Apartment and Strata Inspections in Edmondson Park

We start inside the lot with the walls, ceilings, floors, wet areas, windows and doors, then any garage, courtyard or balcony that belongs to it. After that we move to the common property that can be safely seen from the lot and the shared areas, such as the gutters, outside walls, driveway, fences and stormwater. Schemes draw the line between lot and common property in different places, and the strata plan is what decides it.

Other owners' lots are not entered, and neither are locked service or plant rooms. Lifts, fire safety systems, roofs we cannot reach safely, hidden framing, and any testing of electrical, gas or plumbing services are excluded too. Timber pest, asbestos and mould checks are only included when booked as separate services, and any area we cannot get to on the day is recorded as not inspected.

A strata search, also called a strata report, comes from the scheme's records: its finances, insurance, known building defects and planned works, legal matters and the minutes of meetings. Our inspection looks at the building itself. Use them side by side, because a stained ceiling in our report reads differently once you know whether the committee has already discussed it.

The owners corporation issues it, and it lists the lot's levies, any levies still unpaid, the funding proposals in the 10-year capital works plan and where the records and financial statements can be inspected. It also names the members of the strata committee, the strata managing agent and any building manager. There is a fee for it, and a buyer is not liable for a levy owing before the certificate was given if the certificate leaves it out.

Not every one. The strata building bond and inspections scheme covers residential or mixed use strata buildings of four or more storeys built under contracts entered into from 1 January 2018. Townhouse and low rise schemes of three storeys or fewer that needed home building compensation cover sit outside it. Your strata manager can tell you whether a bond was lodged.

Before the occupation certificate is issued, the developer lodges a bond of 2% of the contract price. Within 12 months of completion the developer has to appoint a building inspector, and the owners corporation must approve that appointment. The interim inspection falls between 15 and 18 months after completion and the final one between 21 and 24 months, and the bond can go towards fixing defects from the interim report that remain at the final inspection.

Not necessarily. The developer appoints the bond inspector, whose report covers defective building work across the whole scheme rather than your lot in particular. Having your own lot inspected before the interim inspection gives the strata committee a dated list from you in time to act on it, and it still helps where the building is not in the bond scheme.

The Home Building Act 1989 gives statutory warranties of six years from completion for major defects and two years for every other defect, plus six more months where a breach shows up in the final six months. The owners corporation is best placed to take up common property defects. You can complain yourself as a lot owner if the defect affects only your lot, or if the owners corporation or strata manager fails to respond.

Buyers should book before exchange or during the cooling off period. Owners of a recent build should book well ahead of the warranty deadlines: generally two years from completion for other defects (with up to six months more for some found late) and six years for major defects, and a claim has to be started in time. Where the building has a bond, an inspection before the interim inspection gets your items raised early.

We inspect strata lots in Bardia, Horningsea Park, Prestons, Carnes Hill, Glenfield and Denham Court as well. We also inspect strata properties in nearby Bardia, Horningsea Park, Prestons, Carnes Hill, Glenfield and Denham Court. The report uses the address on your contract or strata plan, not an estate name such as Century or Mondo.

We set the fee by the type and size of the lot and the amount of common property you want included, and confirm it once we know the property. Your report comes within 24 hours of the inspection with photographs, and it shows which items appear to be in the lot or common property, checked against the strata plan where supplied. The inspector is then available by phone to go through it.