What we look for in Oakford, and why it differs from the suburb next door. 28.6 km from the CBD, 12.2 km from the coast, postcode 6121.
Oakford is horse country. A rural-residential locality on the western, coastal-plain side of the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale, where rural land is used mainly for agriculture and equine activities. The western part of the shire remains predominantly rural, in contrast to the growing spine of Byford and Mundijong.
On an equine property the buildings that matter extend well beyond the house, and frequently the house is not the most valuable structure on the block.
Stables. Tack rooms. Feed and hay storage. Shelters and day yards. Arenas, round yards and their fencing. Machinery sheds. All of it forms part of the purchase, all of it needs assessing in its own right or explicitly excluding, and none of it is covered by an inspection of the dwelling.
Settle in writing which structures are included before anyone attends. On an equine holding that is the commonest source of disagreement and it takes one sentence to avoid.
Rural-residential servicing applies. Septic or aerobic treatment systems. Bore and tank water. Long private driveways. Those form part of what is being bought and each is expensive to put right.
The ground is coastal-plain sand over clay on the flatter western side, with low-lying paddocks in places and a seasonal water table on the wetter parcels. Where a block sits within that pattern affects drainage and footings.
The shire is experiencing rapid rural-residential growth, so checking zoning and what is planned for neighbouring land is worth doing before committing.
Equine infrastructure is the specific exposure here, and it is substantial. Horses require a great deal of timber and most of it goes into the ground.
An arena alone can carry several hundred metres of timber fencing set into the ground. Add stable framing and stall linings, shelter posts driven into soil, and feed storage that holds moisture in an enclosed space. Horses generate a great deal of timber and almost all of it ends up in contact with the earth.
Paddock irrigation keeps ground damp through summer when the surrounding plain has dried out, and moisture is what governs colony activity.
On the dwelling, timber floored houses put the subfloor first while slab built homes move attention to the perimeter. Barriers on older rural dwellings are generally absent.
Stables, yards, arena, sheds, house, services. Getting round all of it once is a serious undertaking. Getting round it twice, on separate days, for two reports that draw on the same observations, would be difficult to justify to anyone. Reported under AS 4349.1 and AS 4349.3.
Buyers want the bore, the treatment system and the equine structures assessed as specific items. The stables in particular warrant a proper look, because they are working buildings carrying real value and a great deal of timber in contact with the ground.
Check what is proposed for surrounding land. In a shire growing this quickly, what happens on neighbouring parcels will shape both the value and the amenity of a rural-residential holding.
Walk the boundaries before making an offer. On acreage, what has accumulated along a back fence over twenty years tells you a great deal that the house never will.
Oakford sits on the Bassendean dune system — deep leached grey quartz sand, almost pure, and very free draining. Bassendean sand is about as unreactive as a building site gets, so seasonal footing movement is rarely the story here. The water table is the story. Parts of this system sit over the Gnangara Mound and the standing water level can be within a couple of metres of the surface.
What that means in practice, on a house in Oakford:
Landform is assigned from the suburb's position on the Swan Coastal Plain rather than from a site soil test. It tells you what to expect, not what you have. A site classification to AS 2870 is a different exercise and a different report.
Anketell, Oldbury, Darling Downs and Hilbert sit on the same ground as Oakford, so the footing behaviour and the drainage problems tend to repeat across all of them. If you are comparing houses across those suburbs, you are largely comparing the same site conditions.
Wandi is 4.3 km away but sits on the Spearwood dune system; Banjup is 6.2 km away but sits on the Spearwood dune system. That is the useful thing about this part of Perth: the ground can change inside a few kilometres, and with it what an inspection is looking for.
On site classification: any soil zone quoted for a suburb is indicative, inferred from geography rather than surveyed. A real AS 2870 classification comes from geotechnical work on your actual block and can differ from the one next door. We report what we observe; we do not read your soil class off a map.
The inspection is visual and non-invasive, over the readily accessible areas, reported to AS 4349.1. Our inspectors physically enter the roof space, as long as there is sufficient access. Report within 24 hours of the inspection.
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Flat fee, the same in Oakford as anywhere: $440 inc. GST for a pre-purchase building inspection, or $616 inc. GST with the timber pest scope added in the same visit. Full price list →
Well inland at 12.2 km from the coast, out in Serpentine - Jarrahdale, the inland setting changes what the fee buys in Oakford: footing and slab movement, drainage and the reactive soils of the South East belt come first, and coastal delignification is a lower priority away from the arterial corridors.
Pre-purchase building inspection in Oakford →
Building and pest inspection in Oakford →
Yes. Our inspectors physically enter and inspect the roof space, as long as there is sufficient access to do so safely. Where access is restricted, the report says so plainly rather than implying we saw more than we did.
At 12.2 km inland, Oakford carries lower coastal-salt exposure, so delignification is not the first thing we would expect. It remains possible near heavy arterial corridors or industrial emissions.
Within 24 hours of the inspection itself, not 24 hours from booking. On a pre-purchase or pre-settlement job that timing is the whole point, because your leverage disappears once you are committed.
We would rather you checked than took our word for it. These are the bodies that actually hold the records and set the rules:
Tell us about the property and what you need. We'll come back to you with a firm quote and a time.
PERTH