By Brendan Leahy, Naked Real Estate

For most buyers, the final inspection is one of the most exciting parts of buying a home. Settlement is only days away, the paperwork is nearly done, and before long you will be collecting the keys. 

It is also the stage where small misunderstandings can create unnecessary stress. The good news is that a final inspection is a very simple process once you understand what it is actually for. 

What a final inspection is 

A final inspection is not another home open, and it is not another building inspection. 

Its purpose is narrow and specific: to let the buyer confirm that the seller has met their obligations under the contract before settlement. In plain terms, that the property is in the same state and condition it was in when you agreed to buy it, and that the things the seller warranted to be in working order actually are. 

Under the Joint Form of General Conditions used in Western Australia, the buyer is entitled to one inspection within five business days before the possession date, and the seller must give access for it. The inspection has to take place on a business day between 9am and 4pm. The buyer may be accompanied by two other people, so three of you in total.

There is also a second inspection right that many people do not know about. If your first inspection turns up something the seller has to put right under the contract, you can give notice of it, and you are entitled to one further inspection to check that it has been fixed before possession.

In most cases the inspection takes about 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the home. 

The defining thing: warranted services and equipment, not plug-in items 

Here is the point buyers most often get wrong. The inspection is about the services and equipment the seller has actually warranted, the electrical, gas and plumbing systems, hard-wired appliances, and the fixed and included items listed in the contract. It generally does not extend to things that are simply plugged into a power point, or to the buyer’s own belongings, or to cosmetic matters. 

• So you are there to check things like: 
• Lights and power points work. 
• The hot water system works. 
• The oven, cooktop and rangehood work (oven lights and rangehood lights are usually excluded). 
• Hard-wired air conditioning operates. 
• Toilets flush and do not leak. 
• Taps run freely and there are no obvious leaks under the sinks. 
• The garage door works. 
• Gas appliances that are included operate. 
• A dishwasher, if it is included in the sale. 
• Where the home runs on a bore or rainwater, the pressure pump and water supply work. Septic systems and leach drains, where the home has them. 

Many Western Australian contracts include a Limited Warranty Annexure, under which the seller warrants that these listed items are in working order at settlement unless the contract says otherwise. That annexure is the backstop for exactly which items are covered, and it is worth reading before you inspect so you know what you are entitled to check. That list is broader than just the mains-connected services, which is why “warranted items” is the right way to think about it rather than “mains.”

What a final inspection is not 

This is where people get confused. 

It is not a chance to decide whether you still like the house. It is not the time to start picking at cosmetic things that were already there when you first inspected. You are generally not there to raise: 

• Small cracks that were already visible. 
• The pitch of the driveway. 
• The way the tiles were laid. 
• Minor wear and tear. 
• Leaves that blew into the gutters overnight. 
• Anything else that was part of the property when you decided to buy it. 

Remember, you are not buying a brand-new home. Many homes throughout the Perth Hills and Foothills are 40, 50, even 100 years old. Older homes have character, quirks and signs of age. Those things do not suddenly become contractual issues because settlement is close. The standard is simple: the home should be in the same state and condition it was in when you agreed to buy it. 

One lesson I have never forgotten 

Years ago I sold a lovely home in the hills to a young couple. They loved it. Before they made their offer, the buyer’s mother and stepfather looked through it and were very happy. 

Come the final inspection, though, another family member turned up who had not been involved in the purchase at all. Within minutes he was pointing out leaves in the gutters, complaining the driveway was too steep, and finding fault with all sorts of things that had never been raised before. 

By the end of it the young buyer looked deflated. He genuinely felt he had made a terrible mistake. The reality was that nothing had changed. The home was exactly what he had agreed to buy. It was simply a case of someone else’s opinions overshadowing what should have been one of the happiest days of his life. 

Family and friends almost always mean well. But too many opinions at the final inspection can create doubts where there were none. 

If you find something that genuinely needs attention

Occasionally something real does turn up. If it does, do not argue with the seller and do not try to negotiate in the driveway. Do not try to sort out who is right or wrong on the spot. 

Make a note of it and email it to both your settlement agent and your selling agent. Your settlement agent will deal with the seller’s settlement agent, and the matter gets handled under the terms of the contract. That process protects both sides and takes the emotion out of it. 

Sellers have responsibilities too 

The final inspection is not only about buyers. 

If you are selling and you know something has stopped working before settlement, do not hope nobody notices. This is not the moment to say the air conditioner has not worked for years, or that the hallway light stopped working, or that the bore pump failed last week. 

If those items are covered by the contract or the warranty you have given, they generally need to be repaired before settlement, or the parties agree an appropriate price adjustment through their settlement agents. It is almost always easier to organise repairs before the inspection than to scramble for tradespeople in the last few days. 

My advice to every seller 

Before the final inspection, have an electrician go through the home. Make sure every light and every power point works and the hard-wired appliances operate. It is a small cost that removes a lot of last-minute stress. 

Before settlement, sellers should make sure the property complies with Western Australia’s smoke alarm and RCD laws. In most residential sales that means compliant mains-powered smoke alarms that are in working order and less than 10 years old, together with the required RCD protection on the power and lighting circuits. If you are not sure whether your property complies, have a licensed electrician check it well before the final inspection. 

One myth worth clearing up. Selling an older home does not mean every hard-wired appliance, the oven, the air conditioner, the hot water system, has to be put on an RCD. That broader requirement applies to new electrical work, not to every existing house at the point of sale. A licensed electrician can tell you exactly what your home needs, and it is often less than people fear. 

WA law does not require an electrical compliance certificate, but I recommend getting one anyway. It is independent evidence that the smoke alarms and RCDs were checked before settlement, and it protects you if a question is ever raised later.

A note for hills properties 

Selling throughout Bedfordale, Roleystone, Mount Richon and the Kelmscott hills often involves equipment that many city homes do not have. If the property relies on a rainwater tank, a pressure pump, a household bore, a septic system or similar, those systems are part of how the home runs. If they are included in the sale, the buyer is entitled to expect them to be working at settlement. 

That includes the bore. If a home is sold with a working bore, the seller cannot say at the last minute that it stopped working a few weeks ago and leave it there. It needs to be repaired before settlement, or an adjustment made so the buyer can sort it afterwards. 

Do not expect a display home 

By the time you do your final inspection, the sellers are usually in the middle of moving. There may be boxes stacked everywhere, furniture already gone, cupboards empty. The home may not look as neat as it did at the home open. That is completely normal. The question is not whether the house is beautifully presented. It is whether the seller has met their obligations under the contract. 

The bottom line 

A final inspection should be one of the more enjoyable parts of buying a home. In most cases it takes less than fifteen minutes. If buyers understand what they are checking, sellers prepare properly, and everyone follows the contract, there is usually very little to worry about. 

After all, the next time you walk into the property should be to collect the keys and start the next chapter. 

Please feel free to view or download our Final Inspection Checklist by clicking on the PDF icon below:

This article is general information only and is not legal advice. Every contract is different. If you are unsure about your rights or obligations, speak to your settlement agent or a lawyer before settlement.