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 Wembley Downs is shaped by the ridge it sits on. Many homes are built into or stepped up the limestone slope behind the coast, with the split levels and deep retaining, and the view-oriented design a hillside invites, and Bold Park's bushland sits on the suburb's edge. The building inspection to AS 4349.1 reads a mostly mid-century stock, and a growing number of large rebuilds, against that steep and bush-edged setting.
The slope is the first structural factor. On a steep block a home is often cut into or stepped down the hillside, so the building inspection reads the retaining walls that hold the levels for bulging, cracking, the drainage behind them and whether they were engineered for the real loads they carry, which on this ridge can be considerable. Split-level junctions and under-house and cut-in areas, and slope drainage, are read closely, because water moving through a hillside site undermines footings and retaining over time.
The limestone is the second factor. Homes founded on or cut into limestone are read for undermining where water tracks through the porous rock, with the base masonry read for salt and moisture attack near the ground. Being coast-adjacent, Wembley Downs gets a moderate dose of salt air, so exposed metal and fixings and flashings are read for corrosion.
The housing is read for era and ambition. The mid-century homes bring asbestos in eaves and sheeting, plus brittle tiled roofs and delignified framing, all flagged, while the large rebuilds are read for build quality: wet-area waterproofing to AS 3740 and any flat-roof detailing, and above all the retaining and drainage a sloping and view-oriented block depends on. Additions across the older stock are each read for structure, waterproofing and approval.
Because it reports to AS 4349.1, the building inspection excludes timber pests, and with Bold Park's bushland on the doorstep the timber pest scope is well worth adding here, because that bush is a reservoir for subterranean termites and the blocks nearest it carry a genuine risk a building-only inspection is not designed to address.
Wembley Downs is an elevated, bush-edged limestone suburb, and the building inspection's value here is reading the retaining, the slope drainage and the limestone ground together, because on this ridge they set the terms.
We run the same inspection across the area, including nearby Doubleview and Scarborough.
MISSING: phone number · Book online → · Flat $440 inc GST, report within 24 hours.
Because many homes are built into or up the ridge. On a steep block the home is often cut into or stepped down the hillside, so we read the retaining walls that hold the levels for bulging and cracking, the drainage behind them, and whether they were engineered for their real loads, which on this ridge can be considerable.
How it was formed and drained. Split-level junctions and under-house and cut-in areas, and the drainage a slope demands, are read closely, because water moving through a hillside site is what undermines footings and retaining over time.
Homes founded on or cut into limestone are read for undermining where water tracks through the porous rock, with the base masonry read for salt and moisture attack near the ground. On an elevated limestone block, ground and drainage are central to the reading.
Yes. Bold Park is a large tract of bushland on the doorstep, and bush is a reservoir for subterranean termites. The building inspection reports to AS 4349.1 and excludes pests, so on blocks near the park the timber pest scope is well worth adding, because those blocks carry a genuine risk.
On this ridge, very much so. 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 steep block is a serious structure and a failing one is expensive and unsafe.
A moderate one. Wembley Downs gets some salt air off the sea, so we read exposed metal and fixings and flashings for corrosion, more than inland but less than on the beachfront.
The focus shifts to build quality: wet-area waterproofing to AS 3740 and any flat-roof detailing, and above all the retaining and drainage a sloping and view-oriented 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.
Yes. A clear building report separates the significant issue, failing retaining or slope drainage, from the cosmetic, and gives you a concrete basis to renegotiate.
Also available as a combined building and timber pest inspection in Wembley Downs — 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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