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Cautionary Note 1 – Timber Pest Inspections
March 1, 1996
Based on data collected from inspection of over 23,000 buildings we issue the following advice
The banning of termite chemicals and changes to Australian Standards have increased the responsibilities of building managers. It is now important to reduce the risk and severity of timber pest damage by vigilance and careful periodic inspections.
The two Australian Standards relevant to structural pests of timber, advise competent inspection of all properties at no more than twelve monthly intervals*.
If carried out by building consultants with pest qualifications, these inspections will also identify latent defects that owners should rectify before they become a basis for an unjustified complaint.Managers risk criticism and complaint from their clients if they fail to properly advise regular inspections and the property is subsequently found to be infested and unnecessarily damaged by timber pests. Managers can educate their clients, promote the importance of their up to date technical management and avoid possible liability claims by:
- obtaining a thorough baseline assessment of actual, and risk of, infestation of their clients’ properties
- continuing to recommend an annual timber pest inspection of all properties which the above baseline inspection has verified as either containing timber components or has an increased risk of infestation
- reducing all pre-conditions for serious timber pest damage as recommended by your pest consultant
- selecting pest consultants with building qualifications to avoid the unsatisfactory practice by pest control companies of recommending expensive and unnecessary chemical treatments
- seeking professional advice about termite resistant materials and construction from their building consultant with pest qualifications when their clients are altering or extending their buildings
- advising lessees to promptly report any unidentified insect activity or damage to timber.
WARNING
We have recently advised an insurer of property manager who, in our opinion, was wrongly blamed for serious termite damage to a building where proper inspection would have identified any latent defects and detected the infestation before it caused substantial damage.* Tyrrells do not recommend annual inspection of buildings that are constructed of predominantly pest resistant materials such as brick, concrete and aluminium
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