Australian Building Inspection Services (ABIS)

We have being providing building and pest inspections for over 30 years and we believe we have got very good at it. Also getting ABIS to conduct your building and pest inspection will ensure that there is no bias in the report (we work for you and are not influenced by anyone else), giving you confidence on the decision you make regarding your home.

Our clients are very happy with the service and much of our business comes from them having no hesitation in recommending ABIS to their friends and relations. We also have many clients who have used us in the past and they tell us they like the way we take the time to ensure important issues are communicated and understood.

Before you make one of the biggest financial decisions of your life it’s a good idea to get as much information as you can to help you make the right decision. ABIS will provide you with that peace of mind with good old fashioned customer service, an extensive knowledge base and quality reports with house inspections undertaken by fully qualified, highly trained and experienced inspectors all of whom are long term employees and part of a close knit team.

Over the past 30 years ABIS has developed a unique computer-aided approach to building inspections that other inspectors cannot match. Using technology taken from commercial aviation, our inspectors follow a best practice check list that greatly reduces the risk of human error. Our inspectors are able to focus on the building inspection process with accurate recording of building defects and issues. Their findings are kept in a database so that they can be subject to independent checks to ensure inspection quality is maintained. Like pilots, our inspectors are also subject to regular checks to insure they don’t develop “blind spots” or bad habits. The ABIS system also learns as it is used so the process continually improves over time.

Our competitors often use report writing software where they build a report on a mobile device as they conduct their inspection. The report they produce either during the inspection or shortly after the inspection is usually a pdf document containing text and photographs. In order to keep the pdf to a manageable size the photographs resolution must be kept low or the number of photographs limited.

ABIS’s unique approach allows the pre purchase building inspector to produce a report from the data recorded on site and store it securely in the cloud where it can be view by the client via a link. This approach enables the photographs to be viewed at high resolution and ensures the report is available for many years in a secure environment.

If you’re buying a home in Brisbane, Ipswich or Gold Coast, get a quote and organise a Pre-Purchase Building Inspector to conduct a pre purchase inspection as soon as possible after signing your purchase contract. If you are selling your home, we recommend an inspection prior to placing your home on the market if you’re selling your house or unit. In the case of building your own home, you will require stage inspections based on your contract.

Fake News and out and out lies on websites seem to be the norm these days however here are some of the common ones we see on building inspectors website you should be aware of:

In Queensland, to legally conduct building inspections and inspector must either hold a Completed Residential Building Inspectors licence issued by the QBCC or work for a company that has a QBCC company licence to conduct completed residential building inspections. To obtain this licence it is necessary to have been a registered builder for a number of years or to have a qualification as a building surveyor. In addition, the licence holder must be fit and proper person and meet the prerequisites of the licence in the areas of financial liquidity and insurance. The issue for the public is to avoid the following licence related issues when picking a building & pest inspector.

All of our Pre Purchase Building and Pest Inspections come with Free Thermal Imaging and are carried out by professional and qualified Brisbane Building Inspectors. Within 24 hours (usually by 5pm on the day of the inspection), we will provide a detailed building report covering all parts of the property that are accessible and loaded with photographs, supporting evidence and recommendations to supplement your decision making in regards to the property. Armed with this information you can then make an informed decision regarding you home purchase.

*ABIS Building and Pest Inspections include reporting on termite activity, borers and fungal decay – in accordance with Australian Standard AS4349.3

The to-do list before putting your home on the market or looking to buy a property can be exhausting. Although it may be an extra expense, getting a building inspection will arm you with knowledge on the property to help you make confident decisions. When buying a home or buying a new property, an inspection will form part of the sales contract. If selling a property, the inspection will help you know what to fix so you can boost the listing price of your home if you choose so. If buying a property, a building and pest inspection will address any potential costs you may not have seen when looking for a home.

The inspection will include fences, yard, building interior and exterior, sub floor, roof exterior and roof voids. Because building and pest inspection organisations are guided by the Workplace Health and Safety laws, they will not always get into your roof and inspect it if it is not safe to do so. If this is the case, they will inspect the roof from a ladder if possible, but they will not neglect to put it in the report. One does not have to worry if the inspection will be graded because that is not what it’s about. Because an inspection is just to check the condition of your home, inspectors will report on the physical conditions of the home and what may need to be replaced or repaired. To ensure that the inspectors conduct a thorough inspection of your home, remove any distractions and obstacles, where possible remove posters and pictures from the wall, move your furniture away from the wall and open the garage door, secure the family pets.

*ABIS Australian Building and Pest Inspections include reporting on structural building defects – in accordance with Australian Standards AS4349.1.

In 98% of cases, you will receive your report before 5pm on the day of your inspection. We are able to do this because of our unique approach and systems. In the 2% of cases that we don’t meet this target it is because we are following up on an issue identified during the inspection or dealing with some external factor.

It depends on the type of home, but a Brisbane Building and Pest Inspection Price is typically between $300 and $700 for a combined building and timber pest (termite) inspection. A typical price for an average home would be around $500. It is very important to also look at what you are getting for the price you are quoted. Not all inspections, inspectors or inspection reports are the same.

We would love to help you so please ring for a chat about an inspection or any questions or concerns you may have in relation to your home purchase or build.

This is one of the most important things to consider when picking a company to conduct your inspection.

Building Inspectors should carry two types of insurance. Professional Indemnity and Public Liability. It is very important that you check that your building inspector is covered by Professional Indemnity insurance. This is the insurance that protects you should something go very wrong in the process.

Always check that there is a Certificate Of Currency for Professional Indemnity Insurance that is current and is for the Individual or company you are dealing with. Make sure it is the same company or individual you were invoiced by and the same company or individual that is on the pre-engagement agreement and report.

In Queensland the QBCC will allow Building & Pest Inspectors to conduct inspections without PI insurance providing they clearly tell their clients that they are not covered.

However, experience has taught us that the best way to communicate with our clients is after they have read their written report. This makes sure that all the relevant information is communicated to you fully before you make any decisions in relation to the property. Please do not make any decisions based solely on what the inspector says to you during, or at the end of the inspection.

It is important that your inspector is not distracted from concentrating during the inspection process so please do not obstruct or interrupt him during the inspection. Also for safety reasons you should keep children and pets away from the inspector while he is working.

Your inspector has been instructed to encourage you to read the report and then to contact the ABIS office if you have any questions rather than to have a verbal report by the inspector at the end of the inspection.

Specifically, we want to ensure that we communicate important issues to in a way that you fully understand. We want to avoid the situation where you make a poor decision because you think a minor defect is worse than it is or vice versa. As there is a lot of information contained in the report that it is not practical for the inspector to cover verbally on site, we ask that you be patient and save your questions until after you have read the report. However, if you are on site and a major and serious defect is identified, the inspector will certainly talk to you about it on site.

We will endeavour to “go the extra mile” to explain any aspects of your report with you should you require it. Your full understanding of your report is important to us.