TERMS & CONDITIONS
PROPERTY INSPECTION REPORT
Service
1. This agreement is between the building consultant (“Inspector”) and you (“Client”). You have requested the Inspector to carry out an inspection of your property for the purpose of preparing a Standard Property Report (“Report”) to you outlining their findings and recommendation from the inspection.
2. The purpose of the inspection is to provide the Client with an overview of the Inspector’s findings at the time of the inspection and advice as to the nature and extent of their findings.
3. This Report has been prepared at the direction of and exclusively for the Client. Details contained within this Report are tailored to the Pre-Inspection Agreement between the Inspector and the Client at the time of the Inspection and no other party can rely on the Report nor is the Report intended for any other party. If purchased by a third party, without a signed pre purchase agreement with the Inspector directly, this report cannot be relied upon in anyway.
Scope of the Report
4. This Report is limited to the findings of the of the Inspector at the time of the inspection and any condition of the property which is not within the scope as set out herein or which occurs after the inspection is expressly excluded from this Report.
5. This Report expressly addresses only the following discernible to the Inspector at the time of inspection:
(a) Major Defects in the condition of Primary Elements including Structural Damage and Conditions Conducive to Structural Damage;
(b) Any Major Defect in the condition of Secondary Elements and Finishing Elements and collective (but not individual) Minor Defects; and
(c) Any Serious Safety Hazard.
6. This Report is limited to the observations and conclusions of the Inspector that were readily observable at the building or site and given the state of property at the time of the Inspection.
7. This Report does not include the inspection and assessment of items or matters that are beyond the Inspectors direct expertise.
Inspection Limitations
(a) possible concealment of defects, including but not limited to, defects concealed by lack of accessibility, obstructions such as furniture, wall linings and floor coverings, or by applied finishes such as render and paint;(b) undetectable or latent defects, including but not limited to, defects that may not be apparent at the time of inspection due to seasonal changes, recent or prevailing weather conditions, and whether or not services have been used some time prior to the inspection being carried out; and(c) areas of the building or site that were obstructed at the time of the inspection or not Readily Accessible Areas of the Building Site. An obstruction may include a condition or physical limitation which inhibits or prevents inspection and may include – but are not limited to – roofing, fixed ceilings, wall linings, floor coverings, fixtures, fittings, furniture, clothes, stored articles/materials, thermal insulation, sarking, pipe/duct work, builder’s debris, vegetation, pavements or earth.
Exclusions
(a) any individual Minor Defect;(b) solving or providing costs for any rectification or repair work;(c) the structural design or adequacy of any element of construction;(d) detection of wood destroying insects such as termites and wood borers;(e) the operation of fireplaces and chimneys;(f) any services including building, engineering (electronic), fire and smoke detection or mechanical;(g) lighting or energy efficiency;(h) any swimming pools and associated pool equipment or spa baths and spa equipment or the like;(i) any appliances or white goods including dishwashers, refrigerators, ovens, stoves and ducted vacuum systems;(j) a review of occupational, health or safety issues such as asbestos content, the provision of safety glass or the use of lead based paints;(k) a review of environmental or health or biological risks such as toxic mould;(l) whether the building complies with the provisions of any building Act, code, regulation(s) or by-laws;(m) whether the ground on which the building rests has been filled, is liable to subside, swell or shrink, is subject to landslip or tidal inundation, or if it is flood prone; and(n) in the case of strata and company title properties, the inspection of common property areas or strata/company records.
(a) A matter that is not within the inspector’s expertise.(b) A matter the inspection or assessment of which is solely regulated by statute.(c) Cost of rectification.(d) The assessment of any apparent defect including rising damp and leaks, the detection of which may be subject to prevailing weather conditions or recent occupancy/use of services. In cases where services have not been used for some time prior to the inspection being carried out, such conditions may inhibit the detection of defects such as dampness caused by water leaks. For example, in the case of a shower enclosure, the absence of any dampness at the time of the inspection does not necessarily mean that the enclosure will not leak.
Workplace Safety
Acceptance Criteria
14. The Inspector may compare the building being inspected with a similar building, unless specified otherwise in the Special Conditions or Instructions. The similar building which the Inspector may compare the current building to was, to the best of the Inspector’s knowledge, constructed in accordance with ordinary building construction and maintenance practices at the time of construction and as such has not encountered significant loss or of strength or serviceability.
15. The Inspector assumes in their Report that the existing use of the building or site will continue unless specified otherwise in the Special Conditions or Instructions. Acknowledgments
16. The Client Acknowledges that contents of the Report is subject to the Scope of the Report, Inspection Limitations, Exclusions and Acceptance Criteria. This Report does not include recommendations or advice about matters outside the scope of the requested inspection.
