Our Terms & Conditions
As part of Property Solutions Building Surveys Ltd (trading as Property Solutions Inspections) compliance with New Zealand Property Inspection Standard NZS 4306:2005 (“the Standard”), we are required to outline:
the scope of our inspection and report;
any limitations to our inspection and report;
any exclusions; and
our terms of trade.
These terms and conditions must be accepted by the client prior to the date of the inspection. The acceptance process requires your confirmation of client contact information. The inspection will not take place until we have received acceptance of this agreement. If you have any questions about it, we will be pleased to assist you – please contact us direct.
1. Scope of Inspection and Report
Inspection And Report Prepared In Accordance With The Standard
a. For the purpose of pre-sale or pre-purchase inspections, the inspection process will be carried out in accordance with New Zealand Standards NZS 4306:2005. You agree to be bound by this Standard.
b. A copy of the Standards is available from https://shop.standards.govt.nz/catalog/ics/.
c. The inspection will be conducted by an inspector with a relevant qualification and building inspection experience to carry out the inspection in accordance with the Standard.
d. We will certify that the Inspection has been undertaken in accordance with the Standard and the Inspector meets the competences of this Standard.
e. We will conduct moisture testing regardless of age of the building. However, this will not be measured against Appendix A of the Standard or to E2/AS1 of the Building Code, Matrix and Evaluation, as such an analysis would be subject to a specialist report.
Visual Inspection Only
a. Under the Standard, the scope of the Inspection is limited to a visual Inspection of the components of a building, to which the Inspector has reasonable access and is within unobstructed (clear) line of sight. A non-intrusive moisture meter will be used around accessible joinery or identified risk areas. This meter is an aid only, the results are not conclusive.
b. The inspection is restricted to areas that have available access and will not include the removal of wall linings, building paper or insulation or any other covering or lining material. It cannot include CONCEALED plumbing, piping, drainage, and electrical items. Flint coat waterproofing or underground sealants commonly used in basement developments and associated drainage below ground cannot be accurately assessed.
c. The report should be seen as a reasonable attempt to identify any Significant Fault or Defect visible at the time of the visual Inspection rather than an all-encompassing report dealing with the home from every aspect. The reporting of any Significant Fault or Defect is on an exceptional basis, rather than reporting on items that are in acceptable condition for their age.
“Significant Fault or Defect” is defined in the Standard as – “A matter which requires substantial repairs or urgent attention and rectification.”
A Significant Fault or Defect will be addressed in the summary section of the report.
d. If reasonable access is not possible into ceiling (roof cavity) or subfloor areas, this will be identified and excluded from the report.
Reasonable Access To Be Provided
a. “Reasonable access” means access that is safe, unobstructed and that has the minimum clearance specified in table below (or if the minimum clearance is not available, the area is within the Inspector’s unobstructed line of sight).
Reasonable Access Is Defined As:
Roof space: 450 x 400 mm manhole access. 600 x 600 mm Crawl Space.
Accessible from a 3.6 m ladder**
Sub floor: 500 x 400 mm manhole access.
400mm vertical clearance Crawl Space – Timber Floor*
500mm vertical clearance Crawl Space – Concrete Floor
Roof exterior: Viewed from a 3.6 m ladder**
* Underside of bearer
** Or such other means of access that meet HSWA requirements.
b. You agree to ensure that Reasonable Access can be gained to the property including but not limited to the roof cavity and foundations space and that any such spaces if they exist are cleared for an inspection to be carried out.
