Pre-Inspection Agreement & Responsibility of a Buyer / Vendor & Inspector
It is the buyer’s & vendors responsibility to have all openings to the roof void and subfloor areas made available and open for our inspector to safely enter these areas. This responsibility is between the commissioning party and the listing agent/vendor, regardless of if the appointment date and time is made between The Property Inspectors Pty Ltd and the listing agent/vendor or buyer.
Due to COVID 19 restrictions our inspectors will not touch any part of the building or internal or external fit out or furnishings of the property and/or the owner’s or tenants’ personal belongings. Our inspectors will not open nor close doors or windows, they will not move any objects light or heavy, they will not open nor close cupboard doors or robe doors, roof void hatches nor subfloor access panels to keep themselves and the occupants of the property safe during this COVID 19 Period.
Should our inspector find access limited or obstructed in any way those aspects of the property will not be accessed nor reported on.
In assessing building defects, all inspections are carried out to meet
Australian Standard AS 4349.1-2007 PART 1 : Pre Purchase Inspections
Australian Standards AS 4349.0-2007 PART 0: General Requirements / Inspections of Buildings
Australian Standard AS 4349.3-2010 PART 3: Timber Pest Inspections / Inspection of buildings
New South Wales Guide to Standards and Tolerances 2017
AUSTRALIAN Standards AS/NZS 1892.5.2000 Portable ladder
Code Of Practice – Managing The Risk Of Falls – At Workplaces August 2019
Code Of Practice – Managing The Risk Of Falls – In Housing Construction August 2019
Our inspector will use the following equipment:
1. 1 x 3.6 metre foldable ladder to access the external roof top elevation, with a maximum disembarkment of the ladder 2.6 metre / 2.7 metre off the natural ground.
2. 1 x 3.6 metre ladder folded in half (1.8 metre top ledge height) to access the roof voids, any manhole located above 2.4 metre in height will not be accessed nor assessed and the roof void will not be entered into nor reported on.
3. A torch for the inspection of the subfloor area and roof void area only, all other areas are to be inspected by using natural daylight with no mechanical / artificial lighting (torches) being used to inspect and find defects.
4. 1 x Phone or iPad to photograph the defect while on site, in order to produce the written report.
Our Inspectors are available to take a phone call from the buyer once the report is released to the commissioning party. Should a buyer call the inspector prior to their report being completed and released and reviewed / read by the buyer, the advice supplied by the inspector over the phone to the buyer cannot be legally relied upon, as the inspector cannot recall all aspects of the property condition while out in the field nor prior to reviewing all data collected while on site or when they are driving or when they are doing another inspection for another client.
This is a pre-inspection agreement between you (the commissioning party – buyer or vendor) and The Property Inspectors Pty Ltd for an inspection and report (Services) at the property.
This agreement is designed to ensure you understand the scope, extent of reporting and limitations of the Services.
Please be aware that by its nature this service has limitations and exclusions you should be aware of.
Please review this agreement and contact our office should you have any queries or objections, as objections received post inspection will be difficult for our office to mitigate.
You need to respond to the email that contains this agreement, stating the following:
I have read, understood, and accept the Terms & Conditions contained within this pre-inspection agreement and within the Terms & Conditions within the TPI invoice/work order and within the TPI website.
Should you have commissioned a report over the phone and paid for the report prior to receiving this document / agreement, you have until we arrive on site and prior to our commencement on site to dispute the conditions outlined within this agreement. You can cancel the order and a full refund will be issued for the service commissioned. Should you not respond or agree with this agreement it is deemed that you have read, understood and agreed with this agreement even though you have not formally replied and approved the agreement conditions prior to our commencement on site.
Should you have commissioned a report by making payment for the service, and you have been issued this agreement prior to making the payment, and you have not formally replied with the approval to proceed with the order and associated conditions, you have until we arrive on site and prior to our commencement on site to dispute the conditions outlined within this agreement. You can cancel the order and a full refund will be issued for the service commissioned. Should you not respond to this agreement it is deemed that you have read, understood and agreed with this agreement even though you have not formally replied and approved the terms within this agreement prior to our commencement on site.
