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 North Beach reads a residential coast in transition. The suburb runs from older beach shacks and fibro cottages through the post-war and mid-century homes to large new coastal builds, and the building inspection to AS 4349.1 is shaped by salt and limestone, and by which stage of that transition the home belongs to.
The older beach stock needs particular care. North Beach's shacks and fibro cottages were often built cheaply for a holiday climate, so the building inspection reads the salt-driven corrosion of any steel and the weathering of exposed timber and render, plus, above all, the asbestos that fibro cottages of this kind are frequently full of, in the sheeting and eaves, and the wet areas. Suspect materials are identified and flagged by age and appearance without being disturbed, which is central for a buyer planning to renovate an old beach house. The shallow footings and tiled roofs of the era are read for movement and condition.
The new coastal builds are read for build quality in a harsh setting: wet-area waterproofing to AS 3740 and any flat-roof detailing, the extensive glazing and rendered facades that must weather salt air, plus the finishing a fast build rushes. Many older homes are redevelopment sites, so where a shack is bought to replace, the inspection focuses on the site and any structure being retained.
The ground is limestone dune. Where a home is founded on or built of limestone, the footings are read for undermining where water tracks through and the base for salt attack near the ground, with any retaining on the dune slopes read for condition and drainage. Being close to the sea, exposed metal and fixings are read for accelerated corrosion.
Because it reports to AS 4349.1, the building inspection excludes timber pests, and on the older houses and their watered gardens the timber pest scope is worth adding in the same visit. The building inspection's value here is reading the salt and asbestos of an old beach house, or the build quality of the home that replaced it, as the case demands.
We run the same inspection across the area, including nearby Watermans Bay and Trigg.
MISSING: phone number · Book online → · Flat $440 inc GST, report within 24 hours.
Above all, asbestos and salt. Fibro cottages are frequently full of asbestos, in the sheeting and eaves, and wet areas, which we identify and flag without disturbing. We also read the salt-driven corrosion of any steel and the weathering of exposed timber and render, and the movement of shallow footings.
Because the old beach stock was often built with fibrous cement, which commonly contains asbestos. For a buyer planning to renovate, knowing where it is before a wall comes down is the difference between a straightforward job and a hazardous, costly one.
Build quality in a harsh setting: wet-area waterproofing to AS 3740 and any flat-roof detailing, the extensive glazing and rendered facades that must weather salt air, plus the finishing a fast build rushes.
Yes. Close to the sea, all exposed metal and fixings corrode faster, so we read them and the roof fixings and flashings, because on the coast corrosion drives many of the defects we find.
Where a home is founded on or built of limestone, we read the footings for undermining where water tracks through and the base for salt attack near the ground, and any retaining on the dune slopes for condition and drainage.
Many older North Beach homes are. Where one is bought to knock down, we focus on the site and any structure being retained, and we still flag asbestos, because it affects demolition.
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 the older houses, yes. The building inspection reports to AS 4349.1 and excludes pests, and the watered gardens and older timber here still suit termites, so the two scopes are usually done together.
The emphasis changes. An old beach house is about asbestos, salt corrosion and weathering; a new build is about waterproofing and glazing, and how well it was made for the setting. We tailor the read to which you are buying.
Yes. Whether it is an old shack or a new build, a clear building report separates the significant issue from the cosmetic, and gives you a concrete basis to renegotiate.
Also available as a combined building and timber pest inspection in North Beach — 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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