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 Watermans Bay is, first and last, about how the sea has treated the building. This small beachfront pocket between North Beach and Sorrento sits unusually close to the water, its compact blocks lining a tight strip of coast with little buffer, so the homes here take the most direct exposure in their postcode, and the building inspection to AS 4349.1 reads that exposure before anything else.
Direct exposure is the whole story. With little between them and the ocean, these homes face salt-laden air and wind-driven rain at close to full strength, and salt reaches everything, so the building inspection reads all exposed metal and fixings for accelerated corrosion, the roof fixings and flashings for the same, and the window systems and any render for how they are weathering. Wind-blown sand adds its own wear. On this strip, exposure is the primary driver of condition.
The housing is a mix, read on its terms. The modest older homes, some post-war and fibro, are read for the asbestos those materials commonly hold, identified and flagged without being disturbed, and for the salt corrosion and weathering of their age and position. The newer builds are read for build quality in a demanding spot: wet-area waterproofing to AS 3740, the roof and any flat-roof detailing, and the glazing and facades that must weather front-line salt. Many older homes on this coveted strip are redevelopment sites, so where one is bought to replace, the inspection focuses on the site and any structure being retained.
The ground is limestone dune, and where a home is founded on or built of limestone the footings are read for undermining and the base for salt attack near the ground, with any retaining on the compact, sometimes low-lying blocks read for condition and drainage.
Because it reports to AS 4349.1, the building inspection excludes timber pests, and on the older homes 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-driven condition of the building first, because on this exposed pocket of coast that decides everything.
We run the same inspection across the area, including nearby Marmion and North Beach.
MISSING: phone number · Book online → · Flat $440 inc GST, report within 24 hours.
How close it sits to the water. This is a small, tight beachfront strip with little buffer, so the homes take the most direct salt and wind exposure in their postcode. On this strip, exposure is the primary driver of condition, and we read it first.
Yes. Salt-laden air and wind-driven rain reach everything, so we read all exposed metal and fixings and the roof fixings and flashings, and the window systems and render, for accelerated corrosion and weathering. Wind-blown sand adds its own wear.
Asbestos and salt. The older post-war and fibro homes commonly hold asbestos, which we identify and flag without disturbing, and we read the salt corrosion and weathering their age and position bring, along with the movement of shallow footings.
Build quality in a demanding position: wet-area waterproofing to AS 3740, the roof and any flat-roof detailing, and the glazing and facades that must weather front-line salt. A new home here is judged on how well it was made for the exposure.
Many older homes on this coveted strip 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.
Where a home is founded on or built of limestone, we read the footings for undermining and the base for salt attack near the ground, and any retaining on the compact, sometimes low-lying blocks for condition and drainage.
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 homes, 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 home is about asbestos, salt corrosion and weathering; a new build is about waterproofing, glazing and how well it was made for the exposure. We tailor the read to which you are buying.
Yes. A clear building report separates the significant issue, whether asbestos or corrosion or a waterproofing defect, from the cosmetic, and gives you a concrete basis to renegotiate.
Also available as a combined building and timber pest inspection in Watermans Bay — 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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