YOU HAVE COMMISSIONED A PRE-PURCHASE BUILDING & PEST INSPECTION:
Vendor Reports: Are not able to be legally relied upon by any purchaser, until such time as the potential purchaser purchases their own copy of this report prior to exchange of the property.
Buyers Reports: A purchaser commissioning a report or purchasing a copy of an existing report will be entitled to engage with our inspectors with any questions that they may have in regard to the contents of the report or property in general.
No third-party reliance on our reports is available unless that party has purchased their own copy or has commissioned the initial report and payment has been made in full to our office THE PROPERTY INSPECTORS PTY LTD prior to exchange of contracts.
PURPOSE OF THE REPORT:
The objective of the service rendered is to provide advice about the condition of the property at the time of the inspection.
We solely report on significant items as listed below:
1. Safety hazards.
2. Urgent matters.
3. Elements of the property which have a current or immediate threat of injury or disease to a person or animal.
4. Any major defects, which are defects of significant magnitude where rectification works are required in order to avoid unsafe conditions, loss of utility or further deterioration of the property.
5. We provide general commentary regarding the extent of minor defects and general wear & tear, and / or routine property maintenance required within the subject property.
6. We comment on any live or past termite and timber pest activity that was sighted on the day of the inspection.
SCOPE:
1. A Pre-Purchase Inspection is a visual inspection. We do not use any equipment other than a camera and 1.8 metre A-Frame stepladder and a 3.6 metre extension ladder.
2. Our report is produced on the basis of reporting on significant items as noted above. We will generally report by exception and not report on deterioration caused by fair wear and tear. Our Reports only talk about issues current or present within the building, we do not talk about future / possible issues occurring within the property because of a finding while doing our report / inspection.
3. We will compare this property to other similar properties of the same age, construction type and method, that have had an acceptable level of basic maintenance completed.
4. In many circumstances, properties do not comply with current Australian Standards / Building Regulations. We do not comment on those Standards should the property be old or more than 1 year old from new construction.
5. We do not provide costs to rectify defects, unless specifically quoted for and included within your work order.
6. We do not advise you on legal matters, council matters, title, ownership, easements, restrictions, planning laws or caveats, design by the architects, hydraulic engineers, electrical engineers, structural issues, private certifiers and any design or approval consultants works or built forms.
7. Our inspection and report do not constitute an approval by a building surveyor nor a certificate of occupancy or compliance with any laws, regulations, or standards.
8. We will recommend further inspection by other specialists such as engineers, plumbers or electricians, or other specific trades, if we find specific problems that are not included within this Service.
9. We may also recommend specific rectifications or maintenance works be performed and we recommend that you act on this advice immediately.
10. We recommend that all buyers commission a specialised pest contractor to inspect the property, regardless of our findings.
We recommend that you engaged a specialist PEST CONTRACTOR to carry out a full and comprehensive inspection to inspect all internal and external elevations together with roof and subfloor areas with a thermal camera, as our pest inspection and report is a brief and a preliminary report, and our inspection and report was carried out by a non-licenced pest inspector and any missed findings will not be supported by The Property Inspectors nor our insurance company against any claims for losses by the existing or new owners of the property.
INVASIVE INSPECTION:
This is not an invasive inspection. We do not remove panels, unscrew fixtures and fittings nor carry any building tools or equipment, nor do we move any objects, furniture, building materials or personal belongings within the property that may be obstructing our access or vision at the time of our inspection.
Note, if our inspector cannot access an area, it will be noted within the report, and that area is excluded from our assessment report and liability.
Please have all access points opened, unscrewed, unlocked and unobstructed for our inspector to access the roof top, roof void and subfloor areas without the need for our inspector to request items to be moved at the time of our inspection.
BELOW IS A LIMIT OF LIMITATIONS:
We only inspect and report on accessible areas, the commissioning party needs to ensure that we have access to all areas of the property being inspected. If you are not the owner, you must discuss this with the Real Estate Agent and/or owner, and access must be provided by the owner or agent or buyer that is providing us access to the property.
