The ACT seller’s building and pest reports

Which reports, and how recent

The Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003 lists the “required documents” for a sale. For each residence in the proposed contract they include:

• a building and compliance inspection report, from an inspection no more than 3 months before the property was first advertised, offered for sale or listed by an agent; and if the seller obtained two or more reports in the 6 months before that date, every one of them
• if the residence has been occupied, a pest inspection report on the same timing, again with every report from that 6-month period.

A seller (other than of a retirement village unit) commits an offence if the required documents are not available for a prospective buyer or their agent to inspect at all reasonable times when an offer may be made; the maximum penalty is 10 penalty units. It is not an offence where the seller had a lawyer prepare the contract, the lawyer did not pass on the missing documents, the seller believed on reasonable grounds that they had them all, and the seller made available every document the lawyer gave them. All of this applies only to a sale of “residential property”, which section 8 of the Act defines as vacant land that the lease allows one or more homes to be built on, land with one or two homes on it or under construction, or a unit. Section 8 also leaves out land or a unit of more than 3 hectares, land or a unit whose lease allows a use other than residential or rural residential (unless that use is incidental to living there), a retirement village and any interest in one other than a unit or a community title lot, and a developer’s holding lease. The Act also says when a report is not needed: the building and compliance report is not required for a class A unit, for a residence that has never been occupied or sold as a dwelling, or for one still to be built or developed before completion; the pest report is not required for a class A unit; and any required document is excused if the seller cannot get it after taking all reasonable steps.

What the building and compliance report must show

The Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Regulation 2004 sets the contents:

1. It is completed in accordance with AS 4349.1, the Australian Standard for pre-purchase inspections of residential buildings.
2. It shows, somewhere prominent, both the date of the inspection and the date the report was prepared.
3. It gives the policy number and expiry date of the preparer’s professional indemnity insurance, or comes with a certificate of currency from the insurer showing the expiry date.
4. It states that, within 7 days of the report being prepared, the Territory will be told for a public register that the report exists, the street address, the inspection date and the preparer’s name, plus the name and contact details of any business they prepared it for.
5. It states that the preparer, or that business, may give a copy to someone who has signed a contract to buy the property, for a reasonable charge.
6. It states that no reliance may be placed on it for a contract made more than 180 days after the inspection date, and sets out the circumstances in which it can be relied on.
7. For each structure on the property, it includes copies of any approved plans, building approval, building permit and certificate of occupancy, and the preparer’s view on whether the structure substantially complies with its approved plans and whether building approval, or failing that development approval, is needed.

The Regulation also changes how the standard applies in the ACT; one change adds an assessment of cosmetic or minor maintenance matters, with leaking taps, exposed nail heads and peeling paint as its examples. The pest inspection report is tied in the same way to AS 4349.3, Timber pest inspections.

Who prepares them, and who pays

Access Canberra’s guide says “A building consultant or inspector is not required to be registered or licensed”, and suggests asking whether they have indemnity insurance. The Regulation answers that question for the seller’s reports: they must be prepared by someone with professional indemnity insurance relating to the report’s subject, with a minimum limit of $500,000 or another amount the Minister determines (Regulation republication 21, effective 23 February 2026).

The seller orders and pays for the reports, and Reality Check sets out what happens to the cost: “The seller has the right to ask the buyer for reimbursement for the building and compliance inspection report, and the pest inspection report. These are generally reimbursed at the time of settlement.” On the buyer’s side it says: “You are responsible for paying the seller for the building and compliance, and pest inspection reports if you purchase the property.” Section 18 of the Act sets the limits: on completion, the seller is entitled to be reimbursed for one building and compliance report and one pest report (the first, if the seller obtained more than one), and not for anything paid on top of the ordinary cost, such as extra for a faster report.

Reading the seller’s report as the buyer

• What it covers

  “A building and compliance inspection report will identify and describe faults in the property. The report will also note any unsafe or unauthorised renovations and extensions; however, it does not generally include information regarding plumbing or electrical faults.”

• How long it lasts

  Each report must say that no reliance may be placed on it for a contract made more than 180 days after the inspection date. Buying after the period a report states, Access Canberra says, you may wish to obtain an updated report at an additional cost.

• Using it

  “A buyer may use the information in this report in their purchase negotiations.”

• Unapproved structures

  Any unapproved structure must be disclosed in the contract and in the building and compliance report. Under the Act, if before completion you learn of an unapproved structure the contract did not disclose, you may ask the seller to have it approved before completion; if it is not, you may rescind the contract, or complete it and claim damages.

Getting a report of your own is not required, since the reports are the seller’s responsibility; Access Canberra says a buyer who wishes can still obtain their own, at an additional cost.

If the seller’s report is wrong

Section 19 of the Act applies where a buyer purchases under a contract, one of these reports was made available to them, the report is false or misleading in a material particular or was prepared without reasonable skill and care, and the buyer incurs loss or expense because of it. In that case, the person who prepared the report is liable to compensate the buyer.

Knowingly making a statement in a building and compliance or pest inspection report that is false or misleading in a material particular is also an offence, with a maximum penalty of 100 penalty units.

The director-general must keep a register of information about these reports, though information about a particular inspection need only stay on it for 1 year after the inspection. The wider picture, state by state, is under if the report missed something.