We were very happy with our inspector Abram. He took his time talking to us, he was extremely professional. I also thought Hayley the administrator was friendly and helpful. We definitely will be requesting the same inspector again, when our investment property is due for a pest and building inspection. Thank you.
Quite to the contrary, just because there is clause 4.1 under Terms of the REIQ Houses and Land Contract, doesn't necessarily mean that you are obliged to follow through or even take it up. However, you would be extremely foolish not to.
If you've just purchased a property, no doubt you're nervously awaiting the results of your building and pest inspection. But there may be yet another inspection you need to have done particularly if the property has a pool or spa, a pool safety inspection is not normally included as part of a pre-purchase building and pest inspection as it must be conducted by a specialist licensed pool safety inspector.
Many purchasers of apartments or units in Queensland are unaware that they may be vulnerable because the current statutory home warranty insurance scheme only covers the construction of, extension, addition, alteration, renovation or repair to multi-dwelling buildings only up to 3 stories.
When purchasing a property you need to be mindful that severe weather events are becoming a fact of life in Brisbane which, being built upon a flood plain is prone to flooding especially during the summer storm season from November through to March.
While you're doing your pre-purchase due diligence you might also like to consider Brisbane City Council's range of free tools and information to help you understand the property's potential flood risk.
According to the Queensland Building and Construction Commission, on "20 June 2014, the Queensland Building and Construction Board made the Rectification of Building Work Policy which replaced the 6 month building inspection report.
If your building contractor has carried out defective building work they may be required to rectify that work irrespective of whether they did or did not comply with the contracted plans and specifications for your work.
According to the Queensland Building and Construction Commission, on "20 June 2014, the Queensland Building and Construction Board made the Rectification of Building Work Policy.
For you, this means that if your building contractor has carried out defective building work they should be required to rectify that work irrespective of whether they did or did not comply with the contracted plans and specifications for your work.
Moving house can be one of the most stressing times in anyone’s life, and with a family it can mean even more stress. ABIS understands the importance of moving house so we have compiled our Top 10 Tips to minimise the stress when moving:
If you’re building a new home – keep in mind that you need a number of inspections at different stages of build to ensure that you’re happy with the way the house is being built.
Foundation Stage Inspection: immediately before the slab is poured.
A good time to have your building inspection conducted is a day or two after a storm has passed. For Brisbane property - after the recent supercell storm in November that had hail and cyclonic winds it will give you a good idea about the structure of a house. It will also allow our building inspectors to view any issues the house may have with:
Home Owners are encouraged today to improve your energy efficiency through passive design. This is possible through good ventilation in the warmer climates and insulation in the cooler climates.
To improve air flow and air quality you should consider cross ventilation by having windows strategically placed in a home, within one room and from room to room. As well, louver windows encourage ventilation by capturing any air flow around you house. If ventilation isn't possible, consider installing ceiling fans to help with the air flow.
Brisbane City Council has declared Friday 14th November a public holiday for the G20. If your work place is located in the Brisbane City Council region (similar to the Ekka), then you are requested not to go to work. The reason for this is to keep the roads clearer and help with security during the G20.
As well as the area around Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC) being restricted (including the hotel and restaurants and a large part of the CBD) – the RNA showgrounds and Suncorp Stadium will be restricted in the week leading up to 14 November.
With only a few weeks left on Channel 9's The Block, we've been wondering whether the amateur renovators are worried about getting their building & pest inspections. We don't think it will be a problem as they've had qualified tradies helping them out and Keith overseeing all the structural work, but still, you'd hate to have to justify anything that's not up to scratch just before you go to Auction.
When you're looking to purchase a home in Brisbane or other Queensland areas, one of the considerations is - can I extend or build-in underneath the house? Many of the older style homes have what was originally a breeze way to allow better air ventilation for cooling as well as to keep termites away. The structures didn't take into cosideration that you'd want to enclose the area for living space and therefore more often than not it is not the legal height.
RealestateVIEW recently conducted a study of how baby boomers think about the property market. Only 34.4% of baby boomers think they can afford to stay in their own home. This will result in many larger houses coming onto the market and smaller houses / town houses and units being bought quicker, thereby increasing the prices in the lower range.
The reasons given by baby boomers to move from their family home include:
We all know that you need to have your house looking clean, spacious, uncluttered and stylish when you put it on the market but, what else will help sell your property apart from fluffy towels in the bathroom.
Faulty electrical works are a safety risk for people and fire risk to your home. We’ve all seen the repercussions in the media of what can go wrong when standard safety measures are not taken into account, such as installing insulation in ceilings over the top of electrical cables.
Depending on the length of contract until settlement, we recommend you leave a minimum of 14 days to have an answer - not because it takes this long to book an inspection, but you still need to consider the outcome of the inspection. If you find there are queries that you want answers to, or negotiations you need to have after you've seen the report, you still have to meet the timeframe you've nominated in the contract before your sale is unconditional.
The property market in Brisbane’s northern suburbs has recovered and it’s definitely a seller’s market.
Remarkably the average time for a property to be listed is currently only 8 days whereas two years ago it was 90 days (as stated on Channel 7 News - March 5, 2014). With roughly between 15 and 90 people attending each open house, the competition to get a valuable and worthwhile home before the prices re-adjust to the market is tough.
As of December 2013 the Queensland Building Services Authority will be replaced by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) as the regulator for the Queensland building industry.
As one of the largest overseers of employers in Queensland, the biggest reform in 20 years will see the creation of the QBCC. Reflecting the sector's large economic growth the QBCC will have a board with members from different business areas including construction, law, finance and insurance.
From December 20, 2013 the Department of Housing and Public Works revised the Building Regulation 2006 (BR) and schedule 7 of the Sustainable Planning Regulation 2009 to give a more consistent approach to buildings in flood hazard areas. You can find more information and factsheets on the Department's website:
