This is a concept website · Enquire about this domain

pestinspections.au
Guide 5 of 5

The roof space, and the termites a standard inspection leaves out

The definition of timber pests, in the QBCC’s account of the standard, leaves drywood termites out. Subterranean and dampwood termites, borers of seasoned timber and wood decay fungi are inside it, and mould is not.

Business Queensland says inspections for West Indian drywood termite should always include the roof and the void space.

Two panels. To scale: the house inside the band the inspection covers, its outline offset 30 metres, with a scale bar from 0 at the wall to 30 metres. The house, enlarged and not to scale: the same walls as three plans pulled apart, roof space over rooms over subfloor, with ink on the places a source names to look at, tap or test for moisture, the paper inside the walls hatched and marked not inspected, and the band’s conditions around the walls. The house is not any particular home. To scale the house the band 30 m 0, the wall Ticks every 5 m. The band is the property within 30 metres of the building, as Queensland’s building regulator (QBCC) describes the standard’s inspection. LOOKa visual inspection TAPnon-marking sounding of elements MOISTUREthe moisture content of materials garden beds and mulch against the wall materials stacked against the wall paving that sends water towards the house trees or bush near the building The house, enlarged · not to scale ROOF SPACE roof timbers ROOMS skirting boards, architraves, cornices, the wet rooms SUBFLOOR piers or stumps, ant caps, the slab edge inside the walls: not inspected an open door or window Who may inspect, by stateWho may inspect in QueenslandQLDWho may inspect in New South WalesNSWWho may inspect in the ACTACTWho may inspect in VictoriaVICWho may inspect in Western AustraliaWA What the inspection checks 1 What it cannot see 2 How far it reaches 3 Who may inspect, by state 4 Drywood termites and the roof space 5
The band and the small house in it are to scale; the enlarged house is not, and is no particular home. The 30 metres and the three ways of reading are the QBCC’s account of AS 4349.3.

LOOK visual. TAP non-marking sounding. MOISTURE content of materials. QBCC’s words for the standard.

The house, enlarged

Roof space roof timbers inside the timber: not inspected Rooms skirting boards, architraves, cornices, the wet rooms inside the walls: not inspected Subfloor piers or stumps and ant caps, the slab edge on a slab floor, termites are more likely to go undetected
Who may inspect, by state QLDNSWACTVICWA

The band, 0 to 30 m

0 m, against the wall Garden beds and mulch built up against the wall. Materials stacked against the wall. 30 m, the band’s edge (QBCC) The surrounding property within 30 metres of the building, in QBCC’s account of the standard. Near the building, no stated distance Paving that sends water towards the house. Trees or bush near the building.

What counts as a timber pest

The list is short and exact, and it decides what a pre-purchase timber pest inspection is looking for. Mould is not a timber pest in this sense, and neither is a drywood termite.

The Australian Government’s business licence service describes the same standard on its ACT page.

It sets out the minimum a visual inspection and a report on timber pest activity must meet, and it applies to every class of building in the Building Code of Australia.

A report written to that standard is still a serious document. It is visual, it is non-invasive, and it reaches 30 metres from the building in the QBCC’s account. The definition simply fixes what counts as a timber pest.

What Queensland says about drywood termites

Queensland’s guide to subterranean termites names roof timbers, particularly softwood, among the places to look.

Business Queensland’s pages on West Indian drywood termite describe a pest that is hard to find: it establishes colonies in concealed parts of houses and buildings.

It also explains how the pest gets in. Drywood termites do not need contact with the ground and can start a colony anywhere in a building, and can enter through an open door or window.

That is why the same page says inspections for it need to be thorough and should always include the roof and the void space.

The signs are specific. Frass, the termites’ droppings, often turns up on windowsills, on bedclothes and on the floor.

Business Queensland even tells owners that damage may show itself under a gentle probe with a small screwdriver or a similar tool.

For the professional end of the job, the same pages describe thermal imaging: infrared cameras can pick up the heat signatures of drywood termites huddled together as they feed.

When a drywood termite is the worry

Queensland’s advice is a second job: knowing how drywood termites behave, and having regular building inspections for them.

Where a technician is involved, the same department says to ask for evidence of their pest control licence, which under the Medicines and Poisons Act 2019 needs endorsements for timber pests and fumigation, with the site environment specified.

For suspected West Indian drywood termite, the direct route is a call to an experienced pest management technician, who may help identify it and give advice on treatment options.

Queensland’s agriculture department: detecting and identifying West Indian drywood termite and treatment and control are its own pages.