17. Should the Client have any queries or concerns about the purposes, scope or acceptance criteria on which this Report was prepared, all enquiries or concerns are to be discussed with the Inspector within a reasonable time upon receipt of this report.
18. The Client acknowledges that they will take all reasonable steps to implement any recommendation or advice provided by the Inspector in their Report as a matter of urgency specified otherwise.
19. Any further discussions the Inspector following the production of this Report addressing concerns will not be reflected in this Report and as such the Report may not contain all advice or information related to the building or site provided by the Inspector.
20. The Client acknowledges that a visual only inspection restricts the Inspectors capacity to inspect the building or site thoroughly and is not recommended by the Inspector unless an inspection of the Readily Accessible Areas and appropriate tests are also carried out.
21. The Client Acknowledges that in accordance with the Australian Standard AS4349.0 2007 Inspection of Buildings, this Report does not warrant or give insurance that the building or site from developing issues following the date of inspection.
22. Cracking of Building Elements: Regardless of the type of crack(s) the inspector carrying out a visual inspection is unable to determine the expected consequences of the cracks. As a crack on the day can be 1mm wide but may have the potential to develop over time into structural problems for the home owner resulting in major expensive rectification work. Information required to determine the consequences of a crack: Nature of the foundation material on which the building is resting a) The design of the footings b) The site landscape and topography c) The history of the cracks All these factors fall outside the scope of this inspection. However the information obtained from the items above are valuable in determining the expected consequences of the cracking and any remedial work. Cracking Categories: Cracking is also categorised into the following 5 categories with a description of typical damage and required repairs: 0-Hairline cracking, less than 0.1mm; 1-Fine cracks that do not need repair, less than 1.0mm; 2-Noticeable cracks, yet easily filled 1.0mm – 5.0mm; 3-Cracks that can be repaired and possibly some of the wall sections will need to be replaced. Weather tightness can be impaired, 5.0mm – 15.0mm; 4-Extensive repair works required involving breaking out and replacing these sections. Walls can become out of plumb and fall and causes reduced bearing capacity, 15.0mm – 25.0mm. IMPORTANT: Regardless of location or size, if cracks have been identified then a structural engineer is required to determine the significance of the cracking prior to a decision to purchase. Re-inspection. All reports come with a strong recommendation to have the property re-inspected after 30 days from the report date pre settlement.
23. The client acknowledges that the inspector may reproduce the content within this report for any commercial purpose, including sale of the report in whole or in part.
TIMBER PEST INSPECTION REPORT
Service
1. This agreement is between the Timber Pest Detection Consultant (“the Inspector”) and you (“Client”). You have requested the Inspector to carry out an inspection of your property for the purpose of preparing a Pre-Purchase Standard Timber Pest Report (“Report”) to you outlining their findings and recommendations from the inspection.
2. The purpose of the inspection is to provide the Client with an overview of the Inspector’s findings at the time of inspection which includes whether the inspector has identified any Timber Pest issues and advice as to the nature and extent of those findings.
3. This Report has been prepared at the direction of and exclusively for the Client. Details contained within this Report are tailored to the Pre-Inspection Agreement between the Inspector and the Client at the time of the Inspection and no other party can rely on the Report nor is the Report intended for any other party.
Scope of this Report
4. This Report is limited to the findings of the Inspector at the time of the inspection and any condition of the property which is not within the scope as set out herein or which occurs after the inspection is expressly excluded from this Report.
5. This Report expressly addresses only the detection or non-detection of Timber Pest Attack and Conditions Conducive to Timber Pest Attack discernible to the Inspector at the time of inspection.
6. This Report is limited to the observations and conclusions of the Inspector that were readily observable at the building or site and given the state of property at the time of the Inspection.
Inspection Limitations
7. The Inspection is limited to Readily Accessible Areas of the Building & Site based on the Inspector’s visual examination of surface work (excluding furniture and stored items) and the carrying out of Tests.
8. Where the Inspection is carried out on a strata or company title property, the Inspection is limited to the interior and the immediate exterior of the residence inspected. The Inspection does not extend to common property areas and the Inspector will not inspect common property areas.
9. The Inspection is not in respect of a particular type of timber pest. Any analysis of a specific timber pest is to be at the request of the Client in which the Inspector would present their findings in a Special-Purpose Inspection Report separate from this Report.
