Purchaser’s will sometimes ask whether to buy the Pest and building reports for a property through the Agent/ Vendor and sometimes Purchaser’s will just buy these reports because they are offered.
Truth is, we can’t advise you either way with certainty the pros and cons of buying a pre inspection report from an Agent as it depends on a number of factors. Sometimes it is perfectly safe to order these reports but mostly we have an issue with the uncertainty surrounding how the indemnity insurance of the inspector will apply to you as you didn’t engage them in the first place to conduct the inspection and if something is missed, then you will not have the coverage of the inspector’s indemnity insurer that you would ordinarily with your own independently purchased inspections. For this and other reasons, we tend to advise our purchasing clients to obtain their own independent pest and building reports from a reputable inspector some of which we recommend as we have viewed certain inspector’s insurances and are confident in the quality of their inspections and reports having used them personally. Even if it is a little more costly, we believe it is firmly in the best interest of the Purchaser to do so.
Some things to consider when purchasing an Agent arranged Pest and Building report:
- The inspector is engaged by the Agent or Vendor.
- The AGENT will only continue to use the inspector if the reporting suits the Agent.
- If sales start to fall over due to the fair and balanced reporting, the Agent will normally stop using that inspector.
That is, a Purchaser can’t ever be sure how independent an Agent or Vendor arranged inspection report is.
If you have any questions about the purchasing process in New South Wales, please reach out to our experienced property law solicitors for advice.
This article was published on 14/04/23 and the information is valid only to the date of publishing. This article should be considered merely general and non-specific on the subject matter and is not and should not be considered or relied on as legal, advice. Meehans Solicitors is not responsible in the event this information is relied upon by the reader in the absence of specific legal advice.
