Building and pest inspection prices in Sydney
Inc GST, fixed at booking. Drone, thermal camera and moisture meter on every inspection, at no extra charge.
| Property | Price inc GST |
|---|---|
| Standard building and pest inspection | $550 inc GST ($500 + GST) |
What changes the price across Greater Sydney
Every honest quote in this trade moves on the same handful of things. Knowing them lets you compare quotes properly, and spot the one that has quietly left something out.
| Factor | Why it changes the price | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Bedrooms and floor area | More rooms is more surfaces, more wet areas and more photographs. Most Sydney inspectors band their prices by bedroom count for this reason. | A 3-bedroom brick veneer vs a 5-bedroom 2-storey. |
| Storeys | A second storey adds roof void access, stairs, balconies and external walls that need the drone or a ladder. | A 2-storey Kellyville project home. |
| Subfloor: piers or slab | A timber floor on brick piers means a subfloor to physically enter and inspect; a slab-on-ground house has a slab edge to read instead. The subfloor is slower and it is where termites and damp live. | A 1920s Earlwood bungalow vs a 1980s St Marys slab. |
| Age and construction | Older stock carries more to report on: original roof, fibro (noted, not sampled), damp courses, additions. A 1950s house takes longer than a 2015 one of the same size. | Post-war fibro in Guildford or Fairfield. |
| Access | A locked shed, a roof void with no manhole or 200mm of subfloor clearance are limitations we record; a property with everything open is faster. | Tenanted properties with furniture against every wall. |
| Outbuildings, pools, retaining walls | A granny flat is a second dwelling. A pool and a retaining wall are extra structures on the site that get inspected and photographed. | A Hills District block with a pool and a 2-metre retaining wall. |
| Travel | We're based in Smithfield. Western Sydney, the Hills and the South West are close; the Northern Beaches are not. | Ask when you book and we'll confirm whether any travel applies to your suburb. |
Building only, pest only, or combined
The building inspection and the timber pest inspection are different scopes under different standards, and on a purchase you want both. Priced separately, 2 inspectors on 2 days costs more than 1 person on 1 visit, because the drone flight, the thermal pass and the subfloor entry serve both reports at once. That is why the combined inspection is the default product on every Sydney purchase, and why it is the better buy. A stand-alone timber pest inspection makes sense for an annual check on a house you own, or for a second opinion before a treatment contract.
What you are paying for
- Every accessible area of the property: interior, exterior, roof space and roof exterior, subfloor, garages, sheds, retaining walls, steps, fencing and drainage.
- The timber pest inspection to AS 4349.3-2010: termites, borers, decay and the conducive conditions.
- Drone, thermal camera and moisture meter on every inspection, at no extra charge.
- A photographed report with major and minor defects separated, the same day.
- The inspector who was on site, Ibrahim, is the person you talk to about the findings. After-report care is part of every inspection.
Element by element, the scope is the what a building inspection covers guide; how to read the result is the report explained guide.
What needs its own specialist
No building and pest inspection in Sydney includes these, and a quote that implies otherwise is worth asking about. Each is a separate licence and a separate report, and the inspection tells you when to get one.
| Not included | Who does it |
|---|---|
| Swimming pool barrier compliance certificate | A registered pool certifier or the council. The inspection notes the barrier's condition; it does not certify it. |
| Asbestos sampling and testing | A licensed asbestos assessor. Fibro sheeting is noted as suspected asbestos-containing material, never sampled or handled. |
| Electrical and plumbing certification | A licensed electrician or plumber. The inspection notes visible defects (an unsafe switchboard, a leaking tap), not compliance. |
| Strata records search | A strata search agent, arranged by your conveyancer. It reports the building's history and levies, not its condition. |
| Structural engineer's report | A structural engineer, when the inspection finds movement that needs a professional opinion on adequacy. The inspection says when. |
| Council approvals and planning certificate | Your conveyancer, via the council. The inspection notes unapproved-looking additions; it does not check approvals. |
| Repair costs | The trade that would do the repair. The report names the defect and its severity; it does not price the fix. |
Who pays, and how the fee compares to walking away
The buyer pays for a pre-purchase inspection, and the fee is not refundable if you decide not to proceed. That sounds like a reason to skip it on a property you are unsure about. It is the opposite. In NSW, a private-treaty buyer who withdraws inside the cooling-off period forfeits 0.25% of the purchase price: on a $1,000,000 house that is $2,500 (arithmetic, not law; your conveyancer confirms your contract). A buyer who settles on a house with a termite problem or a moving footing pays a great deal more than that. The inspection is the fee you pay to find out which of those 2 houses you are buying. The mechanics of the 5-day window are in the cooling-off period NSW guide.
Does the price change by region?
By travel, a little; by housing stock, more. A post-war fibro cottage on piers in Western Sydney has a subfloor to enter and an older roof to fly; a 2000s project home in the Hills has a second storey, a pool and a retaining wall; a 1920s bungalow in St George has a damp course and 100 years of timber framing. The 6 region pages describe what the houses in each are made of, which is what actually moves the number.
Red flags on a cheap quote
- Building only, with the pest inspection as an “add-on” you find out about later. On a purchase the timber pest inspection is not optional, and a quote that leaves it out is not cheaper, it is incomplete.
- The equipment as an extra. If thermal imaging or the drone is a line item, ask what the base inspection actually uses to find moisture behind a wall or a broken tile on a 2-storey roof. Ours includes both on every job.
- A price quoted on the doorstep. A firm price before booking is table stakes. A figure that changes on the day, once you have no time left to get anyone else, is the pricing complaint that turns up in 1-star reviews.
- “Same day” with no report time. Ask when the written report arrives, not when the inspector leaves. Ours is the same day.
- Nobody to ring.A PDF is not an answer to “should I still buy it”. Ask who you talk to after you have read it. Here, it is the person who was on site.