Southbank
Building
Inspections
Know Before You Buy
Expert Pre-purchase Building and Pest Inspections for house and apartment buyers,
servicing all areas of Melbourne
Why Southbank Building Inspections?
Choose a Building and Pest Inspector trusted by thousands of home buyers
Your Inspector GREG SPARRIUS is
EXPERIENCED
Has personally conducted over 8,000 property inspections since 1995, specialising in Pre-purchase Building Inspections and Timber Pest Inspections. His vast knowledge of all building defects will inform you about their significance to your purchase decision.
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HELPFUL
Greg is always available to talk you through the main issues in your Report. He loves helping purchasers at the crucial decision point, to buy, not buy, or simply get to know what areas need repair.
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KNOWLEDGEABLE
To ensure you are getting the best information on the building condition, Greg's qualifications include Bachelor of Science (Architecture), Pre-purchase Building Inspection Certificate, Pest Management Certificate 4.
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THOROUGH
You'll get all the clearest information and photos you need to make an informed decision. All the accessible areas of the property will be inspected, with extra care to document the hard to reach areas like top of roof, inside roof space and under-floor area (if applicable).
Inspection Services
When you're ready to buy your next home, which Report do you need to ensure the property is solid and safe?
OPTION 1:
Comprehensive
Building and Pest inspection
Choose a comprehensive building and pest inspection to help you buy with confidence. All accessible areas of the property are inspected: interior, exterior, roof, roof space, subfloor area.
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A pre-purchase Building Report on the condition of the property, detailing major building defects, any safety hazards and damage from timber pests:
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Damage
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Deterioration
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Damp issues
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Material deflection
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Operational issues
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Includes testing with latest technology tools for damp via moisture meter, and thermal imaging camera when needed
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The Report is in accordance with Australian Standards AS4349.1 and AS4349.3.
OPTION 2:
Structural Only
Building & Pest inspection
A Structural Only pre-purchase building and pest inspection report is available if you only need to know the structural condition.
Useful if you are planning widespread renovations/ changes.​
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The Report identifies any major structural building defects, such as:
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walls cracking,
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distorted beams,
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major leaks,
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any safety hazards
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timber pest issues, such as termites or borers
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Includes testing with latest technology tools for damp via moisture meter, and thermal imaging camera when needed
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The Report is in accordance with Appendix A of Australian Standard AS4349.1, and AS 4349.3.
Other Services
Optional testing -
Electrical & Gas Appliances Operation
Testing electrical and gas appliances is excluded from all typical Building Reports in Australia. So consider including this optional evaluation of the operation of electrical and gas fixtures such as lights, power-points, stove, oven, taps, heating and cooling systems, solar PV systems.
Testing of functionality is in accordance with Australian Standard AS4349.0 (not a licensed electrician and plumber evaluation).
Building Inspection ONLY
Building Inspection ONLY - in accordance with Australian Standard AS4349.1, choose this option only if your prospective property is an apartment or house not located in a termite risk area (most suburbs in Melbourne are termite risk areas).
Greg was great. He was prompt and thorough. Thanks again for inspecting our property at Lilli Pilli
Jane
Highly professional and very thorough. Would highly recommend
Peter
Very thorough and followed up our queries promptly
Jan & David
Servicing all suburbs of metro Melbourne,
Southbank, South Melbourne, Port Melbourne
Sample Defects
Wall cracking
An example of significant structural cracking. Wall cracks are an indication of structural movement of the house footings but are sometimes covered up prior to selling. A trained eye and experience can inform you if it is structurally significant, may cause ongoing damage, or just be of cosmetic importance.
Damp issues
Water is the most common cause of serious damage to properties. Here is an example where failed waterproofing in a shower recess was causing damage to the floor, seen from the sub-floor below.
Other water defects commonly found are leaking roofs and poor drainage.
Faulty construction
Overlapping roofs here was causing water damage to the roof structure.
A visually stunning house from the outside can hide faulty construction methods, which can cause expensive repairs down the track. We search in the roof, under-floor area, interior and exterior for any evidence of poor building practices.
Termite damage
Termites burrow through timber and damage from within and need an expert eye to detect their presence. They cause more damage to Australian homes than flood and fire combined, so we include this in every pre-purchase Inspection Report, unless requested not to.