You've finally found the house you've been looking for. The price is right and finances are in order. But is the house worthy of purchasing? To avoid disaster it is imperative that you obtain the services of a professional independent and self-sufficient building and pest check service. But how do you choose a building check service out of the hundreds sprawled across the Internet and various other forms of media. Well, as the director of Action Property Assessments, I've personally undertaken over 20, 000 building assessments and have certainly seen the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to building check companies and their reports. Based on my experience, I've produced what I believe to be the top 10 points to be considered prior to engaging the services of any Building and Pest Check Company.

Ask to see a completed building check report prior to booking the check. A legitimate building check company should have a sample of their report on their web site to be viewed by potential clients prior to booking their building check. The sample report should be one that was actually undertaken during the building check of a prospective clients house and not a pointless dummy Sample report that hasn't been completed or includes every possible scenario for every different type of house inundated into the one report. The report should be very easy to understand and should not involve tick and show style Vital Building Inspections followed by a minimum of specific written comments. Where written text has been used it should always directly relate to the faults at hand as viewed on the house you are actually purchasing. Many inspectors use general comments that are simply cut-and-paste to make up a report.

The building report should always add a significant volume of pics clearly refined the faults found. Whilst the written text within the report should be clear and easy to understand, nothing explains better than actually successfully seeing the fault at hand. The pics will often also incorporate arrows, circled sections or additional written text specifically pointing to faults or items within the pics.

Independence is paramount if you wish to obtain legitimate report. One would think it common sense not to ask the estate agent who they would recommend to attempt a building check on the very house the agent is selling, yet it is amazing how many people do just that. Many agents have become quite skilled at convincing their prospective clients that they don't have a vested interest in who you use for your building and pest check. A common ploy is to provide a potential client with multiple cards from various companies. This creates the illusion of independence. They want you to believe they don't care whom you use and the cards provided are a random sample of building check companies within the industry. The truth is, the cards provided are all from building check companies that the agent knows usually provide soft, on the house reports on even the worst of houses. You need to be informed of the true condition entrance and not be sucked into the agent's sales spiel.