Independent inspection to AS 4349.1 by a registered building contractor. What you are buying, read by someone who has built. Report within 24 hours.
A pre-purchase building inspection in Bedford is a more varied job than in neighbouring Inglewood, because Bedford's housing is mixed rather than uniform: interwar homes, post-war and 1950s and 60s brick, and a steady layer of newer subdivision. The building inspection to AS 4349.1 reads whichever era, and whichever quality of build, the property turns out to be.
On the older homes, the structure is interwar and early post-war brick on shallow period footings, read for movement and for the rising damp the pre-damp-course walls draw up. On the substantial mid-century stock, the structure is 1950s and 60s brick and tile, and the building inspection reads it against the ground and the era, separating cosmetic cracking from genuine movement and reading the roof structure for sag, water entry and the delignification that turns up in the hardwood under old tiles.
The era also brings asbestos into the structural read, because so much Bedford stock is 1950s and 60s. While the inspection does not disturb or sample, it identifies and flags the suspect materials, in eaves and sheeting and behind wet-area tiles, so a buyer intending to renovate knows what is there before a wall comes down.
Subdivision is central to Bedford, and it brings its own structural questions. A grouped dwelling or rear battle-axe build sits on a tight site, often at a different level from the original home, so the building inspection reads retaining for adequacy and drainage, the newer structure for the workmanship of a quick build, and the boundary conditions the subdivision created. A newer dwelling is judged on build quality, from articulation on the ground to the finishing that infill builds rush.
Additions run through the older stock, and each is a junction the inspection reads for structure, for the waterproofing of any retrofitted wet area, and for whether it was approved, because unapproved building passes to the buyer at settlement. The roof space takes the longest time, read for framing condition, water entry, past repair and delignification.
Because it reports to AS 4349.1, the building inspection excludes timber pests, and on Bedford's established gardens and ageing timber the timber pest scope is worth adding in the same visit. The building inspection's value here is reading exactly what is in front of it, and telling the significant structural issue from the cosmetic wear that a mixed, older suburb naturally carries.
We run the same inspection across the area, including nearby Inglewood and Mount Lawley.
MISSING: phone number · Book online → · Flat $440 inc GST, report within 24 hours.
A visual inspection to AS 4349.1 of the accessible parts of the property, tailored to its era. On an interwar or mid-century Bedford home that means the shallow footings and wall movement, the ageing roof structure, asbestos-era materials and any subdivision, reported as significant defects with the areas not safely accessed.
It identifies and flags suspect materials without disturbing them. Much of Bedford is 1950s and 60s stock, with likely asbestos in the eaves and sheeting and behind wet-area tiles, and knowing where it is before you renovate is the point.
For meaning, not by counting. We separate cosmetic shrinkage from structural movement, read it against the shallow period footings and the ground, and account for any subdivision or added load. The pattern points to the cause.
The build quality and boundary conditions: retaining where levels change, drainage on a tight site, and the workmanship of a quick infill build. A newer dwelling is judged on build quality rather than age.
The focus shifts to build quality: waterproofing to AS 3740 and roof-space workmanship and articulation on the ground, and the finishing a fast build rushes. On a near-new home a pre-handover look while the builder is liable is worth as much as a pre-purchase one.
Often. The tiles are brittle and past their life, with perished sarking, and the hardwood framing can show chemical delignification, which reduces what it can carry. We read the roof structure closely and probe for it.
A flat $440 including GST for the pre-purchase building inspection, or $616 including GST with the timber pest scope added in the same visit. The fee is the same in every suburb, and you have the report within 24 hours.
In most of Bedford, yes. The building inspection reports to AS 4349.1 and excludes pests, and the established gardens and ageing timber here suit termites, so the two scopes are usually done together.
The junctions and the approvals. We read each addition for structure and for the waterproofing of any retrofitted wet area, and flag work that looks unapproved so it can be checked against council records.
Yes. Whether it is an ageing mid-century home, an interwar original or a newer build, a clear building report separates the significant structural issue from the cosmetic, and gives you a concrete basis to renegotiate.
Also available as a combined building and timber pest inspection in Bedford — both scopes in one visit to AS 4349.1 and AS 4349.3, one report within 24 hours.
Combined B&P inspection →Our office is at Suite 55, 15 Labouchere Road, South Perth WA 6151 — on the Swan River foreshore near the Perth Zoo.
Tell us about the property and what you need. We'll come back to you with a firm quote and a time.
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