10. The Inspector’s findings do not extend to matters where the Inspector was restricted or prevented from assessing the building or site as a result of:
(a) possible concealment of timber pest attack, including but not limited to, timber pest attack concealed by lack of accessibility, obstructions such as furniture, wall linings and floor coverings, or by applied finishes such as render and paint;
(b) undetectable or latent timber pest attack, including but not limited to, timber pest attack that may not be apparent at the time of inspection due to seasonal changes, recent or prevailing weather conditions, and whether or not services have been used some time prior to the inspection being carried out;
(c) areas of the building or site that were obstructed at the time of the inspection or not Readily Accessible Areas of the Building Site. An obstructions may include a condition or physical limitation which inhibits or prevents inspection and may include – but are not limited to – roofing, fixed ceilings, wall linings, floor coverings, fixtures, fittings, furniture, clothes, stored articles/materials, thermal insulation, sarking, pipe/duct work, builder’s debris, vegetation, pavements or earth;
Exclusions
11. This Report does not consider or deal with the following:
(a) any information or advice related to timber pest preventative, treatment, rectification, or maintenance options for an attack by Timber Pests; and
(b) an environmental risk assessment or biological risk associated with Timber Pests (e.g. toxic mould), occupational health and safety issues.
12. Should the Client seek information from the Inspector related to one of exclusions above, that information is to be provided by way of a Special-Purpose Inspection Report or management proposal which is adequately specified and must be undertaken by an appropriately qualified inspector. Additional information requested by the Client is not included in this Report.
Workplace Safety
13. The Client warrants to the Inspector (including the Inspector’s, agents, employees and other personnel) that the Building Site is, to the Client’s reasonable knowledge, safe and free of hazardous materials and that no party of the Building site constitutes a dangerous environment or work place safety concern.
Acceptance Criteria
14. The Inspector may compare the building being inspected with a similar building, unless specified otherwise in the Special Conditions or Instructions. The similar building which the Inspector may compare the current building to was, to the best of the Inspectors knowledge, constructed in accordance with ordinary timber pest management and maintenance practices that ensure it does not attract or support a timber pest infestation during its life.
15. The Inspector assumes in their Report that the existing use of the building or site will continue unless specified otherwise in the Special Conditions or Instructions.
16. The Inspector does not guarantee or warrant the absence of Timber Pests in their Report. The Client acknowledges that certain species may be more difficult to identify than others or require regular inspection or testing to help monitor infestation of the species or susceptibility of the timber, including but not limited to the following species: (a) Drywood termites. This species has extremely small colonies and is difficult to detect; and (b) European House Borer (Hylotrupes bajulus). It is difficult to detect an attack or infestation of this species as the galleries of boring larvae rarely break through the affected timber surface.
Acknowledgements
17. The Client acknowledges that the contents of the Report is subject to the Scope of the Report, Inspection Limitations, Exclusions and Acceptance Criteria. This Report does not include recommendations or advice about matters outside the scope of the requested inspection.
18. The Client acknowledges that this Report does not assess the structural integrity of the building or site.
19. Should the Client have any queries or concerns about the purposes, scope or acceptance criteria on which this Report was prepared, all enquiries or concerns are to be discussed with the Inspector within a reasonable time upon receipt of this report.
20. The Client acknowledges that they will take all reasonable steps to implement any recommendation or advice provided by the Inspector in their Report as a matter of urgency unless specified otherwise.
21. Any further discussions the Inspector following the production of this Report addressing concerns will not be reflected in this Report and as such the Report may not contain all advice or information related to the building or site provided by the Inspector.
22. The client acknowledges that the inspector may reproduce the content within this report for any commercial purpose, including sale of the report in whole or in part.
Important 3rd Party Disclaimer
This report is intended for the exclusive use of the client who has entered into a direct, pre-engagement contract with the inspector, in accordance with Australian Standard AS 4349.0-2007. To rely on this report, the following conditions must be met:
1. A pre-engagement contract, signed by both the client and the inspector, must be in place prior to the inspection.
2. The report must be purchased directly from the inspector through the inspector’s official channels, such as email or the inspector’s chosen method of delivery.
3. The report must not be obtained from a third party or reseller.
4. Full payment for the inspection must be made directly to the inspector.
Important Note: Any “successful buyer letters” or similar documents provided through third-party sellers, allegedly signed by the inspector, are invalid unless all the above conditions have been fulfilled. The communication, both prior to and after the inspection, must be directly between the client and the inspector, and in writing. If you have not purchased this report directly from the inspector, this document is not to be relied upon, and you are strongly advised to engage your own inspector in compliance with the relevant standards. This report is otherwise provided for information purposes only, without prejudice, as the inspector did not communicate with you directly and was unaware of your intention to purchase the property. If you have any issues with this report, please address them with the entity from which you purchased it.
The inspector can be reached via email: Info@builtfirm.com
