Unfortunately finding ethical and unbiased service these days is not always easy. 

If an agent recommends the services of an inspector, is this recommended person motivated to give you all the information? Or are they motivated to do a problem free inspection, to generate an ongoing rapport with the agent in order to win more work???

OR

Is the inspector you have chosen, there to find fault with every possible thing and communicate it in such a way that it frightens you away from the property and you lose a great opportunity. Or worse still, perhaps looking to generate ongoing work at your expense by looking for opportunities to provide you with a quotation for repairs and maintenance.

These are examples of the unscrupulous businesses that are out there and what they do to take advantage of the unaware buyer. There is however a way of avoiding these pitfalls and it is by arming yourself with the follow information.

                     1. Make sure you are dealing with a licensed building inspector. Every Inspector MUST carry a license card that clearly shows their class of license. This card is issued by a government body called the BSA (Building Services Authority) and people that don't carry this license are not permitted by law to perform a building inspection. A builders license does not permit a builder to perform pre purchase building inspections. This type of misrepresentation is misleading to the home buyer and it infringes income from legitimate businesses who are licensed correctly. This license also shows without doubt that the person is qualified by industry standards to perform your building inspection. For residential properties, the card must state "Completed Building Inspections Restricted to Residential Buildings." Also be sure to check the expiry date. Any information needed about any licensee is available from the QBSA. (Click on the BSA Link in the strategic alliances tab below)

                      2. Ensure the Inspector carries Insurance. Until recently, before a  building inspector could become licensed it was mandatory that all pre-purchase / pre-sale building inspectors had professional indemnity insurance. This law was in place to provide protection to the buyer against losses or damages from an unsatisfactory building inspection. 

Not all businesses could actually obtain professional indemnity insurance. Firstly because the premiums were too high and they were not prepared to support the overhead costs and secondly, only a handful of underwriters would actually offer the insurance. If the insurance company had had a lot of claims or bad experiences with an inspector they simply will not continue to take the risk on that particular business / inspector. 

As at the 5th of January 2004, contractors / inspectors are entitled to apply for an exemption from the requirement to have to hold professional indemnity insurance. If a contractor / inspector is granted this exemption a condition applies to that licensee. 

This condition is that before doing any work for the public the contractor/ inspector is obligated to notify the consumer that they do not hold professional indemnity insurance. 

Therefore they do not have protection in place for the consumer in the event something is over looked by the inspector and this could result in unforeseen costs to you as the purchaser. Compensation in such an event becomes a lot more difficult and any business that can not obtain this insurance should be dealt with  exercising extreme caution.

Twenty20 Building Inspections have professional indemnity insurance in place for your protection and piece of mind.

                       3. Is the business / inspector operating under the conditions set out by the Australian Standards for Inspections of buildings, Part 1: Pre-purchase inspections - Residential buildings (AS 4349 & AS 4349.1-2007). Insurance companies will only consider insuring a building inspector if they are using a report that complies to the above standard. Under the conditions of the new standard it is insisted that an agreement is put in place prior to the inspection being done. If no agreement has been put in place prior to organising an inspection the consumer can not be fully aware of what the inspector will do for them. The terms of this agreement need to be decided and signed so the consumer is fully aware of what is to be done and to what standard. If no agreement is insisted on by the inspector prior to the inspection being organised that inspector should be dealt with using extreme caution.

Commenting outside the area of a building inspectors expertise is a major problem within the inspection industry. This will often result in unnecessary legal battles and compensation claims that nobody likes to have to be a part of. It is often not good value for money to employ an inspector that promises to do far more than what the standards require. As they can not be masters in all fields and in failing to correctly and accurately report these items, they are not able to for fill their duty of care to you the consumer. Therefore if the person is not an electrician (for example) but comments on electrical items they are outside their area of expertise and put your ability to make an informed decision at risk as you may not have been made aware of all the relevant issues of a particular item. 

                       4. Compare the inspectors experience, services offered and price. In order to get the best value for money it is important that you understand exactly what your inspector will do as part of his / her service. Apart from being licensed, insured and working correctly to the standards other things can also come into the best value for money equation. 

 

Looking for an Inspector?? Be sure to ask these 20 questions to compare Twenty20 with the many       1. Are you licensed and insured? 2. Are you working to the Standards Correctly? 3. Do you insist on an agreement prior to the inspection being organised? 4. Are you taking enough time on-site to carry out the job correctly (Ave 2hrs)? 5. Do you arrange the inspection promptly? 6. Can I come on site and go through any findings with you? 7. Do you issue the report on-site on the day? 8. Have you been inspecting more than 5 years? 9. Can you organise a pest inspection and other inspections for me? 10. Can you organise a time with the agent and tenants for me if applicable? 11. Do you use a ladder to check out the roof? 12. Do you crawl through the ceiling cavity? 13. Do you use moister meter testers? (To detect moister in inaccessible places) 14. Do you check for drummy / lifting floor tiles? 15. Do you identify a safety switch and test smoke alarms? 16. Do you provide additional informative information with your report? 17. Do you have a Quality of service statement and work to it? 18. Is the inspector the business owner? 19. Do you offer  free after inspection  support? 20. Is the inspector enthusiastic, a good  communicator and informative to talk to?   Twenty20 - Score 20/20     At Twenty20 Building Inspections all of these points are incorporated into the service that we provide.

About Us | Our Reports | Pre-Purchase Checklist | Pest Inspections | Policy | Testimonials | Strategic Alliances Link