Apartment and Strata Inspections in Oran Park

Inside your lot we check the floors, walls and ceilings, the kitchen and wet areas, windows and doors, and any balcony, courtyard or garage that forms part of the lot. We then look over the common property in safe view from the lot and the shared areas, including the roof edges, gutters, external walls, driveways, fencing and drainage. The strata plan settles which of those parts are common property, since every scheme is set up differently.

Only some of them. The scheme reaches residential or mixed use strata buildings of four or more storeys where the building contract was entered into from 1 January 2018. A townhouse or low rise scheme of three storeys or fewer, where home building compensation cover was required, is outside it, so ask the strata manager whether a bond was lodged for yours.

The developer lodges a bond of 2% of the contract price before the occupation certificate is issued. A building inspector is appointed by the developer within 12 months of completion, with the owners corporation's approval, and inspects twice: an interim inspection 15 to 18 months after completion and a final one 21 to 24 months after. Defects listed in the interim report that are still present at the final inspection can be paid for out of the bond.

The bond inspector is engaged by the developer and looks at defective building work across the scheme, not at your lot for you. Booking your own inspection ahead of the interim inspection puts a dated list in front of the strata committee while it can still be raised. And if the building is not in the bond scheme at all, it still gives you a record of your lot.

They do different jobs, so it is worth having both. The strata report, or strata search, is taken from the strata records and covers finances, insurance, known building defects and planned works, legal matters and meeting minutes, while our inspection looks at the physical building. A crack in a common wall carries more weight when the minutes show it has been on the agenda before.

Issued by the owners corporation, it sets out the levies on the lot, any unpaid levies, the funding proposals in the 10-year capital works plan, and where the records and financial statements can be viewed. It names the strata committee, the strata managing agent and any building manager. A fee applies, and if a levy owing before the certificate was given is missing from it, the purchaser does not have to pay that levy.

We do not audit the whole scheme. Other lots, locked plant rooms and service rooms, lifts, fire safety systems, roofs out of safe reach, concealed framing and testing of electrical, gas or plumbing services are all excluded. Timber pest, asbestos and mould testing need to be arranged separately, and anything we cannot reach is noted in the report as not inspected.

Under the Home Building Act 1989, major defects carry a six year statutory warranty from completion and all other defects two years, with six months added if a breach comes to light in the last six months. Common property defects are best pursued by the owners corporation. A lot owner may complain directly where only their own lot is affected, or where the owners corporation or strata manager does not respond.

Book before exchange if you are buying, or during the cooling off period. If you already own, leave plenty of time before the warranty deadline: generally two years from completion for other defects (with up to six months more for some found late) and six years for major defects, and claims must be started in time. If a bond applies, get in before the interim inspection.

The fee turns on the type and size of the lot and how much common property you would like covered, and we confirm it once the property is known. Your report arrives within 24 hours with photographs, and shows which items appear to be in the lot or the common property, checked against the strata plan if you supply it. After reading it you can ring the inspector with questions.

Yes, in the surrounding suburbs too, including Catherine Field, Gledswood Hills, Harrington Park, Gregory Hills, Narellan and Cobbitty. Oran Park itself is in Camden Council. Whether the lot is in Oran Park Town or an estate such as Catherine Park or Hinton Loop, the report is written to the address on your contract or strata plan.