WHAT HAPPENS AFTER YOU GET YOUR BUILDING REPORT?

When you get your building inspection report, you should sit down with a big cup of tea and settle in for a read, trying to keep in mind that it is essentially a defect report and that there’s nothing positive to offset the negative.

The report itself should tend towards the 50 page mark on most regular-sized homes. A lot of that is taken up by photos which we insert at the larger size so that you can see clearly what we are trying to point out. But importantly, around page 5 or 6 there are the Summary Pages which we find beneficial to read first.

They summarise for you the Major Defects and the Minor Defects. At the bottom of each is a Conclusion. The wording will look like this:

The incidence of [MINOR/MAJOR] defects in this residential building as compared with similar buildings is considered [LOW/AVERAGE/HIGH]. Please refer to the Conclusion section of this report for further clarification and definition.

There is a conclusion for both the Major and Minor Defect Summaries.

After you’ve had a read of the report and try to marry it up with what you know about the property, I would advise you to compile a list of questions and then give us a call for clarification on the finer points.

With regards to advice around defects, we are happy to tell you our honest opinion with regards to timing, severity, difficulty of rectification and very broad ballpark figures for example: Is this a $2K problem or a $10K problem?

One thing we can’t do is quote on repairs as this can be viewed as a conflict.

We always recommend you come along to the building inspection if possible, where you will receive the full extent of the building inspection service. However our inspections and reports come with after-care service, so if there’s anything you don’t understand when the report hits your desk, just call.