When you engage a building inspection company to do a pre-purchase /pre-sale building inspection there are a number of key elements of the dwelling that they will be focusing on .As a pre-purchase building inspection is generally a non – invasive visual inspection they rely heavily on the knowledge and experience of the building inspector to identify any faults or defects that may exist.
The key areas that an inspector will be checking :
Any defects are noted clearly in report with photos included where applicable. Where there is a visual fault with a specialist system or service such as electrical the inspector may state in the report " Needs further investigation from registered electrician to determine cause and effect of fault ".
If the dwelling is built between 1997 and 2003 with monolithic cladding ( sheet type – mainly fibre –cement sheet and polystyrene ) the inspection company may recommend a full non-invasive leak detection survey to ensure dwelling is not a "Leaky Home ".
This involves determining risk factor of dwelling taking into account complexity of design , design features (such as lack of eaves ) and if dwelling has been constructed out of un-treated timber with no cavity behind cladding. The inspector will then carry out a full non-invasive survey utilising moisture probes. If any evidence of moisture penetration through building envelope is found the inspector may recommend a full invasive weathertightness survey to determine cause of leakage and any damage to structural integrity of dwelling.
