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 Girrawheen is, for many buyers, the check on a first home or a budget investment. This affordable, diverse suburb is built on 1970s state-development stock and redeveloping fast, and the building inspection to AS 4349.1 earns its keep here as a plain, honest read of what an affordable older home really needs, separating the genuinely expensive from the merely cosmetic.
The older homes are read for their era and, above all, for the costly things. These are brick or double brick on shallow footings, and the building inspection concentrates on where real money goes: the roof, brittle with perished sarking at this age and sometimes near the end of its life; structural movement in walls and footings; rising damp; and the areas a timber pest inspection would cover. Asbestos runs through the materials of the era, in eaves and sheeting, identified and flagged without being disturbed, because for a budget-conscious renovator an unexpected asbestos job is a serious cost.
Redevelopment has reshaped Girrawheen, so original homes now sit beside brand-new duplexes, often on what was one block. Where old meets new along a boundary, the building inspection reads the drainage and any close structure, because subdivision can leave drainage and access arrangements that are not obvious. Where the property is a newer grouped dwelling, the read is build quality: wet-area waterproofing to AS 3740, roof-space workmanship and the shared elements grouped title creates.
Where an original home is bought to develop, the inspection focuses on the existing structure and the site, and it still flags asbestos, because it affects demolition.
The roof space takes the longest time on the older homes, read for framing condition, water entry and delignification, because the roof is one of the bigger costs an older home can bring.
Because it reports to AS 4349.1, the building inspection excludes timber pests, and on the established gardens and ageing timber the timber pest scope is well worth adding, because for a budget buyer catching active termites early is one of the most valuable things it does. The building inspection's value here is telling a first-home buyer or investor plainly what an older home really needs, so the budget holds after settlement.
We run the same inspection across the area, including nearby Marangaroo and Balga.
MISSING: phone number · Book online → · Flat $440 inc GST, report within 24 hours.
A plain read of what an affordable older home really needs, focused on the genuinely expensive things, the roof, structural movement and rising damp, rather than the cosmetic ones, reported to AS 4349.1 with the areas not safely accessed. That is exactly where it protects your budget.
For its era and for the costly items. These are brick or double brick on shallow footings, so we read the roof, the walls and footings for movement, and the damp, and we flag asbestos in eaves and sheeting, because for a budget renovator an unexpected asbestos job is a serious cost.
It can. Redevelopment often leaves an original home beside a new duplex on what was one block, so where old meets new along a boundary we read the drainage and any close structure, because subdivision can leave drainage and access arrangements that are not obvious.
Build quality and the shared elements: wet-area waterproofing to AS 3740, roof-space workmanship, and the shared driveways and walls grouped title creates.
It identifies and flags suspect materials without disturbing them. The 1970s Girrawheen stock can contain asbestos in eaves and sheeting, and for a budget-conscious renovator, knowing where it is before you start matters, because it is expensive to handle.
Yes, with the focus on the plan. Where a home is bought to develop, we read the existing structure and the site for what matters to that plan, and we still flag asbestos, because it affects demolition.
They can be. At this age the tiles are brittle with perished sarking and the roof can be near the end of its life, and a roof replacement is one of the bigger costs an older home brings, so we read it closely.
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.
On an affordable older home, yes. The building inspection reports to AS 4349.1 and excludes pests, and catching active termites early is one of the most valuable things you can do on a tight budget, so the two scopes are usually done together.
Yes. A clear building report separates the significant, costly issue, an old roof or structural movement, from the cosmetic, and gives you a concrete basis to renegotiate, which matters most on a tight budget.
Also available as a combined building and timber pest inspection in Girrawheen — 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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