What comes with a Gladstone house
The notice in the meter box
Under the National Construction Code, a required termite system comes with a durable notice, usually in the meter box. It shows the system used, when it went in, and how often the installer recommends inspections; chemical systems also show the life expectancy from the product label.
What's changed since
The QBCC says footpaths, garden beds, patios, pergolas, landscaping and turf can make a termite system less effective. Ask the inspector to note anything built against the house after the notice was written.
A yard you'll be answerable for
Gladstone Regional Council puts property owners and operators in charge of keeping their land free of mosquito breeding sites. The dengue mosquito is on the council's list of local species, so look at tanks, gutters and pot plants as you walk around.
Termites
Gladstone has the same ground termites found throughout Queensland, which build enclosed mud galleries to reach the timber in a house.
Auction or private sale
Queensland's cooling-off period doesn't apply when you buy at auction, so for an auction both inspections need to happen before the day. For a private sale, Queensland Government advice is that a building and pest condition only counts if it's written into the contract when you sign.
The QBCC's own advice is to get both inspections before you finalise the purchase, and to make it a contract condition that you're happy with the results.
One licence for the building, another for termites
In Queensland a pre-purchase building inspection needs a QBCC residential building inspector licence. A termite inspection is a pest controller's work under termite licensing. The QBCC lets one person do both at the same visit if they hold both licences, and tells buyers to check the licence before hiring anyone.
What to read for in the termite report
- The termite system the house has, and whether it still matches the meter box notice.
- Any garden bed, path, deck or turf that now bridges the system.
- Live termites or damage, and where.
- How often the inspector recommends checks from here on.
- The areas they couldn't get into.
If you see signs before the inspection
Mud tubes on a pier or soft skirting at an open home are worth a photo, not a prod. Leave them for the termite inspector, since CSIRO says disturbing termites can limit the control options later.
Where we'd start with pre-purchase pest inspections in Gladstone
Before an offer, we'd open the meter box and photograph the termite notice, then hand that photo to the termite inspector. At auction, we'd have both reports in hand before bidding. Tap Buying a home with the suburb.
Want someone to look at it?
Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.
