Apartment and Strata Inspections in Wyndham Vale

Your lot comes first: the interior, external walls, roof, garage, courtyard and any balcony. After that we look over the common property that can be seen safely, including shared driveways, fences, paths, drainage and roof areas. Where you can supply the plan of subdivision, the report follows its split between lots and common property.

It is the document that defines common property, which can take in gardens, paths, walls, driveways and fences. Lot owners look after their own lot, and the owners corporation must repair and maintain the common property. In townhouse developments the boundary is not always where you would expect, so check the plan before treating a fence or wall as your own.

Not without express authority from the owners corporation to act as its agent. Without it, no lot owner may repair, alter or maintain common property, or a service benefiting more than one lot. Send the relevant item from our report to the owners corporation or its manager, and hold on to whatever reply comes back.

It forms part of the Section 32 vendor's statement and sets out current fees, insurance cover, maintenance works already carried out, proposed works, fee increases and any potential or existing legal claims. The owners corporation must issue one within 10 business days to anyone who applies in writing with the fee. Read it alongside our findings, because a cracked shared path is more of a concern when no works are proposed for it.

Find out about any proposed maintenance or building works, whether a maintenance plan is in place, whether a special levy is likely and whether any defect claims exist. Where there is a maintenance plan, there has to be a maintenance fund. Our report shows the condition on the inspection day, and the replies show whether someone is already handling it.

It is exempt from many of the usual requirements, among them maintenance plans and funds, financial statements and insuring the common property in its own name. Owners corporation certificates must still be issued, and the two lot owners are responsible for the common property, so getting insurance advice is sensible.

We inspect your lot and the common property in view, not every lot in the owners corporation, and the inspection is visual. Other lots, concealed framing, footings below ground, roofs that cannot be reached safely and electrical, gas and plumbing testing are not covered. Timber pests, asbestos and mould testing are booked as separate services, and anything out of reach is listed as not inspected.

The owners corporation, since it must manage, repair and maintain the common property. Where it has more than two lots, it generally needs a special resolution to bring legal proceedings. Disputes with the builder go to the Building and Plumbing Commission's dispute resolution service (formerly DBDRV), then to VCAT if they are not settled.

The Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 implies warranties that work is done in a proper and workmanlike manner, using suitable materials, in line with the law and fit to occupy. Later owners can rely on them, and a building action generally has to begin within 10 years of the occupancy permit (or the certificate of final inspection if there was none). As the suburb has been building since the late 1990s, check the date of that permit before relying on it.

We quote on the lot type, its size and how much of the shared property you want included, and the fee is confirmed before booking. Within 24 hours of the visit you receive the report and photographs, setting out which items appear to be in the lot or common property, checked against the plan of subdivision where you supply it. The inspector is happy to talk it through once you have read it.

We also cover Manor Lakes, Werribee, Tarneit, Mambourin, Hoppers Crossing and Little River. We inspect homes across Wyndham Vale, including Jubilee, Savana and Wollahra Rise.