Guides
Plain-language guides on inspections, reports, permits and property paperwork: what each one covers, how to prepare, and what to do with what you learn.
The guides are general information about how property processes work. They are not an assessment of, or advice about, a specific property. For short answers, see Learn with VicWide and the FAQs.
Browse by topic
Latest guides
Specialist inspections
Many homes built or renovated before about 1990 may contain materials with asbestos, often in fibre cement sheeting, eaves, wet areas, roofing, fencing and some floor coverings. Looking alone cannot confirm it. An asbestos inspection identifies the materials that may contain asbestos, and laboratory testing of a sample confirms what a material actually contains.
Reports & rentals
A rental property in Victoria usually involves a condition report when a tenancy starts and ends, routine inspections with proper notice, and safety related checks tied to the rental minimum standards. Independent inspections give you a dated, photo supported record; the official renting guidance sets the rules, and your property manager or the relevant authority confirms what applies.
Inspections
Buying an apartment or unit in Victoria means buying a lot in an owners corporation, so you are buying into a building and its shared decisions. Look at the lot, the common property you can reach and the owners corporation papers, read the contract with your conveyancer, and arrange an independent strata report before you commit.
Permits & documents
Many building projects in Victoria need a building permit, issued by a building surveyor, and some also need a planning permit from your council. Some small jobs need neither. Your council and the relevant building surveyor confirm what applies to your project; we help you understand the likely requirements and prepare what they ask for.
Building & renovating
Independent stage inspections are checks you commission at points during your new home's construction, such as slab, frame, lock-up, fixing and completion, so you have your own written record of the visible work. They are separate from the mandatory inspections carried out for the building permit and never replace them.
Inspections
Many buyers of an existing home arrange an independent pre-purchase building and timber pest inspection before they commit. An apartment or unit adds a strata report, a block of land calls for a land inspection, and a specific concern can add a specialist look. Every report describes visible condition on the day; the decision to buy stays with you.
Inspections
A building and pest inspection is an independent, visual look at the accessible areas of a home and at visible signs of timber pest activity, written up in a photo-supported report. Owners arrange one before renovating or selling, or when something worries them. Buyers choose the pre-purchase version, the same approach set up around their key dates.
Building & renovating
As an owner-builder you carry responsibility for the building work. The relevant building surveyor carries out the mandatory inspections for your permit, and an independent inspection is a separate check you commission for your own information. If you later sell the home you built, you may need an inspection report first: check the current requirements with the Victorian building regulator.
Inspections
Open up the access points, move stored items away from walls, secure pets, and have any previous reports and details of recent work ready. The more of the home we can see, and the more context you give us, the more useful the report is.
Inspections
A strata report looks at the lot you are buying and the common property you can reach on the day, with photos and a list of what could not be inspected, and it helps you read the owners corporation papers for building-related points. It is not legal or financial advice, and it does not assess the owners corporation's finances.
Still unsure?
If a guide did not cover your question, send an enquiry. We come back to you with the next step.
