Quoting for building inspectors

Think of a fictional sole inspector, Brolga Building Inspections. Price list: pre-purchase building inspection, house up to four bedrooms $450 each; timber pest inspection booked with a building inspection $200 each; larger house $120 each; travel beyond 40 kilometres $90 each; same-day report $100 each; dilapidation report $550 per property; stage inspection during construction $380 each.

A buyer emails on a Tuesday morning asking for a building and timber pest inspection on a four-bedroom house before the end of the week. The inspector is on another job, so he forwards the email to his enquiry address and builds the quote in the car park. Quote this: building inspection x1, timber pest x1, travel x1, same-day report x1. The note says the price includes GST; the inspection is booked for Thursday morning with access through the agent; the report is emailed the same day; the roof space and subfloor are inspected where they can be reached safely; the inspection covers the house and garage, not the outbuildings or the pool. Total $840. The buyer accepts ten minutes later.

Quote Desk does not book the time or write the report. The accepted quote is the record of the price and of what the inspection covers, which is what matters if anyone asks later what was included.

A builder then asks for frame and handover stage inspections on a new house. One quote, stage inspection x2, with a note naming the two stages. Total $760, accepted once.