# My building inspector missed something - what can I do? You moved in two weeks ago and found a damp patch in the laundry. The skirting board lifts away in your hand. Behind it, the timber is black and crumbling. You go back to your building inspection report, the one you paid hundreds of dollars for, and there's nothing about it. Not a mention. Not a "further investigation recommended." Nothing. Or maybe it was the deck. Or the roof. Or the bathroom waterproofing. Whatever it is, the feeling is the same. You paid for a professional to find these problems before you bought the place, and they didn't. This article won't tell you that inspectors are incompetent or that they're trying to rip you off. The vast majority are not. What it will do is explain what "missed" actually means in the context of an Australian building inspection, what your options are if something genuinely was missed, and how to protect yourself before the next inspection so this doesn't happen to you or anyone you know again. > **Key takeaways** > > - "Missed" can mean two very different things. Sometimes the defect was genuinely overlooked. Far more often, it was outside the scope of a standard AS 4349.1 inspection. > - Australian building inspections are visual only. Anything behind walls, under flooring, in inaccessible areas, or hidden by weather conditions on the day is not covered. > - If a defect was genuinely within scope and missed, you may have a claim against the inspector's professional indemnity insurance. The process usually starts with a second inspection report and a complaint in writing. > - State-based complaint paths exist (NSW Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs Victoria, Queensland Office of Fair Trading) along with industry bodies like the MBA, HIA, and AIBI. > - The single best protection is to understand the scope of an inspection before you commission one, not after. ## What "missed" actually means When a buyer says the inspector "missed" something, they usually mean one of two things. The distinction matters a lot, because your options are very different in each case. **Situation one: it was outside the scope of the inspection.** Australian building inspections follow Australian Standard AS 4349.1. This standard sets out, in some detail, what an inspector is and isn't required to assess. It is a visual, non-invasive inspection of readily accessible areas only. That means: - The inspector does not lift carpets, move furniture, or cut into walls. - The inspector does not enter ceiling or subfloor spaces that are unsafe, blocked, or below industry-accepted minimum clearances. - The inspector does not access roofs in wet or unsafe conditions. - The inspector does not test plumbing, electrical, or gas systems. - The inspector does not assess matters that require a specialist (engineering, asbestos, pest, swimming pool compliance, energy efficiency, anything in a strata schedule that's not part of the lot). If the defect you found was behind a wall, under carpet, in a roof void the inspector noted as "not accessed due to safety", or in any other excluded area, it wasn't missed. It was outside scope. The inspector's report should say so, clearly, in the limitations section. This is frustrating for buyers, but it isn't a failure of the inspection. It's a feature of how AS 4349.1 is written. **Situation two: the defect was within scope and the inspector didn't note it.** This is genuine oversight. The defect was visible to the naked eye on the day of inspection, the area was readily accessible, and the inspector either didn't notice it or didn't include it in the report. This is the situation where you may have grounds for action against the inspector. Before you decide which one you're in, read the scope and limitations section of your report carefully. Inspectors include this for a reason. It is the legal envelope around what they did and didn't agree to assess. ## Why scope limitations exist (and why they're a feature, not a flaw) Buyers often feel that scope limitations are convenient excuses inspectors hide behind. They aren't. They're how building inspections in Australia are designed to work, and they exist for two practical reasons. The first is cost. A truly invasive inspection, where walls are cut, floor coverings lifted, and systems tested, would cost many thousands of dollars and damage the property. Vendors won't permit it on a property they're selling. The standard inspection is a compromise: cheaper, non-destructive, and limited to what can be seen and reached on a single visit. The second is honest disclosure. The standard requires inspectors to clearly state what they didn't access and why. If the report says "roof not accessed due to wet weather" or "subfloor inspection limited by stored items," that's the inspector telling you, in plain writing, that there's a gap in the assessment. It's the buyer's job to read those notes and decide whether to commission further inspections before settlement, not after. Most "missed" defects come down to this gap. The inspector noted the limitation. The buyer didn't read it. The defect lived in the unaccessed area. By the time it surfaces, the property is yours. This is exactly why understanding what's actually in your [building inspection report](/articles/building-inspection-report-explained) matters before you sign anything. The scope and limitations section isn't filler. It's the most important part for protecting yourself. ## What to do if something was genuinely missed If you've read the report carefully and you're confident the defect was within scope, visible, and accessible at the time of inspection, you have options. Work through them in order. **Step 1: Get a second opinion in writing.