Thread: Pre- purchase Building Inspections - some sort of scam ?

An inspection can of course only see why is visible they cannot pull things apart to check things.

Neighbours are having some work done on the upstairs bathroom. They have found some interesting plumbing. Now he is a brickie and does not profess to understand what he calls the black art of plumbing

One of the drain pipes after the u bend pipe goes down hill to gravity drain. Sounds fairly standard I know. Where it gets weird is that when the pipe reaches the wall it is too low to join the hole in the wall where the pipe is outside. The fix was to put a joint in so the water now has to travel vertically until it reaches another joint so it can turn and go through

Not sure any inspection is going to find these types of problems which are the ones that are going to cause you the headaches

Originally Posted by 87County

Back to the initial post, it is generally a tactic ("just look what I have to spend to fix up your house if I buy it and I'll deduct said $s from your stupidly high a$king price")

Is it a scam? It could be if they recommend repairs by a nominated builder (eg. Jims building repairs)

Insofar as all franchises may be scams on innocent people (mainly the franchisee), it is now seen as a convenient means that people have to buy themselves a job.

It can be very misleading for customers because many are built on the "respect/recognition" the name brings and are constructed to provide a bit of income for the franchisee and much for the franchisor - another legal ponzi designed to get yet another drop of blood squeezed from the stone, in this case the general economy of the community.

In the unregulated market place I hope will never eventually see Jims dentistry and Jims brain surgery.

In the dodgy "building inspection" field the home owner always has the option of not permitting these home-grown experts on site or the option asking to sight the their quals and registration certificate ....(uhoh, I'll bet we don't have such anymore for "building inspectors" as it could limit trade).

The owner/seller could have a reputable report lodged with the agent along with a copy of the contract - any older house is going to have faults, and tell them it's a take it or leave it world.

In the unregulated market place I hope will never eventually see Jims dentistry and Jims brain surgery.

You bet. They would also need a Jim's Green Trailer to cart the optg Table, sterilisers, instruments, anesthesia plant around in.


BTW, it will be interesting to see how Jim's Court case v Vic Gov goes re the lock downs.