House Inspections

Book Your House Inspection With Realsure

A Realsure Building Survey is an essential part of the buying or selling process.
Are you looking to buy or sell a house and concerned about its true condition? Property decisions are expensive, and getting the right information from an expert can save you stress, time and money.

If you are buying a home without doing a pre-purchase inspection, not only could you end up owning some pretty costly problems that could have been identified, you may severely limit your ability to seek damages if the home ended up with a significant issue.

If you are selling a home with a building report that turns out to be sub-standard you may leave yourself open to future claims if the home ends up with a significant issue.

Realsure get this, which is why we have robust inspection processes and carefully choose and train each inspector. We also get so many house inspectors claim this too, so the Group and individual inspectors are externally audited every year through our ISO9001 registration and BOINZ Accrediation, so you know we are industry assessed experts in our field not just self-proclaimed and can be trusted.

Since 2000 we have helped thousands of New Zealanders understand whether there’s:
1. Expensive problems with the house they are considering purchasing.
2. Weathertightness or Leaky building issues.
3. Urgent maintenance matters to deal with in the first 6 to 12 months.
A Realsure inspection (Building Survey) and comprehensive building report is produced in accordance with established building inspection standard NZS 4306:2005 which Realsure was involved in developing.

The cost of buying a home is more than the purchase price. It includes your due diligence costs, legal costs, and more likely than not some immediate work costs. However, there are also the ongoing maintenance costs to consider and Realsure will also tell you about some of those maintenance matters to help you build your next 12 to 24 month maintenance programme and protect your most valuable asset.

The Realsure House Inspection process

Your Realsure Building Survey and Report will have considered, among other things:

FOUNDATIONS

including subfloor structure, ground conditions, and insulation

Are there obvious cracks, or signs of movement in the foundations or grounds?
Is there dampness under the house?
Is there adequate ventilation and insulation?
Is there damage, rotten, or missing framing or flooring?

ROOFING

including condition, penetrations, flashings, gutters and workmanship

Is there any rust damage or holes?
Are there any cracked or dented tiles?
Are there missing or damaged flashings?

Are the age and condition so bad, that you should consider the cost of repair versus replacement?

ROOF CAVITY

including structure, insulation, extractor systems, ducting and workmanship

Is there damaged, rotten or missing framing?
Is there any dampness, leaking or a lot of staining?
Is there any insulation, old wiring or leaking plumbing?
Going onto the roof allows us to determine its condition, but it is the roof cavity space that can tell us how the roof

INTERIORS

including kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living, floors, fixtures, fittings, and workmanship

Are the floors sloping, bouncy or water-stained?
Is there bowing or cracking to the walls or ceiling linings?
Do the windows and doors open and close freely?
Is there a smell of mould, fungi, or lots of condensation?

LEAKS

includes non-invasive moisture testing

There are generally two kinds of leaks; those from outside or those from within.
Is there evidence of moisture getting in around the windows or doors?
Is there evidence of moisture coming in through below-ground areas?
Is there evidence of leaking plumbing or wastes?
Does the water damage indicate an external or plumbing related source; or how the home is lived in?

EXTERIOR

including cladding condition, detailing, joinery, flashings, downpipes and workmanship

There are many cladding options on the market and each one has specific issues your Surveyor will look for.
Is there peeling or bubbling paint?
Is there evident rot damage to the timber cladding, window sills, or fascias?
Are there missing or incorrectly installed flashings?
Are there cracks in the plaster, brickwork, mortar?
Are there known weathertightness risks?

SITE

including sheds, fencing, retaining walls, paths, and drives

Are there signs of flooding or excessive water pooling?
Does the ground slope away from the home and is it clear of the exterior cladding?
Are there any trees affecting the foundations or roof?
Are there cracks in the grounds suggesting movement or subsidence?
Is there bowing, cracking, or evident failure in the walls or fencing?
Are the paths or drive cracked or damaged?

ELECTRICAL

including switches, power points, lighting

While outside of the scope, we will tell you about:
Any obvious faults with lights or power points when turned off and on?
Any exposed or damaged wires?
What wiring type can be seen, modern TPS, old wiring or conduit?

PLUMBING & DRAINAGE

Again, outside of the scope, although we will look for
Any unusual noises or faults when running taps?
Any evidence of blocked wastes?
Any obvious leaks in plumbing or wastes in the foundations or wet areas of the home?
Any evidence of leaking around showers, laundry tubs, toilets?
What type of plumbing and waste can be seen, copper, plastic, galvanised?

APPLIANCES

Appliances and chattels require the appropriate tradesperson to test and service them.
We will let you know what system is there, however, we won’t test them.

PESTS

Are there signs of pests such as rats, mice, ants, wood-boring insects, cockroaches, birds or wasps nesting?

Are there signs of an infestation or damage?

HEALTH & SAFETY

The Inspection Standard requires we tell you about certain attributes to enable you to improve health and safety in the home

What security is present? Security locks, burglar alarms, fire alarms

What insulation is present? Where and to what extent

Is safety glass present or recommended?

Are all handrails present or is upgrading or installation recommended?

WORKMANSHIP

Did you know that workmanship is not considered by your Council Inspector unless it is so bad that it affects the buildings ability to comply with Building Code or Act? The quality of workmanship can be a good indicator of future performance. At times this becomes a consideration for the Building Surveyor in weighing up the likely impact of the findings; however, where the quality of workmanship is below an acceptable industry standard and causing or likely to cause a problem, our Surveyor will let you know.

WEATHERTIGHTNESS

The Inspection Standard requires we tell you about weathertightness risk, or “Leaky buildings” as more commonly known.

“Weathertightness” generally relates to properties built from the early 1990s, regardless of the cladding type. While generally associated with “monolithic” cladding, other significant contributory factors of risk or failure can also be the design, location, workmanship and detailing.

Moisture detection equipment is a valuable tool to help determine whether there may be any moisture ingress detectable at the time of the inspection. However, nil indication of moisture ingress is not a nil indication of known weather tightness risks or even moisture ingress. We will tell you of any known weathertightness risks with the property so that you can make an informed decision about the property.

A suitably well-trained inspector should know the clues and risk details to look for and be able to advise you of them.

You should know whether there are any known weather tightness risks with the property you are considering so that you can make an informed decision about the risk you may or may not be taking on.

Inspections available in all main centres

Realsure Surveyors are located in:

AUCKLAND: Phone: 09 366 6199
HAMILTON: Phone: 07 839 9931
TAURANGA: Phone: 07 577 0073
MANAWATU, LEVIN, OTAKI: Phone: 06 364 5464
WELLINGTON: Phone: 04 939 0296
CHRISTCHURCH: Phone: 03 741 9228

Group Head Office

Postal Address:

PO Box 48034
Silverstream
Upper Hutt 5142

Call Free 0508 732 578
or
Email info@realsure.co.nz

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