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Cautionary Note 42 – Unsafe as houses…
February 1, 2002
Based on data collected from inspection of over 48,000 buildings we issue the following advice.
Hazards in buildings are a fact of life. They can be easily prevented if purchasers are properly advised about and owners identify these liabilities before an unnecessary accident occurs.
Twenty years ago when Tyrrells were developing the best way to inspect buildings, we believed defects which could injure or harm the occupants or their visitors were an important part of pre- purchase advice.
However, the Australian Standard on Property Inspections does not require building consultants to advise purchasers about hazards and unsafe parts of the buildings they are buying.
This is inconsistent with the Building Code of Australia which sets safety of occupants and users as a clear objective of proper building practice.
In any event, failure to advise an obvious hazard is unlikely to protect a building consultant of a recently inspected building from being joined in a liability claim if someone is seriously injured.
Of course, unreasonable claims about acceptable risks are unlikely to be successful and should be discouraged.
To reduce unnecessary risk, we suggest that purchasers are advised that:
- their building consultant should be requested to report hazards such as non complying balustrades and glass, missing smoke detectors, defective or missing pool fencing or gates, severely rotted deck/stairs/handrail timbers.
- during ownership, they or their managers should periodically assess:
- their properties (or those they manage) for new hazards
- common areas (strata or company title complexes)Careful building consultants who thoroughly inspect their clients’ properties will provide a surprising amount of useful information which will help make ownership safer and less trouble.
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