What you need to know about Standards and Property Inspection
As co-founder and CEO of Resicert, I am dedicated to helping you leverage property inspections to your advantage whether you are a buyer, seller, agent or lender. Property transactions are often the single largest financial transaction an individual will make so any steps that can be taken to avoid uncertainties and surprises are well worth it. One area that I see not well understood relates to Australian Standards for property inspections. Let me explain.
Australian Standards exist for just about everything. At last count there were over 7,000 Australian Standards in existence and new ones are always being made. An Australian Standard is basically an industry defined document by a panel of experts that is published which outlines specifications and procedures. This is meant to ensure that products and services are safe, reliable and will deliver in a way they were designed to. These are not, however, mandatory.
There is an Australian Standard for Pre-purchase building inspections and another for timber pest inspections. These standards outline things that should be and shouldn’t be included in building inspections. These aren’t laws, but they SHOULD be applied by every inspector. It is important when obtaining an inspection that you always enquire whether the inspector does inspection in accordance with the standard and if not, insist they do.
An inspection that is done following the standards helps ensure the quality and consistency of the inspection and report. For more on standards, contracts and legal issues related to property transactions, download your FREE eBook.
