Hello World! Welcome Friends! Melbourne, a coastal capital of the south eastern Australian state of Victoria, like every other state has had its own share of collapsed buildings which led to loss of lives. But this can be avoided if buildings/properties can be checked properly for defects before buying or even selling.
Having a good knowledge of a property before buying will help to prevent problems as well as extra costs later on. One of the best ways of achieving this is by getting a building inspection report.
What Is a Building Inspection Report?
A building inspection report is an official document that provides information about structural defects that are found in a building. This report can help you save clients or customers from potential damages and loss of lives and properties. Hence, its importance.
Furthermore, the report can be referred to as a standard property report which is a written account of the property’s condition as at the time of inspection. It consists of information on the following:
- The building’s interior
- The building’s exterior
- Under-floor space
- Roof space
- Roof exterior
- Walls
- Carport, garden shed, and garage
- Toilet or separate laundry
- Small retaining walls
- Fencing
- Driveways and paths
- Steps
- Surface water drainage
- Stormwater run-off
It also looks out for structural defects, lighting and electrical issues, problems relating to foundation and asbestos, visible and non-visible damages, backed up with photographs of the affected areas. Sometimes, some sellers will try to conceal some of these defects. Hence, only an experienced inspector can help you expose these problems.
Why a Building Inspection Report is Important
Before buying or selling a building, the inspection process may be tiring and tedious, but the importance far outweighs the process. Aside from ensuring that the building is up to standard according to the building code regulations, a building inspection report is important for the following reasons:
1. Prevents Loss of Lives and Properties
A building inspection helps to prevent the potential of a building collapsing and leading to loss of lives and properties. Properties can be replaced but what about human lives? This is why an inspection report is needed.
2. Informs the Buyer or Seller of Immediate Repairs
It pre-informs the potential customer or seller of the damages and defects in the building in order to ensure that immediate repairs are made. If the defects are not corrected, they can graduate into bigger problems later. This may not only cost more to repair, but the damages done may be too late to start repairing. So, prevention is better than cure or rather a stitch in time saves nine.
3. Helps Buyers to Make Better Financial Decisions
It helps the buyer to make wise financial decisions. With the knowledge that comes from the building inspection report, budgets are drawn to address the issues thereby saving you from spending more when the damages have become worse.
Also, you can negotiate with the seller, to cover a part of the cost of repairs. And if the defects or damages are beyond what you can handle, you can decide to go for another building.
4. Helps in the Negotiation Process
The report of the inspection will prove the worth of the building. So, you can negotiate based on the report. It also proves the seller’s honesty and transparency when selling a building. And a clear show of honesty would lead to a smooth transaction between the seller and the buyer.
Additionally, negotiation power is boosted for the buyer and both parties can strike a relationship that may even go beyond the present transaction.
How to Choose the Right Person for the Inspection
You need to be very careful when choosing a building inspector. This is because anyone can pose as an inspector and we already know the importance of checking a building thoroughly for defects. So, you need to know what a building inspector is before hiring one.
Who Is a Building Inspector?
A building inspector is a person employed by a county, state, or even an organization to ensure all buildings in its jurisdiction meet building code requirements. Primarily, their role is to check the building properly, but they play other roles such as advising the client on what to do after the inspection has been done.
They may charge you a fee on a personal basis but most times, they do that based on their company charges, if they are part of one. You can find more useful information on the definition of a building inspector here: https://www.bankrate.com/glossary/b/building-inspector/
Here are tips to choosing the right building inspector:
-
- Make sure the building inspector you are contracting is well experienced. A professional will know what to look out for and can easily detect if any cosmetic improvement was done to cover up flaws in the building.
- Check if the person is certified and has undergone necessary trainings. Building inspectors in Melbourne need to have a license with the QBCC (Queensland Building and Construction Commission) previously known as BSA (Building Services Authority). You can also request to see the license, taking note of its expiry date.
- Ensure that the inspector has insurance coverage that compensates mistakes and omissions.
- You also need to check if the person belongs to an appropriate functioning body or professional regulating body.
- Ask the inspector for contacts of recent/previous clients. This will help you do a personal research to know if they have positive or negative reviews.
- Seek recommendation from neighbors or people who have previously bought buildings.
If you look around the internet, you’ll be sure to get more info on hiring qualified building inspectors in Melbourne.
Conclusion
If you want to get high value from a building you want to buy, an expert is needed to help you transact; so, hire a trusted one. A professional building inspector will help you unearth the defects and damages hidden in a property and help you to know the value of the property.
In this article, we have discussed what a building inspection report is and its importance. We also shared tips on choosing a building inspector. We hope that this article has been useful in your quest to purchase a new property.
Click the links below for any posts you have missed:
A Pantry Refresh & Organization
I’d love for you to join my email list! You’ll receive a notification straight to your inbox once a week which will include links to my latest home project posts! Simply enter your address below.
Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day/night depending on where you are in the world! Go with God and remember to be kind to one another!
Toodles,
[…] Benefits of Hiring a Building Inspector […]