Buying an older home? Get it checked for asbestos first
A standard building-and-pest inspection won't tell you whether a property contains asbestos — it can't be identified just by looking. If you're buying something built before the 1990s, a pre-purchase asbestos check turns a hidden liability into a known quantity before you sign.
A building inspection isn’t an asbestos inspection
This trips up a lot of buyers: a normal building-and-pest report does not confirm whether a property contains asbestos. Asbestos can’t be identified by eye — it takes sampling and analysis. So a clean building inspection tells you nothing about the asbestos risk, and you should never rely on the seller’s word either.
If the home was built or renovated before the 1990s, assume asbestos could be present until testing says otherwise.
Why it’s worth doing before you buy
- You learn the real cost. Testing tells you not just whether there’s asbestos, but where and in what condition — which is what determines whether you’re looking at “leave and monitor”, a seal, or a removal bill. That’s information you want before you negotiate, not after.
- It protects the people moving in. Intact asbestos is low-risk, but a renovation, a repair, or simple wear can change that. Knowing where it is keeps your family safe.
- It’s cheap insurance. A pre-purchase check is a small cost against a property that could need thousands in remediation — or against buying a problem you didn’t know existed.
What a pre-purchase inspection covers
A whole-property assessment looks at the lot — internals, roof, externals, free-standing structures and fencing. Our inspectors screen suspect materials on-site with the mobile microPHAZIR analyzer, so you get an indication on the spot rather than waiting a week for a lab. Anything that needs formal confirmation goes to a NATA-accredited laboratory and comes back as a Certificate of Analysis.
You can have a presumptive inspection (suspect materials identified visually, no sampling) or a sampling inspection (samples collected and tested) — we’ll advise which suits your situation and the contract timeline.
What you walk away with
A plain-English report: what’s there, how dangerous it is, and your recommended next steps — including removal if it’s needed. Enough to buy with the full picture, renegotiate if the findings warrant it, or walk away on evidence rather than a hunch.
Buying soon and tight on time? Same-day on-site screening and a fast turnaround mean an inspection usually fits inside a finance or cooling-off window — call us to line it up.
Still not sure? Just ask.
Call 1300 019 657, 7 days a week, or book an inspection and we'll give you a clear answer.