Yes, for most units it is worth booking one. Buying a strata lot means you own your unit and share ownership of the building around it, so termite damage in a shared wall, a garden bed or a garage can become your cost through strata levies even if your own rooms look clean. The NSW Government's guide to buying a strata property tells buyers to get a strata report and a building inspection, and notes you can also ask for a pest inspection. A pest inspection is the part that looks for termites, borers and timber decay before you sign.
Is a pest inspection worth it for a unit?
A unit has less timber than a house, but it is rarely timber free. Door frames, skirting boards, kitchen cupboards, built in wardrobes, timber floors and roof framing in older walk up blocks are all food for subterranean termites. Termites travel from the soil, so they reach a unit through the same gaps they use in a house: cracks in the slab, service pipes, expansion joints and garden beds built up against the walls.
The risk is also harder to see. Termites work inside a wall cavity or behind a cupboard kickboard, and a lining can look sound at an open home while the timber behind it is hollow.
What is lot property and what is common property?
This matters because it decides who pays. Under NSW strata law, owners repair and maintain what sits inside their lot, and the owners corporation repairs and maintains common property. The NSW Government's strata repairs and maintenance page lists internal walls, carpet, internal painting and fixtures as typical owner items, and roofs, pipes, cables, external walls, driveways and gardens as typical common property.
So a termite nest found in the timber of your kitchen joinery is usually your problem. A nest in a shared wall, the roof framing or the landscaped garden along the building is usually the owners corporation's problem, which means it is paid for by every owner through levies, including you once you buy. The exact line changes from scheme to scheme, so the strata plan and by-laws decide it, not a general rule.
Which units carry more termite risk?
Ground floor units, townhouses and villas sit closest to the soil, so they carry the most exposure. Upper floor units in a concrete building are less likely to be reached, though termites can still travel up through service ducts and wall cavities in some buildings.
Look closely at a ground floor unit with a courtyard. Timber decking, planter boxes, edging, stored timber and garden beds raised above the slab edge all give termites a hidden path into the building. Miranda has apartment blocks along the Kingsway, and a buyer looking at a ground floor unit there with a courtyard should book a property pest inspection in Miranda before the cooling off period ends.
Townhouses and villas often have their own small yard, a garage at ground level and timber stairs, which puts them closer to a house in risk than to an apartment. A villa in Engadine, a suburb with Royal National Park on one side and Heathcote National Park on the other, sits close to bushland where termites live naturally, so a pre-purchase pest inspection in Engadine should check the garage, the stairs and every garden bed against the walls.
Newer buildings are not exempt. A newer unit near South Village, on land around the old Kirrawee brick pit, still has timber doors, joinery and landscaping, so a property pest inspection in Kirrawee is still worth booking before you exchange.
What should you read in the strata records?
The pest inspection tells you what the building looks like on the day. The strata records tell you what has already happened. The NSW Government says a strata report can show building defects and planned works, existing or pending legal matters, and meeting notes that show how the scheme is run. A section 184 certificate from the owners corporation adds the levies, any outstanding levies on the lot and the proposals for funding the 10 year capital works plan.
When you or your strata searcher go through the records, look for:
- Any mention of termites, white ants, timber pest treatment or a termite management system.
- Repairs to rotted or damaged timber in common property, such as stairs, fascias, pergolas or garage doors.
- Ongoing water leaks, damp walls or blocked drainage, since damp timber draws termites.
- Special levies raised for pest work or structural repairs.
- Whether the owners corporation books regular termite inspections for the whole building.
What can an inspector not reach in a unit block?
A pre-purchase inspection on a strata lot covers what can be safely and legally accessed. The inspector can go through the unit itself and normally the common property close to it, but other owners' units, locked plant rooms, roof spaces with no safe access and the inside of wall cavities cannot be opened up on the day. The report will list these areas as not inspected.
Ask before booking what common property the inspection will include, and read the scope section of the report. A ground floor unit in Woolooware, where much of the land was once low lying mud flats and salt marsh, may have damp subfloor areas and garden beds owned by the scheme, so a timber pest inspection in Woolooware should note any wet ground near the building even where it cannot reach under it.
If termites or damage do turn up, do not disturb the activity. Breaking mud leads or spraying a surface spray can send termites elsewhere in the building and makes a later treatment harder to plan. Leave it for the technician and your conveyancer to deal with.
Before you book
Have these details ready when you call, so the inspection fits the unit:
- The address, unit number and whether it is ground floor, upper floor, a townhouse or a villa.
- Whether there is a courtyard, garage or private garden.
- The date your cooling off period or exchange deadline ends.
- Any strata report or section 184 certificate you already have.
Send those details when you contact our team for pre-purchase pest inspections in the Sutherland Shire so we can plan the inspection around your deadline.