Roof Void:
1. The inspector will use a 1.8 metre step ladder for a 2.4 metre ceiling access panel. Ceiling voids above 2.4 metres in height will not be entered into with a single inspector.
2. The inspector will use a 3.6 metre extension ladder with a dismount height of 2.7 metres to access the roof top elevations.
3. Manholes need clear access directly below for the safe installation of a ladder. The floor area below the ceiling manhole needs to be no less than 1 metre x 1 metre to safely install a step ladder.
4. Manholes must be unlocked or unscrewed from the substrate by the vendor.
5. Manholes locked or screwed shut or painted in place will not be accessed by the inspector.
6. Roof manholes located over / within cupboards or joinery or with obstructions directly below the manholes will not be accessed by the inspector. Our inspector will only access the roof void if his torso and belt buckle is solely within the ladder rails of the step ladder, and that the step ladder is able to be installed directly below the manhole so there is straight access into the roof void.
7. Furniture below or up against any manholes will not be moved or touched by the inspector.
8. The inspector will not move or touch any of the vendor / tenant’s belongings during the inspection.
9. Manhole sizes must be no less than 400 mm x 500 mm openings, and with 600 mm x 600 mm crawlspace within the roof void is available.
10. Manhole locations are to be supplied by the vendor or agent to the inspector upon their arrival.
Subfloor:
1. Subfloor access doors must be unlocked at the time of inspection, with no obstructions in front of the access doors or within the sub floor area itself.
2. If the sub floor is to be inspected, subfloor access doors must be no less than 400 mm x 500 mm, and access within the sub floor itself must be no less than 600 mm x 600 mm crawlspace with no obstructions within the access zone.
3. Manhole locations are to be supplied by the vendor or agent to the inspector upon their arrival.
4. Power to the entire house must be turned off by the agent / vendor / buyer for safe passage into and within the subfloor by our inspectors.
5. Our inspectors will cease inspecting the subfloor should asbestos base materials be seen to be stored / placed / found within the subfloor finished floors.
External Roof Elevations:
1. Roof elevations with a gutter line above 2.7 metres will not be accessed by a single inspector. If a roof is to be inspected above 2.7 metres off the finished ground floor level, a second inspector and / or harness is required.
This will come with an additional fee of $600.00 + GST over and above the already commissioned cost option selected. (Unless your agent belongs to an agency with a bespoke fee agreement in place with our office).
2. Should it have rained on the day of the inspection or if the roof or floor is wet and damp or unstable, the inspector will not access the roof from the ladder.
The roof assessment will be done from the ground floor if possible.
3. A Ladder will not be installed within 1.5 metres of a ledge or potential fall.
4. The ladder must be able to be installed safety on stable and level ground and on a wall or gutter that will enable the inspector to safety use the ladder. The inspector has the sole obligation to assess that safe access is available while on site and if any inspector chooses not to access the roof or an elevated areas it is up to the inspector to conclude that opinion.
General:
1. Any restricted areas within the external elevations with less than 600 mm cavity, will not be inspected nor reported on.
2. Any second dwelling or granny flat will not be inspected nor reported on unless a second inspection fee is quoted, approved, and paid by the commissioning party. The second dwelling / granny flat inspection will be integrated within the one report with the main house.
A second dwelling is defined as having the following:
• Bathroom
• Kitchen
• Laundry/shared laundry
• Front door
• Letterbox
3. Any sub floor areas, roof void areas, garage floors, walls or roof voids, or any other areas within the property that is being used to store the vendor/tenant’s belonging’s during the sales campaign (to de-clutter the home) will not be inspected nor reported on.
4. In assessing building defects, all inspections are carried out to meet Australian Standards AS 4349.1-2007 plus the New South Wales Guide to Standards and Tolerances 2017 issued by New South Wales Department of Fair Trading.
5. A standard Building and Pest Inspection includes the adjoining structures and all other buildings, garages, sheds, retaining walls and fences within 30 metres of the main building, this includes the site fence.
6. We will need to turn off the main power for a short time to safely inspect the roof space. We will require you to obtain consent for this, and where permission is not granted, we will be unable to access the roof void and subfloor areas, and this will form a limitation for us.
