It is increasingly common on the Gold Coast for a seller or agent to hand buyers a ready-made building and pest report. It looks convenient — the inspection is "already done". Before you rely on it, it is worth understanding what a vendor-supplied report is and is not.

Who the inspector was working for

An inspection report is prepared under a pre-inspection agreement between the inspector and their client. With a vendor report, that client is the seller. The report may be entirely accurate — but the agreement, and the inspector’s professional duty, sit with the person selling the property, not the person buying it.

Questions worth asking

  • When was the inspection done? Conditions change quickly, especially termite activity
  • Was it carried out to AS 4349.1 and AS 4349.3 by a licensed inspector?
  • Can you speak to the inspector and ask questions about the findings?
  • Does the agreement extend any responsibility to you as a relying party?

The independent alternative

An inspection commissioned by you, under a pre-inspection agreement in your name, gives you an inspector who answers your questions, walks you through the findings, and prepared the report for your decision — not the sale. With same-day reports and combined inspections from $350, independence costs little against the price of the property it protects.