How it works
Tell us what you've built, where the property is and why you want the inspection: a stage of the build, a finished project or a planned sale. We'll confirm the scope and provide a quote (for a planned sale, we'll first check whether we can help). On the day, we inspect the accessible areas visually and take photos to support key observations. You then receive a written report, and we can talk you through it.
Selling a home you built
Selling as an owner-builder can come with extra obligations, and they may include an inspection report prepared before the sale. What applies depends on your situation, and the rules can change. Check the current requirements with the Victorian building regulator before you list, and ask your conveyancer or lawyer how they apply to your sale.
Once you know what the report needs to cover, tell us about the property and your timing. We'll confirm whether we can help before anything is booked. If we can't, we'll say so and suggest the kind of practitioner to look for.
It also helps to have your build paperwork in order. Documentation assistance can help you work out what you have and what is missing.
Inspections during your build
As an owner-builder, you are responsible for the building work, and your building permit sets out mandatory inspections carried out by, or on behalf of, the relevant building surveyor. An independent inspection is different. You commission it for your own information, at stages you choose, so you have a second pair of eyes on the work. It doesn't form part of the permit process and doesn't replace any mandatory inspection. New-building inspections explains stage inspections in more detail.
What this inspection is not
It isn't one of the mandatory inspections for your building permit, a certificate of compliance, a warranty or a structural engineering assessment, and it isn't legal advice about selling. It can't see work that is concealed inside walls, under floors or in areas that are unsafe to reach. If you're buying a home that an owner-builder built, see Pre-purchase inspections.
Sources and authorities
These public sources set out the requirements this page refers to. They are the places to confirm what applies to your property; we help you understand and prepare for them.
- Building and Plumbing Commission: Victoria's building regulator, with guidance on building permits, owner-builders and mandatory inspections.
- Building and Plumbing Commission dispute resolution: the free resolution service for domestic building disputes in Victoria.
- Consumer Affairs Victoria: what owner-builders must provide when selling a home they built.