7. We will be unable to inspect the doors and windows, should they be locked, or inaccessible rooms due to doors being locked or furniture or personal belongings placed hard up against.
8. Should there be security systems active or pets guarding a property, that will limit our inspector from carrying out a full and comprehensive assessment.
9. Should we be asked to carry out an inspection and it is raining at the time of inspection or prior to our arrival, our inspector will not use their stepladder for any internal or external areas requiring a stepladder to access the location. Should it be raining at the time of our inspection, we will inspect the roof from a distance, not off a ladder or any elevated platforms, deeming a part inspection of the roof elevation and roof plumbing.
10. Should we be engaged to inspect the property early in the morning and the floor area or roof elevation be damp or moist from the morning dew or from a prior raining period, our inspector will not use a stepladder externally nor will they walk over any raked roof elevations or areas that are not barricaded by a balustrading and handrail.
11. If it has rained prior to our arrival and the ground is moist, damp or wet our inspector will not crawl on the floor to access any subfloor areas or areas that require them to lie on the floor or place their knees, hands, or clothes on a damp area.
12. Should a property be recently renovated or beautified for the purpose of selling the property, we may not be able to detect moisture, dampness, mould or leaks within the walls, ceiling, floors, and bathrooms.
Special Note: Bathrooms that have not been used for some time will not show signs of waterproofing failures nor leaks within the plumbing within the roof void, walls, and subfloor areas. We advise further testing of a property covering the waterproofing, water entry points, pipes, and water susceptible areas such as the bathrooms, kitchen, and laundry, after more frequent use has occurred.
13. Should there be a person sleeping in a room we will not enter the room and that room will not be inspected nor included in our report
14. The above list of limitation is not a comprehensive nor exhaustive list of limitations. We will try to advise you of any limitations and restrictions that have occurred within our report. We strongly recommend that you have further invasive inspection services undertaken in consultation with the property owners and / or our office.
15. All reports ordered by a vendor or buyer will be released or uploaded to our website, or any other third party provider, within 2 – 4 business days from the date of the site inspection.
16. When buying an existing report, in some cases, reports are not complete or are being updated at the time when you are placing your order. Should your order be received, and the report is not complete, the report will be fast-tracked through our system and released to any purchaser who has chosen to download a copy of the report that is now on backorder, and your order is noted as a priority within our system, and we endeavour to have the report released within 24 hours or up to 2 business days from the date and time of the order being received by our office.
17. Should you choose to order a report, and the report is not available at the time of you placing your order, the report will be released to you the moment it is complete. Should you lose interest in the property or should the delay in obtaining the report alter your want or need for this report, our company will NOT offer a refund or discount against the original order as long our office releases the report within 4 business days from your online order being confirmed. No refunds are applicable for a report being released within 4 business days from your online order. Should our office not supply you a report within 4 business days of placing your order of an existing Pre-Purchase Building & Pest, a 50% refund of the initial order will be refunded if requested.
18. The Report and its appendices and attachments, as issued by TPI’s, takes precedence over any oral advice or draft reports, to the extent of any inconsistencies, and only the Report and its appendices and attachments, which form a vital part of the inspector’s recommendations, shall be relied upon by you
ADDITIONAL INSPECTIONS:
(The below fees may not apply if you are an agent that has a bespoke fee structure in place)
1. Any updates made to a report that require a second inspection of the property will be billed out at $300.00 + GST, unless the second site inspection is due to height restrictions. (Up to 5 items to be amended within the initial report)
2. A second site inspection due to height restrictions will require our inspector to return to site with a harness or a second inspector, this will be billed out at $680.00 + GST. A second site inspection is required for an update to any defects that are rated as a “major defect”, “further investigation”, or “safety/compliance issues”. If addressed, these defects must be re-inspected by our office if you want the report updated.
3. Any updates made to a report that do not require a second inspection will be billed out at $199.00 + GST.
Amending a report that has “Minor Defects” will require supporting evidence by the vendor that the works have been rectified by a licensed contractor. We will require two photographs of each defect to be considered, together with a video and a tax invoice of the defect being rectified. This may assist in limiting a second inspection, but this is solely up to the discretion of the inspector who carried out the initial inspection.
