Building Defects

TYPES OF DEFECTS WE DETECT FOR YOU.
As per the Australian Standards for pre-purchase building inspections we must report on Major Defects and a general impression regarding the extent of minor defects. We also must inspect for any major defect that is an urgent and serious safety hazard. Mr Inspector has supplied a list and examples below of the types of defects we look for and report on.

Your defects inspection report will include Structural Defects, Major Defects, Minor Defects & Maintenance Issues and Major Defects that are an urgent and Serious Safety Hazard.

There are many defects that Mr Inspector searches for in a home inspection. There are over 1000 potential defects we could potentially list in your report, but one would hope that wasn’t the case.

Apart from listing defects and supplying photographs, the object of getting us to carry out your building defects inspection is to provide advice to you regarding the condition of the property and to form an opinion of the general condition of the property in comparison to a home that is of similar age and construction that has been well maintained over the period of its life.

After 11 years of experience in the house inspection industry, we can guarantee you that every house will have defects. Houses like cars get old, some are poorly maintained and some are pretty good overall.

Mr Inspector doesn’t just send you a house inspection report listing all these defects for you to try and work out. I wouldn’t pay for that. We tell you what type of defects they are, where they are located and what’s required to fix them. All our house inspection reports are about 60 to 70 pages and include photographs of the defects with labels and arrows to help you out.

Best of all, Mr Inspector is available all hours of the night until you understand your building inspection report. We do this for your benefit and ours because we would rather you fully understand it on the same day when it is fresh in our mind rather than calling us the next day when we are under a house.

IMPORTANT: Mr Inspector wants you to totally understand the significance of the defects we find. A home can have major defects that are cheap to fix as well as minor defects that are expensive. By having an understanding of what is expensive to rectify, you know what you’re getting into, know what it is all going to cost to fix and then you can decide which way you want to go or alternatively how much you are willing to spend to buy the property.

AUSTRALIAN STANDARD FOR PRE-PURCHASE HOUSE INSPECTIONS

In Australia, a Pre-Purchase Building Inspection should be carried out as per Australian Standards (Inspection of Buildings – Part 1: Pre-purchase Inspections – Residential Buildings (AS 4349.1 – 2007).

This Standard is quite a large and overwhelming document that provides Building Inspectors with the basic criteria for the inspection and the inspection report. It tells us what to inspect and also what we shouldn’t include in our house inspections. In basic terms we inspect all visible areas within our area of expertise, telling you what type of defects are present, where the house inspection defects are located and what you need to do to rectify them.

Most Building Inspectors are insured in the event something may go wrong, but some are not. If a building inspector did not satisfy the requirements of this Standard his/her insurance company would likely not support them in the event of a claim by a client.

Mr Inspector is fully insured and carries out his inspections in accordance with AS 4349.1 2007.