Pre-Purchase Building & Pest Inspection
The standard combined report for a house purchase: building condition and timber pest activity, inspected on the same visit.
Who this report is for
Anyone buying a freestanding house, townhouse or villa who wants one report covering both building condition and timber pest activity. This is the report most buyers need and the one most conveyancers expect to see.
When to order it
Before you exchange, or inside the cooling-off period. If the property is going to auction, book it once you are serious enough to be bidding — there is no cooling-off period after an auction, so the inspection has to happen first.
What is inspected
- The roof exterior and roof void where there is safe access
- Ceilings, walls, floors and joinery throughout the interior
- The subfloor where an access point exists and entry is safe
- Wet areas — bathrooms, laundry, kitchen — for the signs that precede a leak
- The exterior fabric: cladding, brickwork, windows, doors, eaves and fascias
- Site drainage, paths, retaining walls, decks, balconies and outbuildings
- Evidence of termite activity, termite damage, borers and fungal decay
- Conditions on the property that make timber pest attack more likely
What you receive
- A written report you can read without a construction background
- Photographs of each significant finding, located so you can find it again
- Defects separated by significance rather than listed flat, so the major items are obvious
- A clear statement of what could not be inspected, and why
- A phone call with the inspector who attended, to talk through what it means
Important exclusions and limitations
Publishing this is unusual. It should not be — you should know where the gaps are before you rely on the document.
- This is a visual inspection. Nothing is cut open, lifted or dismantled.
- Areas that are locked, sealed, insulated over, full of stored goods or unsafe to enter cannot be inspected, and the report says so.
- It is not a structural engineering assessment. Where calculations or certification are needed, the report says to engage an engineer.
- It is not a pest treatment proposal, a compliance certificate, or a valuation.
Technology and equipment used
- Professional FLIR thermal imaging
- Moisture measurement and mapping
- FPV micro-drone access where safe and permitted
Thermal imaging identifies temperature anomalies and supports professional interpretation; it is not proof of a hidden defect on its own. Drone use depends on weather, airspace, privacy and site conditions and supplements physical inspection rather than guaranteeing complete coverage.
Turnaround
Need it fast? An urgent report is delivered within 6 hours of the inspection when you ask for one at the time of booking. Standard turnaround is confirmed in writing with your booking, before the inspection takes place.
Pricing
The guide price for this report starts at $499 (inc GST) for a standard job of this type. The confirmed figure is subject to travel distance and job complexity, and also depends on the property type and size, access, the scope of the report, urgency and any specialist equipment or testing required. You receive a confirmed price and a written scope before anything is booked.
- Property type and size
- Location and travel
- Access to the areas that need inspecting
- The scope of the report
- Complexity, and how many concerns are involved
- Urgency
- Any specialist equipment or testing required
Service areas
This report is available across Sydney, The Illawarra, Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven. Outside these areas, call 1300 140 579 and ask — travel is often workable.
Questions
Questions about this report
Do I need the pest inspection as well, or is building enough?
On a freestanding house with timber in the structure, take both. Termite damage is usually concealed, and the conditions that invite it — poor subfloor ventilation, garden beds against the wall, a leaking shower — are building problems that a building-only report will note but not connect to pest risk. On a concrete-framed apartment the calculation is different.
Can you inspect before auction?
Yes, and you should. There is no cooling-off period on an auction purchase, so the inspection has to be done before you bid, not after.
Will the report tell me what the repairs cost?
Not by default — a condition report and a cost estimate are different pieces of work. If you want figures, order the Pre-Purchase Defect Rectification Cost Estimate alongside it, or ask when you book.
A report on the property has already been provided to me. Is that enough?
It may well be useful, and it is worth reading carefully — check who commissioned it, what date it was carried out, what scope it covered and what it recorded as not inspected. A report prepared for another party answers that party’s brief, which is not always the same as yours. If you want the property inspected again under your own instructions, that is the Independent Buyer’s Verification Inspection.
Request a report
Tell us the property and the problem
You will get a confirmed price and a written scope before anything is booked. No deposit is taken to answer a question.
Would rather just talk it through?
1300 140 579Describe the property and the concern. You will get a straight answer about which report fits, including when the answer is that you do not need one.
- NSW Licensed Builder
- Professional Indemnity Insured
- $20 Million Public Liability Insurance
- More than 20 years of hands-on building experience
- Independent — the report is written for you
Enquiry received.
Thank you — your request has been sent and you will get a reply with availability, scope and cost.
If you are working to an auction or a cooling-off deadline and need an answer quickly, call 1300 140 579.