Exclusions:
Unless explicitly selected as an option with your Service, the inspection and report exclude assessment or reporting of the following:
1. Deterioration caused by fair wear and tear.
2. Footings below ground.
3. Concealed damp proof course.
4. Electrical installations.
5. Concealed plumbing.
6. Adequacy of roof drainage.
7. Gas fittings and fixtures.
8. Air-conditioning.
9. Automatic garage doors.
10. Pools and related equipment.
11. Alarm systems.
12. Operation of fireplaces and chimneys, flues, and solid fuel heaters.
13. Alarm and intercom systems.
14. Soft floor coverings.
15. Appliances.
16. Paint coatings.
17. Health hazards.
18. Timber and metal framing size and adequacy.
19. Concealed tie downs and bracing.
20. Other mechanical or electrical equipment such as gates or inclinators.
21. Soil conditions.
22. Control joints.
23. Sustainable development provisions.
24. Concealed timber frames.
25. Landscaping.
26. Rubbish.
27. Floor coverings.
28. Furniture and accessories.
29. Stored items.
30. Insulation.
31. Environmental matters (water tanks, etc).
32. Lighting and energy efficiency.
33. Damp assessment using a Moisture Meter.
We will not inspect common property unless specifically requested. If this request is made, our inspection does NOT conform to AS4349.2 Group Titled Properties. If this reporting is required, the client must seek a separate inspection for Group Titled Properties.
We are unable to advise about combustible cladding.
We are unable to advise on Magnesite, cracks, or evidence of crack repairs to masonry construction, concrete slabs, or load bearing walls. We are unable to advise on structural stability of any external timber structures. On these issues we will recommend a structural engineer.
Our reporting is not suitable for Tribunal or Court Proceedings. An Expert Witness Testimony is required for this purpose.
LIABILITY AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The client acknowledges the following:
1. Removal of access, vents, or other covers during the Services will be done in a tradesman like manner. We do not accept liability for damage, or reinstatement, or replacement, or repair which may arise during this process.
Special Note: We do not carry any tools to remove fixed panels or wedged floorboards or doors to gain access to a concealed area.
2. The report does not constitute a warranty or an insurance policy against problems developing with the building in the future. Accordingly, a preventative maintenance program should be implemented for the property which includes systematic inspections, detection, and prevention of incipient failure.
3. We accept liability for any implied contractual terms that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law, including the Australian Consumer Law and any loss that is reasonably foreseeable from our material breach of these Terms. However, provided you obtain the benefit of any warranty or other obligation conferred upon you pursuant to the Australian Consumer Law, we limit our liability to the replacement of the Services the provision of equivalent Services or the cost of providing those Services.
4. Other than as specifically accepted by us above, we are not liable for any other losses or damages you may suffer, including any loss caused by you or to the extent it results from your failure to take reasonable steps to avoid or minimise that loss, loss caused by an event falling outside our reasonable control and any indirect or consequential losses.
5. You indemnify, and keep indemnified, us and our franchisors, employees, and agents from and against any loss (including reasonable legal costs and expenses) or liability incurred or suffered by us arising from any claim arising out of your failure to advise on safety issues at the property, your negligence or breach of these terms and conditions.
CANCELLATION POLICY
Should you choose to cancel an order, it must be received between normal business hours Monday to Friday between 9:00am and 4:00pm giving our office a minimum of three business days’ notice to obtain a 100% refund of the services that you have engaged.
For all cancellations within three business days and not within the final twenty four hours before the inspection, an 80% refund will be applicable.
All cancellations received after 5:00pm the day prior to the inspection, Monday to Friday, will have no refund applicable, as we have assigned the inspection to our inspector, and we will be unable to re-assign the inspector to another project.
Any cancellations received after 5:00pm and during the weekend will be recorded as received on the following business day at 9:00am, that being the time our office opens.
Australian Standards For Pre Purchase Inspections
Vendors/Agents Responsibility Australian Standar
