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 Hocking gives particular attention to how the site manages its water. This modern estate suburb is brick veneer on slab, and a modern slab-on-ground home relies on soakwells, site grading and downpipes to keep stormwater away from the slab, so the building inspection to AS 4349.1 reads that drainage closely, because when it is not right, the damp and movement it causes are among the most common and most avoidable defects a Hocking home shows.
Site drainage is the defining focus. On a slab-on-ground home, water that is not carried away collects against the slab and feeds rising damp at the edge, and on reactive ground it drives the movement that cracks walls, so the building inspection reads the whole drainage picture: whether the ground falls away from the home; whether paving and garden beds shed water outward or trap it against the walls; whether downpipes discharge to soakwells rather than at the base of the walls; and, where accessible, whether the soakwells are working rather than blocked or collapsed. Poor drainage is often the root cause behind the damp and cracking a buyer notices.
The construction is read for its era: the timber frame through the roof space for movement and moisture, and the wall ties and weep holes the veneer relies on. We read the slab edge for rising damp, and the roof plumbing, meaning its flashings and valleys, for the leaks a volume build can carry. Tile roofs are read for condition, and asbestos, largely absent in stock of this era, is flagged in eaves and sheeting where present.
The slab edge and drainage take particular attention, read for the rising damp and movement poor water management drives.
Because it reports to AS 4349.1, the building inspection excludes timber pests, and drainage matters there too, because the same standing water that damages a slab creates the damp conditions termites seek, so the timber pest scope is worth adding. The building inspection's value here is reading the site's drainage as closely as its walls, because in a home of this kind water is the cause, and damp and movement and termites are the effect.
We run the same inspection across the area, including nearby Pearsall and Wanneroo.
MISSING: phone number · Book online → · Flat $440 inc GST, report within 24 hours.
How the site manages its water. A modern estate home relies on soakwells and site grading, with downpipes, to keep stormwater away from the slab, and when that drainage is not right, the damp and movement it causes are among the most common defects we find, reported to AS 4349.1 with the areas not safely accessed.
The whole picture: whether the ground falls away from the home; whether paving and garden beds shed water outward or trap it against the walls; whether downpipes discharge to soakwells rather than at the base of the walls; and, where accessible, whether the soakwells are working rather than blocked or collapsed.
Because water that is not carried away collects against the slab and feeds rising damp at the edge, and on reactive ground it drives the movement that cracks walls. Poor drainage is often the root cause behind the damp and cracking a buyer notices, so finding it is worth more than noting the symptom.
We read the timber frame through the roof space for movement and moisture, and the wall ties and weep holes the veneer relies on. We read the slab edge for rising damp, and the roof plumbing, meaning its flashings and valleys, for the leaks a volume build can carry.
Where they are accessible, we assess their condition and whether the downpipes discharge to them properly. Some soakwells are buried or covered, so we report what is accessible and note where a drainage issue warrants further investigation.
It identifies and flags any suspect materials without disturbing them. Asbestos is largely absent in stock of this era, so we check eaves and sheeting by age and appearance where present.
Yes, and drainage matters there too. The building inspection reports to AS 4349.1 and excludes pests, and the same standing water that damages a slab creates the damp conditions termites seek, so the two scopes are worth doing together.
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.
It varies, from re-grading and clearing soakwells to more substantial works, but it is usually far cheaper than the damage it causes if left. Finding it early is exactly how the report saves you money.
Yes. A clear building report identifies drainage as the cause behind damp or movement, separating the significant from the cosmetic, and gives you a concrete basis to renegotiate.
Also available as a combined building and timber pest inspection in Hocking — 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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