DIARY OF A BUILDING INSPECTOR…15/09/2026
Just when you think you’ve seen it all…
Recently we attended a building inspection with a twist: Our client had purchased property, but it wasn’t a pre-purchase report.
It was a defect report documenting a catastrophic flooding event that took place at the property after the contract went unconditional, but before settlement.
There was water damage everywhere. The floor covering and a lot of the wall sheeting had been removed due to irreparable damage. There were videos of the event - water rushing through the hallways and coming up 2 feet in places, destroying the plasterboard and cabinetry. There was already mould forming on the timber frames!
We produced our report, in high detail for the buyers of the property and then found out later that they required expert witness assistance because it seems the sellers of the property knew “it floods”.
This is where things get complicated.
There is a very big difference between a property that experiences an unusual, once-in-a-lifetime weather event and a property that has a known history of flooding. One is a freak incident. The other is information that could materially affect a buyer’s decision to purchase - or not.
This situation raises so many questions:
Has someone deliberately withheld information? What did the seller or the agent know?
Had we carried out a building inspection prior to purchase, would we have been able to detect past damage?
In this case, the extent of the damage, the areas affected and the circumstances surrounding the flooding meant that the report became an important piece of the bigger picture.
It also highlighted something I think is worth remembering if you’re buying a property:
A building inspection tells you about the building. It doesn’t necessarily tell you the history of the building.
When we “left the room”, there were lawyers involved and maybe a legal case for restitution…maybe the buyer got justice or had to live with soggy disappointment. We don’t know - but I feel motivated to follow up and find out.
