What each one covers
| Building inspection | Timber pest inspection | |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | AS 4349.1 | AS 4349.3 |
| Looking for | Defects, deterioration, structural movement, safety hazards, serviceability of building elements | Termites, borers, wood decay fungi, and conditions conducive to timber pest attack |
| Typical findings | Wet-area and balcony moisture, roof defects, subfloor conditions, cracking, balustrade and fall-height items | Conducive conditions such as moisture, timber-to-soil contact and bridging; evidence of past or present activity; absence of a visible durable notice |
| Licence required | A Completed Residential Building Inspection licence with the QBCC | A separate QBCC Termite Management licence |
Why they are two different licences
This is the part most buyers do not know, and it is the single most useful thing to check before booking. In Queensland the two inspections sit under different QBCC licences. An inspector who holds only the building licence is not licensed to carry out the timber pest inspection, and vice versa. A business advertising a combined inspection should be able to point to both.
CYTE holds both — QBCC licence 1519 2537 carries the separate Termite Management licence, so the building inspection and the timber pest inspection are both carried out by the same licensed inspector. You can verify any inspector's licence yourself: see how to check a building inspector's QBCC licence.
Why do them together?
Two reasons, one practical and one substantive.
Practically, a combined inspection in a single visit costs less than arranging the two separately, takes one appointment instead of two, and produces one report instead of two documents you have to reconcile.
More importantly, the two overlap in ways that matter. Moisture is the clearest example: elevated moisture in a wet area is a building finding and, at the same time, a condition conducive to timber pest attack. A subfloor with poor drainage and ventilation is both a building issue and a timber pest issue. An inspector doing both sees the connection; two separate inspectors each see half of it.
Which one do I need?
For a pre-purchase inspection on the Gold Coast, both. Termites are active year-round in this climate, and in our own inspections conducive conditions are present at almost every property we attend — most commonly moisture-related. A building inspection alone leaves that entire category unexamined.
For a property you already own, the building side is typically only revisited when something changes, while the timber pest side is worth repeating routinely. See how often you should get a timber pest inspection.