For Sydney Vendors & Purchasers — Wet-Area Work Flagged Before Settlement

The report said “no certification sighted”. Now the sale is waiting on a document nobody can produce.

A waterproofing certificate can only come from the licensed installer who did the work. Once the room is tiled and that trade has moved on, nobody can recreate it — not us, not a certifier, not another waterproofer. What you can put in front of the buyer, their solicitor or your agent is an independent record of what is actually there: what the documents establish, what can still be observed, and what cannot be verified without opening up. Priority turnaround where a settlement date applies.

Send the Inspection Report for a Fixed-Fee Quote or call Kevin on 0499 288 304 — fixed fee from $1,200 + GST, report within two business days

Three ways a flagged bathroom ends

Two of them cost considerably more than the third.

Pull up the tiling Expose the membrane and you have destroyed the finish in the room you are trying to sell, weeks out from settlement. In a live sale, essentially nobody does this.
Wear the adjustment Missing paperwork is leverage, and a price adjustment on a Sydney sale is rarely small. It is almost always a large multiple of what it costs to answer the question properly — and it is permanent, where the question is not.
Answer it with evidence An independent, dated record of what the documents establish, what can be observed at accessible points, and — stated plainly — what cannot be verified without opening up. It is the standard alternative where the certificate cannot exist, and it costs a fraction of either of the above.

The situations that bring people here

Same shape every time: a transaction is moving, someone has asked for paper about work hidden under tiles, and the paper does not exist.

The buyer’s inspector wrote “no certification sighted” A renovated bathroom or ensuite flagged in the pre-purchase report — and now it is a question you are expected to answer, on a clock.
The solicitor’s requisitions ask for compliance documents And the renovation predates your ownership, or the waterproofer has closed up shop, or the paperwork was never handed over in the first place.
You renovated years ago and the trade is long gone The work was done properly. There has never been a leak. The certificate simply does not exist any more, and no amount of looking will produce it.
You’re buying, and the vendor has nothing A renovated wet area with no records behind it. You would like to know what you are taking on before you exchange, not after.
You’re about to list and want to get ahead of it Far better to hold the evidence before a buyer’s inspector raises it than to scramble for it mid-negotiation, with the other side setting the pace.
The certificate exists — but excludes a room An ensuite or WC crossed off, an extension never covered, construction photos for some rooms and nothing for others.

The questions people actually ask

Can I get an independent waterproofing inspection before I buy?

Yes — and this is the more sensible time to do it. Before exchange you still have room to negotiate on what's found; after settlement the problem is entirely yours. A standard pre-purchase building inspection covers the whole property broadly and will usually note a renovated wet area without going further. An independent waterproofing inspection does the opposite: one narrow area, examined properly, by someone with no stake in the sale, the renovation or the repair.

How much does a waterproofing inspection cost in Sydney?

Ours is a fixed fee from $1,200 + GST for the pre-settlement report, quoted upfront once we've reviewed your documents, and it does not change on site. General building inspections that mention wet areas in passing cost considerably less, and for good reason — they are a different and much broader piece of work. What you are paying for here is depth on one question, an independent position, and a report you can hand to a solicitor.

Can waterproofing be certified after the tiles are on?

No — not honestly, by anyone. A certificate of installation can only come from the licensed installer who did the work. If that trade is unavailable, the document cannot be recreated, and you should be wary of anyone who offers to. What can be produced is an independent evidence report: what the records establish, what is observable at accessible points, and what remains unverifiable. That is the standard alternative, and it is what we do.

Will this satisfy my buyer’s solicitor?

It is not a certificate and we will not pretend otherwise — whether the other side accepts it is entirely their call, and any provider who guarantees that outcome is selling you something they cannot deliver. What we can say is that a dated, independent, factual record which states its own limits is a substantive answer to a requisition. It gives the other side something real to assess instead of an absence.

Settlement is close. How quickly can you move?

Report within two business days of inspection, and attendance usually within the week. Send the inspection report or the requisition first — we review it at no charge, because its exact wording determines what evidence will actually help. If your date is tight, say so when you write; deadlines are the reason most people call.

What if the other side wants more than a visual inspection?

The report sets out the options rather than leaving you stuck: limited targeted opening by your trades, which we document before, during and after — or a plumber-conducted wet test, which we observe and record. We do not conduct tests ourselves. That separation is precisely what keeps the record independent and worth having.

What does it cost?

Fixed fee, quoted after we review your documents — from $1,200 + GST for the records review, site inspection of the wet areas in question and the report. You will know the exact number before we attend, and it does not change on site.

Documents first — so the quote is real and the date holds

1

Send the report or requisition

The building inspection report, the solicitor’s requisition, any certificates, construction photos or plans — whatever exists. Reviewed before quoting, at no charge. Tell us your settlement date.

2

Fixed-fee quote

Scope, fee and timing in writing — including exactly what the report can and cannot do for your situation. No surprises, no upselling.

3

Site inspection

Every wet area in question — not only the one that was flagged — documented thoroughly: drains, junctions, falls, moisture indicators, subfloor where accessible. Usually about an hour on site.

4

Report within two business days

Room by room, records separated from observations, limitations stated plainly, and the next options set out if the other side wants more. Ready to forward to your solicitor or agent as it is.

Pre-Settlement Wet-Area Evidence Report

from $1,200 + GST
Fixed fee confirmed after document review — before we attend. Priority turnaround where a settlement date applies.
  • Review of the inspection report, requisitions, certificates, photos and plans
  • Site inspection of every wet area in question — not only the flagged room
  • Room-by-room evidence report — records and observations kept separate
  • What cannot be verified, stated plainly (that's what makes it credible)
  • Options for further verification if the buyer, solicitor or certifier wants more

If whoever asked comes back wanting something I could have captured on the day and didn't, I return and capture it at no charge. That's a promise about my work, not about their decision — whether the evidence is accepted is always theirs to make, and any report that told you otherwise would be worth less, not more.

Not a sale — council or a certifier asking? See the Existing Wet-Area Evidence Report. Renovating and not yet tiled? The Pre-Tile Inspection records it before it is covered, and costs considerably less.

A purchaser can apply for a Building Information Certificate in their own right — so can their solicitor or agent. Most people on either side of a sale don't know that.

Independent, bounded, honest

We have no stake in the work

We didn't do the waterproofing, we don't sell the repair, and we don't certify the work. Our only product is the independent record.

Records and observations, never blended

What a certificate claims and what we saw on site are kept strictly separate in the report — so the reader always knows which kind of evidence they're weighing.

Limitations in writing

Every report states what could not be verified and routes judgement to the parties whose call it is. That's precisely what makes it usable in front of a council, certifier or solicitor.

Tell us the situation

We'll reply within one business day — usually with a request for your documents, then a fixed-fee quote. Nothing is charged until a quote is accepted.

Prefer to talk it through first? Call Kevin on 0499 288 304