The two words that decide a pre-purchase inspection
Visual, and accessible. Everything follows from those.
In short: Two words in AS 4349.1 govern what you get and what you do not.
Visual
The inspector assesses by looking. No wall comes down, no floor comes up, no soil gets dug and no service is dismantled to see behind it.
Accessible
Only what can be reached safely and without damage. A sealed subfloor, a roof space with no hatch, a wall behind built in joinery: all of it is out.
What that rules out in practice
Switching on circuits, pressurising pipes, running appliances or motors, and certifying any engineering.
What sits in a different standard
Timber pest work belongs to AS 4349.3. Asbestos sampling and mould testing are specialist trades outside both.
Why owners should want the limits
Because an inspection that claims more than it can support is the one that falls apart when someone tests it. The boundaries are what give the findings weight.
Written by the Owner Inspections team from inspections carried out in Marsden Park. Licensed building practitioners, NSW Fair Trading licence 366177C.
