If there is any issue recently that is most likely to disturb the willingness to purchase a property, the cracks in Mascot Tower at Sydney have to be one of them. Are property developers saving cost with subpar building materials and structural plans to maximise their revenue and risk the lives of the residents?
The conclusion will have to wait for reports from the relevant authorities in understanding the situation of Mascot Tower. But the conditions of the residential tower was slowly deteriorating with “structural failure” being claimed. In order to safeguard your investment, ensuring the structural integrity of the property is essential before making any payment.
With that said, what does the building inspectors usually check for? And should you abort if they find any issues? Brought to you by sightstone.com, here’s what you need to know about building inspection.
Potential Issues on Building Structure
The structure of a building, which is exactly what the issue for Mascot Tower, is crucial to the longevity of the building and the safety of the occupants. There are minor and major structural issues regarding to different part of the building.
While visible cracks are major no-no unless you are only looking for a land, most houses will not be presented with visible structural problems and become hard to observe any internal issues by an amateur like me and you.
A building inspector, on the other hand, will check the property according to the building plan to ensure that the building is built towards the specifications on the plan and fulfil all Australian requirements. Also, potential issues to the durability of the building will be checked in the process, such as developing mould on wooden support or rusting on metal structures.
If the building is not built to plan or the potential issues are impacting the major structural parts, this should be seen as a major problem. For other issues, it might be considerable if the problem has not “infected” other parts of the house, for example, a small seam on the roof that can be mended with replacement tiles.
It is not uncommon that investors try to fix a damaged house to sellable conditions, which is a form of “house flipping”. These houses tend to hide its vulnerabilities more discreetly. Professional building inspectors are very handy in such situations to reveal the “deeper secrets” of the house.
Other Major Potential Issues
The supply of water, electricity and connectivity to your property are other crucial factors to check. For houses with two levels or more, the water supply to upper floors should be checked as the pressure from the mains might not be able to boost up to the other levels. You should always request this information from the property rental agency.
The stability of electricity supply might not be easy to discover but could bring huge problems like the malfunction of fridge that melts the ice cream and spoils the meat. If you are running some sort of server or computer equipment in the property, fluctuating power supply could damage the hardware of the equipment.
Connectivity is especially important for the internet-connected lifestyle of younger generations. It would be absolutely horrible if you cannot watch Netflix in high definition after the big move-in.
