yes. I am a Class A Builder in ACT, with a Bachelor Degree of Architecture from the University of Western Australia. I also have had building licenses in Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia and I have practiced as an architect overseas.
Further, I have worked for a Tier 1 construction company, in Australia, and I have worked inspecting commercial property overseas. This site is written and built by me. For more information on me: See here
I prefer internet bank transfer. It is easier than cash. But I will accept cash. I do not take credit cards, but there is a PayPal Me button on the top left of each page, next to the social media icons. Credit cards can be used there, as Paypal takes credit cards.
I generally ask, that if I do the building inspection fast, and I can, that they pay me just as fast. Social people like this. I will send the invoice when I send the report. You pay when you get the invoice. I send the receipt as soon as I get paid.
You may need that receipt for settlement. It can all be done fast with the internet. The report writing takes several hours in all. I like to get the inspection, and all the reports, done on the same night as the inspection. Then I can send the invoice and be fresh for the next inspection the next day.
I do not need to charge anything extra for fast work.
Yes. But it depends if I have something else already planned or not. Furthermore, if I am promised that I get the payment fast upon sending the invoice, well… why not? But I try to keep the weekend free. I am a one man show here, but I can do it if you are in a tough spot.
Yes, but only if there is no other inspections booked. But not for an ACT Pre-Purchase package. It takes time to get the government to email the plans out to me, and you also need to sign a form that allows me to order those plans.
But the ACT government does have an emergency express price, so they can send the plans as a priority. And yes, it costs them more to do it. I pass that cost onto you. Funnily, I have only once been asked to use that service. See the prices page for more information on costs.
Yes. By law, every inspector must have insurance. And, the termite inspection template I use is the exact one recommended by the insurance company.
Yes. And note, my reports are short, and they comply. Long winded reports are not so valuable.
This can be tricky. It depends on your contract. If it is a new house and the builder will not fix real living conditions, such as a leaky roof, please contact the Department of Fair Trading.
Yes. Of course. These inspections can be quickly out of date. In ACT a seller’s inspection report can be used for six months and what was relevant when the inspection was done may not be so when the buyer buys.
For example, if a seller wants an inspection, and gets it, but then does a lot of work on the house, that work might not be in the inspection report the potential buyer is reading.
Furthermore there can be storm damage, flashings changed, vermin damage, roofs and guttering damaged, and even fixtures damaged as the original owner or tenants leave. So we recommend always getting a second inspection, and by another, prior to settlement as part of any property buyer’s due diligence.