** Commission a second building inspector, ideally one who specialises in defect investigations rather than pre-purchase inspections, to inspect the defect and write a report. The report should describe the defect, when it likely occurred, whether it would have been visible at the time of the original inspection, and what a competent inspector working to AS 4349.1 should have noted. This document is the foundation for everything that follows. **Step 2: Raise it with the original inspector in writing.** Email or write to the original inspector and their company. Attach your second inspector's report and ask, formally, for their response. Many disputes resolve at this stage. Reputable inspectors will engage with a clear, evidence-based complaint, and many carry insurance specifically for this kind of issue. Keep the tone factual. Do not threaten. Do not write angry emails to the agent or the vendor. Everything you put in writing may be relevant later if the matter escalates, and a calm, evidence-led record always reads better than a furious one. **Step 3: Lodge a formal complaint.** If the inspector doesn't respond, or their response is inadequate, you have several formal channels. They aren't mutually exclusive, and you can use more than one. State fair trading offices handle consumer complaints about building services in most states. The names vary: NSW Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs Victoria, Queensland Office of Fair Trading, Consumer and Business Services SA, Consumer Protection WA. Each has a process for lodging a complaint, and most attempt mediation before any formal action. Your conveyancer or solicitor can point you to the correct office for your state. Industry bodies are the second route. If your inspector is a member of the Master Builders Association (MBA), Housing Industry Association (HIA), or the Australian Institute of Building Inspectors (AIBI), you can lodge a complaint through that body's professional standards process. Membership often requires inspectors to carry professional indemnity insurance and follow a code of conduct. Breaches can result in disciplinary action. **Step 4: Insurance and legal action.** If the financial impact is significant and the inspector won't engage, the formal path is a claim against their professional indemnity insurance. This usually starts with a letter of demand from a solicitor, supported by your second inspector's report and documented losses (quotes for rectification, valuations showing diminished property value). To succeed, you generally need to show three things: the defect was within the scope of an AS 4349.1 inspection, a competent inspector working to the standard would have identified it, and the inspector's failure caused you a quantifiable loss. Each of those is fact-specific. Get legal advice before you commit. Many state-based community legal centres and law firms offer initial consultations on building disputes, and your conveyancer can usually point to a specialist. **Step 5: Tribunal or court.** If insurance won't pay and direct negotiation fails, the next step is a state-based civil tribunal (NCAT in NSW, VCAT in Victoria, QCAT in Queensland, and equivalents elsewhere). These tribunals handle consumer disputes including building service claims, often without needing a lawyer. Court action is slower and more expensive, but available where the amounts are large enough to justify it. This sounds like a lot, and it is. Most buyers don't reach step five. Most resolve at step two or three, because reputable inspectors carry insurance specifically so genuine errors can be corrected without going to court. ## Common scenarios and what they actually mean A few situations come up again and again in buyer conversations, and they almost always sit on the line between "missed" and "outside scope." **"The inspector didn't go on the roof because it was raining."** This is squarely within AS 4349.1. Inspectors are not required, or even permitted by their insurers, to access wet or unsafe roofs. The report should clearly note the roof was not accessed and recommend a follow-up inspection in dry conditions. If you didn't commission that follow-up before settlement, the unaccessed roof is a gap you carried into the purchase. Frustrating, but not a missed defect. **"There was active termite damage and the inspector didn't pick it up."** A standard building inspection is not a pest inspection. They are governed by different standards (AS 4349.1 for buildings, AS 4349.3 for timber pests). Many inspectors offer a combined building and pest inspection, but only if it was specifically commissioned. Check what you actually paid for. If you booked a building-only inspection, termite activity is outside scope. **"The inspector didn't note rising damp on the lounge wall."