Building Inspection North Shore

In North Shore the housing stock is Federation, Californian bungalow and Inter-war brick homes, so most buyers need a combined building + pest inspection. If you're buying an apartment, townhouse or villa you'll also want a strata report on the owners corporation — boutique low-rise strata through Chatswood, Lindfield and St Leonards. Freestanding houses rarely need strata; strata-titled units almost always do.

No — a building inspection is a visual check of construction and condition to AS 4349.1. Termite risk in North Shore is driven by leaf-litter, retaining walls and dense canopy that hide termite leads, so you need a separate pest (timber pest) inspection to AS 4349.3 with a moisture meter and thermal camera. We book them together for one attendance and one integrated report.

Because North Shore sits on sandstone shelves and steep sites with sub-floor moisture risk, our inspectors pay particular attention to structural cracking, sub-floor moisture, waterproofing to wet areas and roof drainage. We also cross-check any recent renovations against council records — a common source of concealed defects in North Shore.

No. A strata report reviews the owners corporation's records (minutes, sinking fund, special levies, known defects) but doesn't set foot inside your lot. In North Shore — where boutique low-rise strata through Chatswood, Lindfield and St Leonards — you should pair the strata report with a building inspection of the lot itself so you know both the paperwork and the physical condition of what you're buying.

For a typical 3–4 bedroom home in North Shore, a combined building and pest inspection is $440–$715 in 2026, building-only is $330–$550, and pest-only is $220–$385. Units sit at the lower end; double-storey, heritage and pier-and-beam properties at the top. Every quote is fixed — no travel surcharges within North Shore.

We attend most North Shore bookings within 24 hours, and same-day when booked before 10am — critical if you're inside a 5-business-day cooling-off window or preparing for a Saturday auction. The written, photo-rich report is delivered within 48 hours of the inspection.

The defect profile changes by street and era. Across North Shore we regularly find rising damp and salt attack in older brick, movement cracking on reactive clay sites, water ingress at box gutters and skillion roofs, non-compliant bathroom waterproofing on renovated units, and active termite activity in accessible timbers. Every finding is photographed and ranked major / minor / maintenance.

Yes — we inspect apartments, townhouses and strata units across North Shore. For units we cover the lot itself plus visible common property (roof, façade, common lobbies where accessible) and cross-check against the strata report. We flag major building defects that could trigger a special levy so you know what you're buying into.

We're fully independent. We work directly for the buyer, seller, builder or owner-occupier who pays us — no kickbacks, no referral arrangements with any North Shore real estate agent, mortgage broker or builder. Our only job is to tell you exactly what we found.

Yes. For North Shore auction properties we book pre-auction inspections seven days a week (subject to vendor access) and deliver a full building and pest report before you register to bid. If you win the property, the same report satisfies your due-diligence for the unconditional contract.

Most North Shore buyers should book combined building + pest. Sydney's climate, established gardens and older weatherboard/brick-veneer stock make termite activity a real risk — Australian data shows roughly 1 in 3 homes will be affected by termites in their lifetime. Combined inspections cost less than booking the two separately and give you one integrated report.