Know the Cost of Inspection and Include It in Your Purchase Budget
- By Design Team
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- 28 Jul, 2015
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When you find a property that matches your expectations, you might not want to wait any further and go ahead with the purchase. But in the excitement of purchasing your dream property, you should not miss out on conducting a pre-purchase building inspection. The inspection will give you complete peace of mind that you have made the right choice and it is a safe investment for you. The inspection report will give you valuable insight into the defects of the building and how good is the construction to combat the environmental issues of the place.
Investigate to know
A qualified and experienced building inspector that you can find with companies that offer professional building inspection services, and there are many of them, is the right person to provide a detailed report on the property that will reveal its present condition and unearth possible defects that can affect you in the future. In some property transactions there is often a specified time mentioned by builders within which any defects has to be reported by the purchaser and the inspection report can help in such cases.
Protect your interests
Protection of one’s interest is at the heart of pre-purchase building inspection. The inspection report is not about how good or bad the building is but it only points out the level of compliance of the building’s structure and the construction quality with reference to the laid down building rules and codes as well as the design. There is also another angle to it. You have a budget for the purchase and if you have to spend additional sums for post purchase repair of defects that can surface later, you can use the findings of the report to make such provision. It becomes easy to work out the total cost of purchase.
Scope of inspection
The standard inspection is carried out to ascertain the structural quality and whether there are deviations from the design and structural parameters during construction. It primarily tells about how strong the building is. But as a buyer, you should use your common sense and include some more things in the scope of inspection like plumbing and electrical system; ceramic tiles etc that you feel should also be evaluated. Extraneous factors like measures that are taken to protect the building from environmental damages in specific areas that are prone to floods can also be a part of the inspection schedule.
Cost of inspection
The cost of inspection will vary depending on the location of the property, the level of inspection and the complexity of the structure. The cost of inspection will be higher if the property is located in a metropolitan area as compared to any regional area and inclusion of pest inspection will increase the cost. Making a provision of minimum $250 in the budget can be a starting point that can go up to $1000 if the property is in a metropolitan area.
The spending on inspection will save you from the nightmare of building defects that are detected later.
The building inspector knows best what to look for in a new house so that unseen flaws are highlighted and these can be set right before you move to your new home. The inspector is trained to assess the condition of the building by visual inspection and has the expertise and experience to hit upon the relevant areas and utility systems that could be vulnerable to defects.
But not limiting your inspections to the competence of the building inspector only, you can have a walk-through inspection of your new home. The cosmetic flaws and functional issues are brought to the fore during a walkthrough of the new house that has to be pointed out to the builder for correction. These are usually not within the scope of the building inspector. The following items when included in the checklist for inspection can make it almost foolproof.
- Plumbing – Every faucet has to be turned on and off to see that it is easy to operate and works effectively. Check for leaks and drips by running the fixtures for at least five minutes by keeping an eye on the fixture bases and various joints.
- Electrical- Switch on and off every light fixture to test how it works and check that the fixtures have been installed correctly without causing any damage to it. Check the functionality of the door bell and for electrical outlets plug in a device like radio to see if it works.
- Heating and cooling – Turn on the air conditioner and check that it emits cool air from the grills continually and uniformly. Set the cooling temperature to about five degrees below the room temperature and see if the system switches off on its own. Do a similar testing for the heating system with an additional check of the convectors and radiators for overheating from outside.
- Walls, ceilings and floors – The colour scheme should be as desired and the level of smoothness should be satisfying. Check for moldings on ceilings and floors that should be free from nail heads and any gaps. If there are gaps it has to be filled by caulking. The tiles on the floors and walls should be free from cracks and chippings and there should not be any missing grouts. If the floor is of linoleum, hardwood or tile, make sure that there are no scuff marks.
- Kitchen – Cabinets and counter tops have to be checked for scratches and abrasions and insist for smooth finish. Check that all appliances are functioning and check the hardware and hinges of the cabinet by opening it. Check the smoothness of drawers.
- Bath – The toilet, sink, shower and bathtub has to be checked for cracks and chips. The toilet should flush effectively and be securely placed and leak in the bat6h tub has to be checked by filling it up to a certain height after closing the sink stopper.
The basement and attic, porches and decks, doors, windows, the garage door and the exterior are all checked with the help of similar checklists that are relevant to those areas.