2. Inspection and Report Scope Limitation
a. This Report is only for the benefit of the client who instructed Property Solutions Building Surveys Ltd. to prepare the Report and may not be relied upon by any other party.
b. The Inspection and report is intended only as a general guide to help you make your own evaluation of the overall condition of the home and is not intended to reflect the value of the property, nor make any representation as to the advisability of purchase.
c. The Inspection and report are not intended to be technically exhaustive, or to imply that every component was inspected, or that every possible defect was discovered.
d. No disassembly of equipment, intrusive or destructive inspection, moving of furniture, appliances or stored items, or excavation will be performed.
e. All components and conditions which by the nature of their location are concealed, deliberately hidden, camouflaged or difficult to inspect are excluded from the report.
g. Inspections of the systems at the home are outside of the scope of our report. The Inspector will, however, conduct a cursory inspection of the hot water system, the plumbing system, the electrical system (including testing the accessible power points and lights in each room). You should note that this will only be the opinion of the Inspector, who is not a qualified plumber, electrician or gas fitter. You should note that our Inspector does not inspect the air conditioning system, dishwashers, stoves, hobbs heating systems, aerials, swimming pools or spas.
h. Matters which are not within the scope of the Inspection under the Standard include, but are not limited to: the existence of formaldehyde, lead paint, asbestos, toxic or flammable materials, pest infestation and other health or environmental hazards; the condition of playground equipment; the efficiency measurement of insulation or heating and cooling equipment; any internal or underground drainage or plumbing; any systems which are shut down or otherwise secured; water wells (water quality and quantity); zoning ordinances; cosmetics or building code conformity; intercoms, security systems, fire detection systems, heat sensors (any general comments about these systems and conditions are informational only and do not represent an inspection or form part of the report).
i. The Inspection and report should not be construed as a compliance inspection of any building, legal or territory authority standards, codes or regulations. The report is not intended to be a warranty or guarantee of the present or future weather tightness, adequacy or performance of the structure, its systems, or their component parts. The report does not constitute any express or implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for use regarding the condition of the property and it should not be relied upon as such. Any opinions expressed regarding adequacy, capacity, or expected life of components are general statements based on information about similar components and occasional variations are to be expected between such estimates and actual experience.
j. You accept that the Inspector will not detect some faults because:
The fault only occurs intermittently.
Part of the home has not been used for a while and the fault usually occurs after regular use (or detection of the fault would only occur after regular use).
The type of weather that would normally reveal the fault is not prevailing at, or around, the time of the inspection.
The fault has been deliberately concealed.
Furnishings are obscuring the fault.
We have been given incorrect information by you, the vendor (if any), the real estate consultant, or any other person.\
The fault is/was not apparent on a visual Inspection.
k. It is not our policy to give oral advice without a written report. If you do require us to give you oral advice only, we shall not be held responsible for that advice.
l. The report expresses the opinions of the Inspector, based upon his or her visual impressions of the conditions that existed at the time of the inspection only.
m. Any suggestions or recommendations contained in the report are suggestion only and it shall be the responsibility of the person or persons carrying out the work to ensure the most appropriate remedy is carried out in conjunction with any further discoveries, warranty’s or manufacturers recommendation and warranty’s, and any necessary local authority consents obtained prior to proceeding with remedial work.
3. Inspectors have no personal interest
We certify that our Inspectors have no interest, present or contemplated, in the property or its improvement and no involvement with trades people or benefits derived from any sales or improvements. To the best of our knowledge and belief, all statements and information in the report are true and correct.
4. Limitation of Liability
a. Subject to any statutory provisions, if we become liable to you, for any reason, for any loss, damage, harm or injury in any way connected with the completion of the Inspection and/or report, our liability shall be limited to a sum not exceeding the cost of the Inspection and report. We will not be liable to you for any consequential loss of whatever nature suffered by you or any other person injured and indemnify us in respect of any claims concerning any such loss.
b. The client agrees to indemnify and keep indemnified the Building Surveyor and/or the Surveying Company from any and all claims by the vendor or any third party arising from the client’s release of all or part of the Building Report and/or Report Summary. Further, the client shall pay all legal costs incurred by the Building Surveyor and/or the Surveying Company arising from such claims.
