If this is your first purchase, the inspection process can feel like one more unfamiliar step with a deadline attached. This guide explains what actually happens, in plain language, so you know what you are buying and what you are not.
The short version: an inspection is a documented, visual opinion of condition. It is not a warranty, not a guarantee, and not a renovation quote. It is the information you need to make a decision with your eyes open.
What gets inspected
The accessible parts of the building: interior rooms, external walls, roof exterior, roof void, subfloor, and the ground immediately around the dwelling. The inspector looks for significant defects, safety concerns and maintenance items.
What does not get inspected
Anything that requires cutting, dismantling or specialist testing: inside wall cavities, under floor coverings, plumbing and electrical systems, asbestos, and building approval compliance. Those need separate specialists.
Why pest and building together
Moisture and timber pests are related problems. A combined inspection reads them together, in one visit, with one report — which is both cheaper and more useful than two separate documents that do not reference each other.
How to use the report
Read the scope and limitations first. Then look at the significant defects and safety items. Then take anything that concerns you to your solicitor, and anything requiring a specialist to that specialist — before your deadline, not after.
What it costs
Combined pre-purchase inspections start at $550 for a unit or townhouse, $650 for a single-storey house and $750 for double-storey, split-level or large properties. The confirmed price is provided in writing before the inspection.
Key points
- A visual inspection is condition information, not a guarantee.
- Book combined pest and building in one visit.
- Specialist systems need specialist reports.
- Ask questions before your deadline, not after.
This guide is general information for property buyers in NSW. It is not a building inspection, pest inspection, professional diagnosis or legal advice. A visual inspection cannot guarantee the absence of concealed defects.