The Building Investigator

BUILDING & PEST INSPECTIONS

"We specialise in providing prompt, expert pre-purchase building and pest inspections to Albury, Wodonga and surrounding districts!"

“We bring a professional and effective approach to every project we work on!”

The Building Investigator is a specialist building and building inspection company and has provided comprehensive and timely pre-purchase building reports to over 2300 prospective purchasers in the border region over the last thirteen year period. We cover the greater border area and will travel to most areas within 100klms of Albury/Wodonga.

The Building Investigator has Full Professional Indemnity Insurance cover as well as comprehensive Public Liability Insurance.

We are specialists in:

Pre-purchase building inspections
Condition reports
Pre-listing inspections
137B reports

Your building inspection will be carried out by company director, Alan Streeter, a qualified building practitioner with over 37 years experience in the building industry.

Alan’s qualifications include:

Fully qualified and registered building practitioner (DB-U 2752)
Qualified trade teacher having completed Certificate 4 in Training and Assessment.
Qualified Non-Friable Asbestos removalist.
Current financial membership of The Housing Industry Association, Victoria and Tasmania branch.
Extensive building industry experience since completing his apprenticeship in 1977. His working life has covered just about all aspects of the building industry, from small renovations to large-scale industrial complexes.
In the local area Alan has been the major contractor/site manager on large-scale renovations and demolitions for the Department of Defense in North East Victoria and Southern NSW and has been building homes in Albury/Wodonga since moving to the area 23 years ago. Alan is still actively engaged in the construction of new homes in the border area.

Pest Inspections

We can also arrange for a full comprehensive Pest Report of your property, carried out by independent, qualified, experienced and fully insured pest inspectors. Pest inspections can be arranged to take place at the same time as the building inspection, after all “two sets of eyes are better than one”.

Scope of works

The purpose of the inspection is to provide advice to a prospective purchaser or other interested party regarding the condition of the structure of the property.

The inspection shall comprise visual assessment of accessible areas of the property to identify major defects to the building structure and to form an opinion regarding the general condition of the structure of the property, including a visual evaluation of the buildings within 30 metres of the main building and within the inspection properties boundaries.

What type of report do I get?

Our inspection report is 4-6 pages long but is very precise in content and is not filled with generic and general information. In these days of busy lifestyles, we find that most people don’t have the time to sit and read fill-in material, they just want the facts. We tailor our reports to suit each and every home we inspect as we find all homes are different, with different features and different inspection requirements. We do not have a ‘tick the box’ report as we find these are sometimes difficult to read and this can lead to misunderstandings between the inspector and the home purchaser.

How do I arrange a pre purchase building inspection?

To have The Building Investigator conduct a building inspection on your behalf, you can simply ring Alan on 0417 319 399, email us or ask your real estate agent to contact us on your behalf.

How long does it take before I get the report?

If we have an e-mail address to send your report to, then most of the time building reports are sent to you within 24hours. Of course if the report is to be mailed to you via conventional methods it may take a few days longer. Alan will always ring you prior to the report being dispatched to discuss any concerns or just to fill you in on the progress of the inspection.

Can I attend the inspection with you?

If your real estate agent and the current home owners are agreeable to your attendance then Alan is more than happy for you to attend and he will answer any questions you may have in regard to the property whilst on site.

How do I pay for my inspection?

We will send you an invoice outlining payment options when we send out the building report.

Other information

There may be some areas of your home that have restricted access problems and we may not be able to get into those areas. “If we can’t get to it safely or we are unable to see it, we don’t inspect it.”

Some examples of restrictions include things like:

Floor coverings
Wall and ceiling linings. Obviously we can’t poke holes in plaster or other linings so that we can see inside the wall. This also goes for the lifting or removal of floor coverings, we are not able to damage any areas just to be able to see into those areas.
Heavy or bulky furniture and stored items being in the way
Lack of subfloor access
Access to a second storey roof
Large quantities of heating/cooling ducting blocking access