Termite inspections for existing homes and strata buildings: what they find, and what they can't

Termites do their damage out of sight. They travel through soil, enter through gaps you cannot see, and eat timber from the inside out, leaving a thin outer skin that looks perfectly sound. By the time a skirting board crumbles or a door frame sags, the activity has often been there for months. A barrier installed when the house was built is only part of the answer. In an existing building, regular inspection is what catches activity while it is still a pest problem and not yet a structural one.

This article covers what a termite inspection involves under the Australian Standards, how often to have one, its limits, the signs worth knowing, and what to do if you find termites. For how protection is designed into new houses, see our sister post on termite management in new homes.

The standards behind the inspection

Two Australian Standards shape termite inspections of existing buildings:

• AS 3660.2, Termite management – In and around existing buildings and structures. This covers managing termite risk in buildings that are already built, including inspection, treatment and reporting. The current edition is AS 3660.2:2017.
• AS 4349.3, Inspection of buildings – Timber pest inspections. This sets minimum requirements for a non-invasive inspection of a building for timber pest activity and the report that goes with it. It covers subterranean termites, borers and wood decay, and is the standard used for pre-purchase timber pest inspections.

On frequency, AS 3660.2 recommends that regular termite inspections be carried out at intervals of not more than 12 months, according to the industry association AEPMA's notes on the 2017 edition and inspection guidance from pest managers. In higher-risk situations, such as bushland settings, a history of activity or a building with known construction weaknesses, more frequent inspection is commonly recommended. Annual inspections are generally not a legal requirement for a house, but many termite management systems and product warranties depend on them being done.

Who can do the work in NSW

Pesticide use for pest control in NSW is regulated by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) under the Pesticides Act 1999. According to the EPA, using pesticides to prevent, control or eradicate termites and other timber pests now needs a timber pest management technician licence, which requires extra nationally recognised training in inspecting for and controlling timber pests on top of the general pest management licence.

Before engaging anyone, ask for their licence number and check it on the EPA's public register, and ask what standard their inspection and report will follow. The EPA also publishes guidance on engaging a pest management technician.

What an inspection covers, and its limits

A standard timber pest inspection is visual and non-invasive. The inspector looks at the accessible parts of the building and the site: the interior, the roof space, the subfloor, the exterior and the grounds, including fences, trees, stumps and garden beds. They tap and probe timbers where they can, and many use tools such as moisture meters, thermal imaging cameras and motion or sound detection devices to find likely activity without opening anything up.

Those tools help, but they have limits that are worth understanding:

• It only covers what can be accessed. Areas behind wall linings, under fixed floor coverings, inside cavities, under stored goods or behind built-in furniture cannot be inspected visually. A good report lists exactly what was not accessible and why.
• It is a snapshot. An inspection reports on what was found on that day. Activity can begin the following week.
• Tools suggest, they do not confirm. A thermal or moisture reading is a reason to look closer, not proof of termites or proof of their absence.
• Invasive inspection is a separate step. If the report recommends it, cutting or drilling to confirm activity is something you agree to in advance.

Read the report's list of limitations and inaccessible areas as carefully as its findings. That is where the risk the inspection could not rule out is described.

Signs worth knowing

Between inspections, owners and building managers are the ones most likely to notice early signs:

• Mud leads or tubes on slab edges, piers, walls or fence posts. Subterranean termites build these to travel between soil and timber while staying protected from light and air.
• Hollow-sounding or soft timber, such as skirtings, architraves or door frames that sound dull when tapped or dent easily.
• Blistered or bubbling paint, or wallpaper that looks rippled, sometimes mistaken for a moisture problem.
• Doors and windows that start to stick or frames that distort for no obvious reason.
• Dust-like frass or mud packing in cracks and joints.
• Swarming winged termites, often on warm, humid evenings, and discarded wings around windows and lights.

Moisture is a strong attractant. Leaking pipes, a failed shower, blocked gutters, poor subfloor ventilation and garden beds built up against the walls all raise the risk. Our post on damp patches and musty smells covers the moisture side, and the two problems are often found together.

If you find termites

The most important rule is the one that feels least natural: do not disturb them.

• Do not break open the mud leads or damaged timber, and do not spray them with surface insecticide. Disturbed termites typically abandon that feeding site and continue working somewhere else in the building, out of sight, which makes them harder to treat.
• Call a licensed timber pest manager to identify the species, find the extent of the activity and recommend a treatment under AS 3660.2.
• Then have the damage assessed. Once the activity is controlled, a builder, and an engineer where load-bearing timber is affected, should assess what needs repair or replacement. Treatment stops further damage. It does not restore timber that has already been eaten.
• Fix the conditions that invited them. Leaks, ventilation problems and soil or landscaping that bridges the slab edge or barrier need to be dealt with, or the problem tends to return. Our sister post on how renovations and landscaping breach termite barriers explains the common culprits.

Strata buildings

In a strata scheme, the owners corporation is generally responsible for maintaining and repairing common property, which usually includes the structure, external walls, the subfloor and the grounds. Termite activity can easily cross between common property and individual lots, so building-wide management works better than lot-by-lot responses:

• Include termite inspection in the building's regular maintenance schedule, with a written report each time.
• Keep the reports, treatment records and any barrier documentation on the building's file, so the history survives changes of committee and strata manager.
• Make sure owners know to report signs promptly, and not to treat activity themselves.
• Check that landscaping, paving and owners' works do not bridge the building's termite barriers.

Responsibility can depend on the strata plan, by-laws and where the damage is, so get advice on specific cases. Our post on maintenance schedules explains how inspections like this fit into planned maintenance.

Buying a property

A pre-purchase timber pest inspection to AS 4349.3 is worth having before you commit to buying a house or townhouse, alongside a building inspection. It tells you whether there is evidence of current or past activity, damage, and conditions that make termite attack more likely. A finding of previous damage is not automatically a reason to walk away, but it is a reason to find out whether it was treated, whether the barrier was restored, and whether the damage was properly repaired.

Questions to ask your inspector

1. What is your timber pest licence number, and what insurance do you hold?
2. Which standard will the inspection and report follow?
3. Which parts of the building and site will you inspect, and which will be inaccessible?
4. Which detection tools will you use, and how do you confirm what they suggest?
5. What do you recommend for inspection frequency at this property, and why?
6. If you find activity, what treatment would you recommend, and how will it be monitored?

How we help

We are builders, not pest managers, and we work alongside licensed timber pest technicians rather than in place of them. Where we come in is the building side: repairing termite damage properly once activity is controlled, fixing the leaks, ventilation and drainage problems that attract termites, and making sure our own work, and anyone else's, does not bridge a termite barrier. For strata buildings, we can build inspection into the maintenance schedule and keep the records on file.

If you have found signs of termites, or want termite inspection built into a maintenance plan, get in touch.

Sources

• AS 4349.3:2010 Inspection of buildings – Timber pest inspections, Standards Australia (via Accuris)
• AS 3660.2:2017 Termite management – In and around existing buildings and structures, Standards Australia (via Accuris)
• Notes on updates to AS 3660.2-2017, Australian Environmental Pest Managers Association
• Pest management technicians, fumigators and training permits, NSW Environment Protection Authority
• Engaging a pest management technician, NSW Environment Protection Authority

This article is general information, not pest management or legal advice. Treatment and inspection requirements depend on the building, the site and any existing termite management system, so get advice from a licensed timber pest manager, and on strata responsibilities, from your strata manager or a strata lawyer. Full website disclaimer