** If the damp was visible (staining, blistering paint, salt deposits, peeling skirting), and the wall was accessible, this is within scope. The inspector should have noted it. If the damp was hidden behind a piece of furniture, it likely wasn't. See [is rising damp serious when buying a house](/articles/is-rising-damp-serious-buying-house) for what damp typically looks like in a report. **"The report said 'further investigation recommended' on the deck but I didn't follow up, and now the framing is rotten."** This is the most common pattern of all. The inspector did their job. They flagged the area as needing specialist follow-up. The buyer didn't commission it before settlement. The defect was discovered after. In this case, the inspector hasn't missed anything. They've recommended exactly what they're required to recommend, and the responsibility to act on it sits with the buyer. We covered this pattern in detail in our article on [further investigation recommendations](/articles/recommend-further-investigation-building-inspection). **"The defect is huge and the inspector wrote one line about it."** This is more nuanced. If the inspector noted the defect, even briefly, they have done their job under the standard. The depth of detail varies between inspectors, and a one-line note is enough to put a reasonable buyer on notice. If the note used the language of a [major defect](/articles/what-does-major-defect-mean), the buyer was on clear notice that the issue was serious. The remedy was negotiation or further inspection before settlement, not a complaint after. ## How to protect yourself before the inspection The best response to "my inspector missed something" is to never be in that situation in the first place. Five steps make a real difference. **Read the scope and limitations of the inspection before you book it.** Most inspector websites publish their standard scope. Read it. If anything important to you (the roof, the subfloor, the pool, the granny flat) is excluded, ask whether it can be added or whether a specialist is needed. Get the answer in writing. **Don't book the cheapest inspector.** Price isn't a reliable proxy for quality, but a $300 inspection on a $1.2m purchase is a false economy. Look for AIBI membership, professional indemnity insurance disclosure, and recent reviews. Ask for a sample report so you can see how detailed the output is. **Walk the property with the inspector if your state allows it.** Most do. You'll see exactly what they assess, hear their commentary in real time, and you can ask about anything that worries you. Anything you flag verbally and they don't include in the written report becomes a clear, documented question. **Always read the limitations section first.** Before you read the findings, read what wasn't accessed and why. Then commission specialist follow-ups for any gap that matters before your contract deadlines, not after settlement. The [pre-settlement inspection checklist](/articles/pre-settlement-inspection-checklist) covers what to chase down in the final days. **Get a second opinion when the stakes are high.** For a high-value purchase, or a property with a complicated history, a second independent inspection costs a fraction of one undiscovered defect. Two inspectors, working independently, very rarely miss the same thing. ## A note on the emotional side Discovering a serious defect after you've moved in is one of the most demoralising experiences a buyer goes through. The sunk cost is enormous. The stress is real. The instinct is to find someone to blame, and the inspector is the most visible target. We'd encourage you to slow down before you do. Read the report cover to cover, including the parts you skipped the first time. Get the second opinion before the angry email. Many buyers who arrive convinced their inspector failed them discover, after a careful read, that the report did flag the issue, or that the area in question was never within scope. That's not a satisfying answer, but it changes what you do next. If, after all that, you're still confident something was genuinely missed, the formal channels exist for exactly this reason. Use them in order. The system, slow as it is, does work. ## If you want to understand your report before any of this Most "missed" complaints trace back to buyers who didn't fully read or understand the inspection report before settlement. Reports are dense, jargon-heavy, and often hundreds of pages long, and the limitations section is rarely the most engaging part. If you're looking at one now and want a clear, plain-English breakdown of what's actually in it, what's serious, what's cosmetic, and what's been flagged for further investigation, [Snagger](https://snagger.com.au) does that. See [what that looks like](https://snagger.com.au/s/7c59dc4a-f4d3-4543-a11c-66745fc44c07) on a real report. The earlier you understand what your report says, and just as importantly what it doesn't say, the smaller the chance of a "missed" defect ever becoming your problem. --- --- Source: https://snagger.com.au/articles/building-inspector-missed-defects