A Building Surveyor is responsible for making sure your home meets the minimum standards of building regulations.
They also:
- make sure your building plans are in order
- make sure you have the required building permits and occupancy certificates
- make sure protection work is done to protect adjoining property from potential damage from their building work.
- conduct mandatory building inspections to check that the work is compliant with regulatory standards.
See the Domestic Consumer Building Guide for more information on the role of a Building Surveyor
Yes, since 2016 changes to the Building Act 1993 mean you’re now responsible for selecting your own building surveyor. Your builder can suggest a surveyor to you and they are still responsible for engaging the building surveyor but you must select one. By choosing your own building surveyor you’ll have a better chance of finding one who understands your needs, read more about how choosing us can benefit your build.
Most houses have 4 mandatory inspections but there can definitely be more. The main mandatory inspections we do are:
- Pre-slab
- Steel
- Frame
- Final
Other mandatory inspections include piers, subfloor, retaining walls, fire seperation walls and more. Your builder may request additional non-mandatory inspections like pre-plaster, waterproofing and more. If you have questions about any additional inspections then you best speak to your builder and ask if it’s possible to have more. Often it’s a good sign if your builder includes extra non-mandatory inspections as they want to make sure that your house is built to the best standards and compliant with the National Construction Code (NCC). If you’d like any additional inspections, speak to your builder. It may cost you a little more but in the long run it will guarantee peace of mind.
It can make a difference. Often you can’t be certain of the standard of the work if you hire a contractor to do an inspection. We employ over 20 of our own qualified building inspectors, which is the largest fleet in Victoria. All our inspectors are trained to the highest standards and registered with the VBA. This ensures you receive the same consistent Group Four standard of service for all of your inspections.
The cost of mandatory inspections is covered by the home buyer as part of the building costs.
If you’d like to appoint us as your building surveyor you can download this appointment form and hand it to your builder and we will liaise with your builder on your behalf. Your builder will act as your agent so they will receive all the information from us and organise everything on your behalf. However, we also make sure to keep you in the loop via regular email contact. There’s legislated points that we must contact you as well, for example once the building permit is issued and if any amendments are made to the building permit during construction.
Our fees vary based on the size of home you’re building and the complexity of the project. To get a quote either speak with your builder or contact us directly.
All of our building surveyors are registered with the Victorian Building Authority (VBA).
Our turnaround times do vary by builder but they are within 3-5 working days. As long as there are no issues, they usually arrive sooner.
We will email you a copy of the building permit once it’s issued. A copy is also sent to your builder, so you can always request it from them or contact us directly.
Your first point of call should be your builder; they are responsible for managing the project and have a thorough understanding of the construction, the site and the schedule. If they’re not able to answer the question they will usually contact us on your behalf.
As part of the Building Act 1993, we are required to issue the builder with a written direction if they fail to fix problems we’ve found during an inspection, within a prescribed timeframe of 7 days. We send you a copy so you are aware of what is happening, but you’re not required to take any action. Your builder will have also received a copy. It’s up to them to fix the issues we’ve listed within the prescribed timeframe. Often they’ve already started working on most of them but we just haven’t re-inspected the house yet. That’s why the best person to discuss with is your builder or site manager. If you’ve still got concerns, please feel free to speak with us.
Building inspectors are responsible for ensuring that the structure of your home is compliant with the building permit and that the construction meets the NCC. We don’t check for aesthetic concerns such as problems with paint colour, tiling and so on, these issues are the responsibility of your builder.
Yes. Building inspections are a vital component of building your new home. During the early stages of building there are a lot of things that can go wrong. Builders are usually very careful but there is always a chance for human error. Building inspections mean an independent third party can run their eyes over the work and ensure that it is compliant to the NCC and other regulations and that it’s being built according to your permit. The regulations do get changed and updated and it’s impossible for builders to be across every little change but our inspectors know about legislative changes well in advance, so you’re in safe hands with us.
No, we only inspect houses that are being built, we don’t inspect existing homes.
We primarily inspect and provide permits for Class 1 buildings which include detached houses, townhouses, terraces and units and adjoining Class 10 buildings which are carports, sheds, retaining walls and the like.
Only if you have an active building licence (DB-U). Therefore in most cases, we can’t provide a permit.
If you’re in Melbourne and you’d like to appoint us as your building surveyor please download the form below and hand it to your builder. Or ask them to contact us.
If you’re a builder in Perth and you’d like to know more about how we can work together, please contact us.