Scope

Your Home Warranty Insurer requires you to obtain this report and in Victoria, it is mandatory under the Building Act 1993 (Vic) that owner-builders obtain this report. For any information in relation to the policy you should contact your insurer.

Unless otherwise stated, this report only addresses the workmanship of the owner-builder as described in the Extent of Work done by Owner-Builder section of the Archicentre Australia Report. Archicentre Australia relies on the owner-builder’s description of the building works they have undertaken and undertakes no inquiries of its own. Any building works not undertaken by the owner-builder are excluded from this report. Please note that where the owner-builder has renovated or extended the home, the insurance may only relate to those works and the balance of the home may not be covered by the insurance at all.

This report may not necessarily refer to routine maintenance items which do not concern defective work (e.g. hair-line plaster cracks, jamming doors and windows or damage resulting from wear and tear or accident or deliberate misuse).

Unless otherwise stated:

  • no soil or other material has been excavated or removed;
  • no plants or trees have been removed;
  • no samples have been taken or tested;
  • no fixtures, fittings, cladding or lining materials have been removed;
  • building services or systems have not been tested;
  • no items of furniture or chattels have been moved;
  • the roof has not been water tested;
  • no wet areas, e.g bathrooms, showers, external balconies etc, have been water tested;
  • no enquiries of Drainage, Sewerage or Water Authorities have been made;
  • no building approvals, plans, specifications or other contract documents have been sighted, or relied upon, for the purpose of inspecting the dwelling house and providing this Home Warranty Insurance Inspection Report, with the exception that approved construction plans may have been sighted for the purpose of confirming the extent of owner-builder work;
  • no special investigation of insect attack (e.g. borer, termite, etc.) has been made and any reference to this has been based on casual inspection.

This Report may be incomplete unless the required local government building approval and inspection summary details are attached by the owner-builder.

Unless stated otherwise, this Report will note incomplete and /or defective work in reference to the Guide to Standards and Tolerances produced by the Victorian Building Authority (formerly the Building Commission).

Definitions

Access

The architect can only assess reasonably accessible parts of the property. It is your responsibility to ensure that any inaccessible parts of the property that can be made reasonably accessible for an inspection are made so, prior to the inspection. Inaccessible areas cannot be assessed.

Reasonably and Safely Accessible – Accessible areas which can be accessed by a 3.6 metre ladder or those which have at least 600mm unimpeded vertical and horizontal clearance without the removal of any fixed or unfixed furniture, fittings, stored items, cladding or lining materials, plants or soil.

Archicentre Australia assessors are unable to access areas where there is a risk of adverse disturbance or damage to the property, including the garden area.

Workplace Health and Safety access conditions apply subject to relevant State and Territory regulations. Archicentre Australia assessors are unable to assess areas higher than 3 metres above ground level unless secure ladder access is available and fall prevention devices or barriers are present.

Reasonable Access may not be possible due to physical obstructions or conditions that may be hazardous or unsafe to the inspector. The assessor will determine the extent of accessible areas at the time of the inspection.

Access restrictions will be noted where appropriate.

Normal Viewing Position

Generally variations in surface colour, texture and finish of walls, ceilings, floors, roofs, glazing and other finished surfaces shall be viewed from a normal viewing position. For the purposes of this inspection Archicentre Australia inspectors regard this position to be standing eye height at a distance of approximately 1.5m or greater from the wall, floor, ceiling or other surface, and at approximately 600mm for fittings and fixtures, with the surface or material illuminated by non-critical (or diffuse) light.

Archicentre Australia Terms & Conditions

This Report is prepared by Archicentre Australia – a division of ArchiAdvisory Pty Ltd – for the person to whom it is addressed (the Client) and Archicentre Australia accepts no responsibility to other persons.

The Report has been prepared in accordance with Australian Standard 4349.0-2007 Inspection of Buildings Part 0: General Requirements and to any other Australian Standards and definitions cited in the Terms and Conditions.

The Report is not a certificate of compliance for the property within the requirements of any Act, regulation, ordinance or local by-law.

The Client agrees to indemnify Archicentre Australia and its officers, employees and agents against any liability to the purchaser (and their successors in title) and the Home Warranty Insurer, arising directly or indirectly from, and any costs and expenses (including legal expenses on a full indemnity basis) incurred in connection with, the preparation of this Report.

The Report has been prepared with reasonable care, subject however as follows;

  1. This Report is not a Guarantee of the works or a guarantee that the premises are free of defects.
  2. The Report is based on the condition of the property and the prevailing structural, soil and weather conditions at the time of the assessment.
  3. Except where specifically stated otherwise, the Report is based on a visual assessment of such parts of the premises to which the Report is applicable and to which the Report states the architect has been able to have reasonable access to without the removal of any furniture, fittings – be they fixed or otherwise – cladding, or lining materials, plants or soil. Archicentre Australia accepts no responsibility for defects that may exist in parts of the property that were not reasonably accessible.
  4. The Report will not disclose latent defects, defects which may be apparent in weather conditions that differ from those at the time of the assessment or defects that were deliberately concealed by the Client at the time of the inspection.
  5. The Report will not disclose defects that have not yet arisen. Changes in usage can cause defects and any abuse of the premises is likely to do so.
  6. The Report may not cover building defects of a minor nature, such as hair-line plaster cracks, jamming doors, windows or catches and similar minor faults, where not considered attributable to poor workmanship.
  7. Archicentre Australia does not accept responsibility for services other than those provided in this Report.
  8. The Report does not cover:
    • Identification of toxic mould, or asbestos related products;
    • Condition or operation of swimming pools, spas or their surroundings, rainwater or grey water tanks or treatment and similar facilities;
    • Condition, adequacy or compliance of electrical, gas and plumbing systems including roof plumbing, underground pipes or drainage systems;
    • Operation adequacy or compliance of security and communications systems, smoke detectors, building services, building automation, electrically operated doors including garage doors, plant, equipment, mechanical, gas or electrical appliances and fittings;
    • Footings below ground, soil conditions, site factors and hazards;
    • Compliance with legal, planning, regulatory including Building Code of Australia, sustainability or environmental matters including but not limited to the adequacy or safety of insulation, swimming pool/spa enclosures, waterproof membranes and/or other installations, Bushfire Attack Level assessments;
    • Timber, metal or other framing sizes and adequacy.
  9. This Report is not evidence of compliance with the applicable statutory approval/s, plans or specifications.
  10. Archicentre Australia undertakes no inquiries whatsoever into whether materials are new or second-hand.
  11. The Archicentre Australia Property Maintenance Guide forms an integral part of this Report. Failure to abide by the Property Maintenance Guide may cause the dwelling to deteriorate and may result in defects occurring.
  12. The Report will not disclose defects that may arise from the rectification or completion of noted Defects or Incomplete works, or additional works to the property, where such works occur at a later time or date to the Report.
  13. Unless otherwise stated, the Report will not provide any opinion in relation to rectification of defects or the cost of rectifying defects.

OWNER BUILDER TO AFFIX ANY REQUIRED PLANNING/BUILDING APPROVALS, OCCUPANCY CERTIFICATES OR CERTIFICATES OF FINAL INSPECTION AND SECOND HAND MATERIAL DECLARATIONS (WHERE REQUIRED) TO THE REAR OF THIS REPORT