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 Marmion is defined by exposure and elevation. This suburb sits high on the limestone above Marmion Marine Park, its view-oriented homes taking the ocean weather at close range, and the building inspection to AS 4349.1 reads that intense exposure and the retaining these elevated homes depend on.
Exposure comes first. On Marmion's elevated blocks, with little between the house and the sea, homes take wind-driven rain and salt at full strength, so the building inspection reads all exposed metal and fixings for accelerated corrosion, the extensive glazing and window systems view homes favour for their seals under wind-driven rain, and the rendered and lightweight facades for how they are weathering. On the coast it is exposure, as much as age, that sets the condition.
Elevation comes second. Marmion homes are often built up or into the limestone dune to capture the view, so retaining walls hold the levels, and the building inspection reads them for bulging and cracking, for the drainage behind them, and for whether they were engineered for the loads a dune slope imposes. Split levels and slope drainage are read closely, because water moving through the slope undermines footings and retaining over time.
The limestone is read where a home is founded on or cut into it, the footings for undermining where water tracks through the porous rock and the base for salt attack near the ground. The housing runs from established mid-century homes, read for asbestos, brittle tiled roofs and delignified framing, to large modern rebuilds read for build quality: waterproofing to AS 3740, the roof and flat-roof detailing, and the retaining and drainage the elevated block depends on.
Because it reports to AS 4349.1, the building inspection excludes timber pests, and on Marmion's watered gardens the timber pest scope is worth adding in the same visit. The building inspection's value here is reading the salt exposure, the retaining and the limestone ground together, because on a Marmion cliff-top block they set the terms.
We run the same inspection across the area, including nearby Watermans Bay and North Beach.
MISSING: phone number · Book online → · Flat $440 inc GST, report within 24 hours.
Because Marmion's elevated blocks sit high above the water with little between the house and the sea. They take wind-driven rain and salt at full strength, so we read all exposed metal and fixings for accelerated corrosion, the extensive glazing for its seals, and the facades for how they are weathering.
They do. Marmion homes are often built up or into the limestone dune, so retaining walls hold the levels, and we read them for bulging and cracking, for the drainage behind them, and for whether they were engineered for the loads a dune slope imposes.
On these elevated blocks, yes. We read retaining for bulging and cracking, the drainage behind it, and whether it was built for its height and load, because a tall retaining wall on a dune slope is a serious structure and a failing one is unsafe and expensive.
Where a home is founded on or cut into limestone, we read the footings for undermining where water tracks through the porous rock and the base for salt attack near the ground. On an elevated limestone block, ground and drainage are central to the reading.
It can be. Large glazing and window systems on a view home face wind-driven rain at close range, so we read them for seal failure and water entry at the reveals, a common issue on exposed coastal homes.
The focus shifts to build quality in a harsh setting: waterproofing to AS 3740, the roof and flat-roof detailing, and above all the retaining and drainage the elevated block depends on. A pre-handover look while the builder is liable is worth as much as a pre-purchase one.
Yes, in eaves and sheeting. We identify and flag suspect materials without disturbing them, which matters most if you plan to renovate or replace.
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 Marmion, yes. The building inspection reports to AS 4349.1 and excludes pests, and the watered gardens here still suit termites despite the free-draining limestone, so the two scopes are usually done together.
Yes. A clear building report separates the significant issue, corrosion, failing retaining or facade weathering, from the cosmetic, and gives you a concrete basis to renegotiate.
Also available as a combined building and timber pest inspection in Marmion — 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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