5. Disputes
a. Should any dispute arise as a result of the inspection or report, it must be submitted to us in writing immediately.
b. You agree that upon raising a dispute the contents of the report may not be used to satisfy any terms of a sale and purchase agreement until the disagreement/dispute has been resolved.
c. You agree that if, after raising a dispute, you use the inspection or report to make an unconditional offer or confirm a sale and purchase agreement, that you waive all of your rights to continue with the dispute, and/or raise any future dispute or claim against us.
d. In the event of a claim/dispute regarding damage to a home, you will allow us to investigate the claim prior to any repairs to the home be undertaken or completed. You agree that if you do not allow us to investigate the claims of damage before any repairs are carried out that you waive your rights to continue with and/or make any future claim against us.
e. In the event of any dispute, you agree not to disturb, repair, or attempt to repair anything that may constitute evidence relating to the dispute, except in the case of an emergency.
f. Any complaints will be subject to our internal complaints process.
6. Disclaimer
a. This is a report of a visual only, non-invasive inspection of the areas of the building that are readily visible at the time of inspection. The inspection will not include any areas or components that are concealed or closed in behind finished surfaces (such as plumbing, drainage, heating, framing, ventilation, insulation or wiring) or that require moving anything that would impede access or limit visibility (such as floor coverings, furniture, appliances, personal property, vehicles, vegetation, debris or soil).
b. The inspection will not assess compliance with the NZ Building Code including the Code’s weathertightness requirements, or structural aspects. On request, specialist inspections can be arranged for weathertightness or structure or of any systems including electrical, plumbing, gas or heating.
c. As the purpose of this inspection is to assess the general condition of the building based on a limited visual inspection described in (a), this report may not identify all past, present or future defects. Descriptions in this report of systems or appliances relate to existence only and not adequacy or life expectancy. Any area or component of the building or any item or system not specifically identified in this report as having been inspected was excluded from the scope of the inspection.
7. Terms of Trade
The report will not be released until payment has been received by Property Solutions Inspections. In consideration for us providing you with the Inspection and report, you agree:
a. Payment is due on receipt of invoice and prior to release of report. Invoices not paid by the due date shall incur a late payment interest charge of 15% of the total amount owing for each calendar month the invoice is overdue, together with all debt collection costs.
b. All work in progress will be billed monthly, with a final invoice issued on completion.
c. If a quotation is given for the Inspection/report, any expenses incurred in addition to the quote, will be on the basis of the cost to us, plus 15%.
d. If, after a subsequent quotation/estimate, any additional work is found to be required you will be contacted for your approval before any further work is completed. We have no responsibility or liability for any cost, loss or damage arising from:
any errors or omissions from information, data or documents not prepared by us, our employees, or other persons under the direct control of us;
any outcomes and reports from any form of sampling or testing;
any act or omission, lack of performance, negligent or fraudulent act by you.
any act or omission, lack of performance, negligence or fraud by any consultant, contractor or supplier to you, or any of your employees or agents.
f. Any samples taken from any property for testing for products, such as methamphetamine or asbestos, are random samples and may not be representative of the presence or absence of the product being tested for in the property, or of any other area where samples were not taken.
g. Any test samples, results, and reports produced are neither a warranty or guarantee of the presence or absence of the product being tested in the property.
h. That all commercially sensitive information obtained by either party during the preparation of the report shall remain confidential.
i. The contents of the report, or any other work prepared by us is confidential and has been prepared solely for you and shall not be relied upon by any third parties. We accept no responsibility for anything done or not done by any third party in reliance, whether wholly or partially, on any of the contents of the report.
j. Where the content of any report is relied upon for industry research or evaluation purposes, such research or evaluation shall not include any data that may allow for the identification of any property or any personal information included in the report in any way.
k. You shall pay all costs and expenses (including legal costs on a solicitor/Client basis) resulting from any breach of these terms of trade by you or the enforcement by us of these terms of trade.
l. The parties agree that the Laws of New Zealand govern these terms and conditions and proceedings taken by the other party shall be heard in the District or High Court at Wellington, New Zealand, regardless of the location of your place of business/residence.
8. Cancellation Fee
If you cancel the inspection you agree, in consideration for us arranging a time for the inspection, to pay us a cancellation fee equal to the full cost of the inspection and report. If we receive twenty-four hours (one full working day) written notice of cancellation, no fee will be payable.