1960’s house reno – building/plumbing inspection

Hi MrsC,

I have bought two old home and each time I have got a building inspections. There are lots of companies that do this specifically for people buying houses and they check the plumbing, wiring, stumps etc. They cost about $500 but are definately worth the money. Our last one was really good, they gave a full report with photos of anything dodgy.

Good Luck!
Kate

Hi,

Firstly, have you put your own contract clauses into the offer and acceptance – please don't use the selling agents? I would recommend 2 clauses, first being a "get out" or renegotiate clause if something is seriously wrong with the property. Not just structurally unsound within the dwelling, i.e. if a retaining wall is falling down – most times this does not affect the dwelling, but can cost you plenty of money to fix. Under most contract clauses, this is not considered a structural defect to the house.

The second clause is a good working order clause. Not just limited to items which are working, but items that meet the current Australian Standards – these change over time. We often find older properties have systems/items which are unsafe compared to the current standards – i.e. wiring.

The inspections I always recommend to my clients is a building report and pest inspection report. However, the one which comes up with the most faults is ALWAYS the electrical report. Nothing can be 100% when buying older homes but most problems come from not knowing these problems and hitting budget blow outs.

Good luck!

Hi MrsC,
Yes it was in Perth and I used Resicert. They check the plumbing/electrcial to the best of their ability as they are not electricians or plumbers, but I am lucky that my partner is an electrician so we planned to re-wire the whole house after we bought it (the wiring is about 100 years old!).
We also put a clause saying 'Subject to a building inspection", I think that's all we wrote so we decided if it was in good enough condition or not.<br /:)” title=”>:)” class=”bbcode_smiley” />

It depends on the inspection, if you specifically ask for an electrical they use a company called Zantornics. In all their electrical inspections it includes quotes for the work needed.

To give you a 101 with contract clauses it needs to cover off on the following, succinctly and without being too onerous on the other party:
– what you want to achieve.
(this is the key to your contract clause and it has to be VERY clear. Any ambiguity and it can be twisted or misinterpreted)
– who's discretion judges whatever you're getting done.
(if you just say a satisfactory building report, who's satisfaction; yours, the sellers, the building inspectors, the selling agents…)
– if there is a cost, which party pays.
(I've seen it where you say getting a building inspection done and the seller insists they will pay and choose the company. i.e. their mate)
– how will notify the other party if you're happy.
(do you notify them or not and if not whats the outcome. If you're not happy with a building inspection and they "loose the letter" does the contract keep going.)
– the timeline
(how long you have to get things done)
– the default of what happens at the end of the timeline.
(does the contract keep going or come to an end – most selling agent time-line's default to the contract going ahead)
– what happens to the deposit.
(is it refunded or kept by the seller. If this is not in the conditions they could argue it's implied they keep it.)
– mitigate stonewalling
(If you get a building inspection and the seller gets a better offer – I've seen it happen that they don't let the building inspector into the house.)
– THINK OF ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING WHICH CAN GO WRONG!

I see horrible contract clauses written all the time. I'm not the best myself so for the more complicated stuff we still use solicitors to draft our clauses.

Hi MrsC, I had a sparky in the other day and asked him about ballpark figures for rewiring, as I'm looking at a 3×1 1969 built brick + tile house in suburban Perth. He said it shoudl be in the range of $3000-4000. He said to allow 3 days for the work on average and that this would include removal of old wiring and all the new stuff. He said a budget of $5k should well and truly cover any unforeseen issues and even include all the bakelite for power points, light fittings/switches etc. He said that even in older houses sometimes the wire is suitable to keep, depends on the insulation quality around the wire… He assured me he would accurately quote upon inspection and the quote would be fixed, not suddenly increase whilst he was working.