Australian Property Building Inspection Reports
Australian Property Building Inspections
I’ve had may people ask why they need to obtain a building report prior to purchasing their new property and the simple answer is why wouldn’t you. Building inspections in Sydney, building and pest inspections in Adelaide or Brisbane or a pest inspection in Melbourne for example are investments in the future of your property that can’t be measured for ease of mind and long-term safety of your house. Organising house inspectors or building inspectors is easy and cost effective and Australian Property Building Inspectors (APBI) has the runs on the board when it comes to professional building inspections further underlined by Foxtel’s Selling Houses Australia decision to offer APBI the important role of building inspections for all their properties Australia wide. The following article discusses some of the issues uncovered by our building inspectors in Sydney and Melbourne during recent building and pest inspections, so read on and see why your building and pest inspection should be conducted by us.
They found pergolas without eaves guttering or lacking a downpipe required to connect to their stormwater drains. As with many building issues most pergolas did not have approval from the local government. Building inspectors found several pergolas, new additions and even new rooms constructed to the recognised standard and again most likely without prior approval from council.
The importance of a pest inspection by one of our inspectors is underlined by our team finding that one in eight homes suffer from structural timber damaged caused by pests that have damaged the integrity of parts of the homes. Causes of the pest damage is termites or wood boring inspects but the most common is fungal decal and such was the problem that of that a high percentage would go onto have structural damage should the problems not be fixed.
A high percentage of houses checked by a building inspector had cracked or weathered roof cladding that needed replacing, decayed gutters and downpipes and one of the biggest problems uncovered is defective plumbing. Two thirds of all properties inspected were found to be without gutters and/or downpipes often due to corrosion and needed repair. It was found that half of all inspected properties had cracked or weathered roof tiles.
Of all our properties inspected our team located one out of eight properties had been constructed either in a manner not carried out by a professional tradesperson or using inappropriate or inferior materials. Construction was poor in many cases, often to the point of being dangerous with flimsy handrails, unstable stairways, omission of structural members, excessive notching of structural timbers, insufficient support by over-spanned framing or using under-strength timber. There was also the odd defect caused by a lack of adequate subfloor ventilation allowing for natural air movement below suspended timber floors to protect against degradation of timber caused by fungal decay and timber pest attack.
In a high proportion, this was due to one in four homes displayed evidence of structural cracking and some movement most likely caused by poor slab construction on cut-and-fill sites; the prolonged dry spell affecting ground moisture; In some cases these homes showed cracking and movement of a severity that posed significant danger to the occupants of the house Ninety percent of properties had trees or shrubs close enough to the house to cause problems by the root systems of existing or recently removed shrubs and trees, often leading to eventual structural cracking.
Our hard working APBI team of building inspectors in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane plus our industry experienced professionals throughout other major capitals and regional centres of Australia are thorough in their inspections and provide a detailed report to you within 24 hours, so go ahead email us or pick up the phone and call us but make sure you book your building inspection reports before you make your next property decision.