The building and pest inspection before you buy
This is the one moment where a few hundred words in a report can change what you pay, or whether you buy at all.
Two inspections, often sold as one
A building inspection reports on the condition of the structure and its elements. A timber pest inspection, carried out to AS 4349.3, reports on termites, wood-boring insects and fungal decay. They are commonly booked together as a building and pest inspection, and are sometimes carried out by different people on the same visit.
Check that both are actually included and that the timber pest component is being done to the standard. It is the part with the most money attached.
What the report should contain
- Findings of activity: live termites, or evidence of them, and where.
- Damage found, and whether it appears structural.
- Evidence of previous treatment, including any termite management notice in the meter box.
- The management system present, if any, and its apparent condition.
- Conducive conditions. The moisture, drainage, bridging, ventilation and timber-in-ground problems.
- Areas not inspected, and why.
Read the last item first
The list of inaccessible areas is the single most important part of the document, and it is the part almost everyone skips. It tells you where the inspector could not look. And therefore where the report is not evidence of anything.
A subfloor with no clearance. A roof void with no hatch. A wall behind fixed cabinetry. A perimeter buried under a garden bed. A locked shed. If that list is long, the clear result on the front page covers less of the house than you assumed.
When you can, act on it: ask the vendor's agent for access to be provided. Or ask the inspector what it would take to see the missing areas. Sometimes it is a hatch and a torch.
The timing problem, and it is a real one
The inspection has to happen inside whatever window your contract gives you, and in a competitive market that window is short. Two consequences worth planning for: book early, before you are under time pressure. And ask the inspector to call you with the headline before the written report arrives, so you are not waiting on a document while a deadline runs.
What the report does to the contract — and what we will not tell you
Depending on your state and your contract, an adverse report may support withdrawing, renegotiating, or requiring work before settlement. It may also do none of those things if the relevant condition has already lapsed.
That is contract law, it varies by state and by the contract you actually signed, and it is a conveyancer's or solicitor's question. Your state's consumer affairs or fair trading body is also a starting point for general guidance. We are not going to tell you what your contract entitles you to. But we will say clearly that the answer depends on the wording and the deadline, so ask early rather than after.
If the report finds termites
It is not automatically a reason to walk away. What matters is: is it active or historic, is the damage structural, can the extent be established, and what does it cost to treat and repair. Those are four separate questions and a good report starts to answer the first three.
What should give you pause is a house where the damage cannot be scoped because too much is inaccessible. You would be buying an unknown. If there is a management system, ask for its documentation and its inspection history. A barrier with no records is a barrier of unknown condition, whatever the meter box notice says it was on the day it went in.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use the vendor's inspection report?
It is worth reading, but it was commissioned by someone whose interests differ from yours, and you may have no recourse against its author. Commission your own.
The report found old damage but no live termites. Is that a problem?
It means two things need answering: whether the structure is still sound where the damage is, and whether whatever let them in has been fixed. Old damage with unresolved conducive conditions is a live risk, not a historical one.
How long is the report good for?
It describes one day. Termite activity can begin at any time, which is why the annual cycle starts after you move in rather than the report standing in for it.
Sources
What this page explains is based on these official sources. If you check one and it does not match what you read here, send it to us and the article gets corrected.
- Standards Australia. Australian Standards (AS 3660 termite management, AS 4349.3 timber pest inspection)
- Queensland Building and Construction Commission. Protect against termites — termite management systems and inspections