If you have a building inspection scheduled, then it is important that you understand the main components that should be included in every building inspection to ensure that the inspection is as thorough as possible. A poorly conducted building inspection can result in a property being purchased or rented in a dangerous condition, or you could find that you need to do more work to the property than the inspection report had indicated.

A building inspection should give you a good idea of the standard of the property, and give a clear indication of any significant work that may be required. Read on to find out the top 10 items in a building inspection that should be included by the building inspector.

1. Exterior

The building’s exterior will be assessed. This will include any issues with the building’s landscape, drain issues and doors.

2. Interior

A visual inspection of the interior of the building will be carried out. You should be aware that the inspector will not usually be using testing equipment, so if you are concerned about certain aspects, for example the function of the electrical circuits, you will need to get another professional in to look at that aspect.

3. Structure

Any rotting wood that makes up the structure of the property for example will be noted. You should pay special attention to the report about the structure of the building because any structural issues will need to be resolved quickly.

4. Roof

The condition of the building’s roof and loft space will be visually assessed. This will ensure that you are notified if the roof space has any fire hazards and if there are any lose slates or roof repairs that may need to be done.

5. Garage

If there is a garage, then this will be assessed for structural issues and any electrical circuit that supplies the garage will be visually assessed.

6. Appliances

If there are any appliances in the building, the inspector should check these over. Fire alarms and smoke alarms are usually included in this part of the inspection.

7. Systems

If the building has a chimney, then this will be checked over to make sure that there are no blockages. This is important because an improperly functioning chimney can result in poor ventilation. Other systems include air conditioning.

8. Plumbing

This excludes the inspection of any waste systems, but the inspector should notify you of any damaged pipe work or pipe work that falls below current safety requirements.

9. List of significant issues

Any significant issues that the building inspection uncovers should be included as a list that you will be able to see at a glance. It is important that you take note of this and make the necessary changes.

10. Excluded items

Sometimes, you will notice on your building inspection report that you have an excluded items section. This includes any part of the inspection that the inspector was not able to carry out. An example would be a loft inspection that could not be completed due to an inaccessible loft.