What makes an inspection take longer

Time on site is driven by how much there is to inspect and how accessible it is, not by a fixed appointment length. The properties that take the longest share the same features.

  • An accessible subfloor. Crawling a subfloor properly takes time, and it is where the quiet problems live — drainage, ventilation, moisture and structural supports that nobody has looked at in years.
  • An accessible roof space. Getting into the roof cavity and moving through it safely is slow work, and it is where roof leaks, framing and insulation issues actually show.
  • Age. Older established homes generate substantially more findings than newer properties or units, simply because there is more history, more modification and more wear to document.
  • Outbuildings, decks, retaining walls and large gardens. Every additional structure is additional scope.
  • Property size. More rooms means more wet areas, more windows, more floor levels to check and more photographs to take.

What makes it shorter

A strata unit or apartment is usually the quickest inspection, because the scope is the interior of the lot and the exterior immediately associated with it. Common property — shared stairwells, lifts, the building roof, the car park — is not inspected. A newer property with no subfloor and a low-pitched roof space also moves faster, because there is less to record.

Does a faster inspection mean a worse one?

Not by itself — but a suspiciously short inspection on a large old house is worth asking about. The honest answer is that the time taken should match the property. A thorough inspector on a compact modern unit genuinely does not need as long as one on a 45-year-old two-storey house with a subfloor, and it would be a concern if the two took the same time.

A more useful question than "how long" is "what did you actually get into". Ask whether the inspector entered the roof space and the subfloor, and if not, why not. Access that was unavailable on the day is a legitimate and common answer — it should be recorded in the report as a limitation, not glossed over.

How long until I get the report?

The written photo report is delivered the same day as the inspection. That matters more than the time on site, because a building and pest clause in a Queensland contract runs on a short timeline and a report that lands three days later has eaten most of it.

After the report is issued we call you to talk through the findings, so you are not left interpreting a long document alone under time pressure. See the building and pest inspection clause timeline for how the days actually fall.

Do I need to be there?

Attendance is welcome where access and site conditions allow. It is not required, and the written report is the deliverable either way — findings are always anchored to the report, not to a conversation on site. If you cannot attend, the post-report phone call covers the same ground with the photographs in front of you, which is often more useful than standing in a driveway.