A building inspection is a snapshot in time, it isn’t a guarantee that defects won’t develop in the future so you should always ensure you refer to a current building inspection.
Building inspections are also carried out for the purpose of risk management, new construction management, dispute resolution, insurance claims, compliance with legislation and regulations and to assist with renovation and extension decisions.
A building inspection may be required if you discover that your home has developed a building defect over time or in response to an incident or accident. Inspections are generally ordered during the process of buying or selling a home or property and may be requested by any of the following:
Home buyers & sellers, commercial property owners & investors;
Property managers, body corporates and strata title managers;
Government, private agencies and businesses;
Building and construction contractors, solicitors ;
For court proceedings involving compensation claims.
Increasingly property buyers are aware of their responsibility to discover building defects before contracts are exchanged – this responsibility refers to the latin principle known as Caveat Emptor or “let the buyer beware”.
The full statement is “Caveat emptor, qui ignorare non debuit quod jus alienum emit” – translated as “Let a purchaser, who ought not be ignorant of the amount and nature of the interest which he is about to buy, exercise proper caution”.
Under common law, the purchaser must undertake their own investigations of a property since there is no legal obligation for the current owner to disclose anything relating to the quality of the property or the land it is built on.
As a result, home or property buyers who subsequently attempt to seek compensation for defects discovered after purchase will find themselves at a significant legal disadvantage. There is little recourse for compensation after purchasing a property with defects which are discovered later.
