The term “home inspection” is actually misleading since the entire property is inspected which covers the house and everything else on that stand. The house inspection is limited to a visual inspection only. The privacy of the home owner is not invaded. Furniture is not moved around neither are cupboards emptied. Nevertheless, the home inspector looks closely at all visible areas and his trained eye will seldom miss something.  What is found during such an inspection is detailed in a written report, with some supporting photographs, and will detail problem areas and/or issues, what caused them, and how it can be resolved.

The inspector is trained and have the knowledge and experience to recognize defects and/or potential defects that could develop and will, in some cases, be pro-active in advising of what could be done to address such issues. However, the home inspector, though an expert and knowledgeable, it would be unfair to expect him to be an expert on everything that can be found in a house or on a property. There are numerous types of equipment, machinery, and installed appliances in houses and all such items have experts who have the required skills to attend to such items. The home inspector is well equipped to identify and recognized areas in a house where building regulations have been breached and where poor building practice was applied which, as stated before, must be visible since the inspection is only visible. Nothing is taken apart to inspect.

First of all, the report will only contain information of what was found during a visual, non- intrusive/non-invasive inspection.

Secondly, the report will be factual – of what was really found and from our knowledge and experience, what should be done about it.

Thirdly, where necessary some building regulations will be quoted to support what is said.

Lastly, the report will be detailed and should be easy to understand what caused the problem, or explaining problematic issues/areas, and how it should be addressed. The detail will be sufficient to allow the buyer to pass the information on to a contractor to provide a quotation for repairs.

The fee we charge for an inspection is usually based on each and every living area (room) of the house. The size of the room does not matter. However, we do not charge for a pantry, scullery, guest toilet, and a store room/s provided the store room/s is not the size of a bedroom for example. The fee includes an inspection of everything on that stand (erf) not just the house. If an incorrect count of all the living areas were provided by the buyer (regardless intentionally or unintentionally) and more living areas are found when the inspector arrives at the house, then we have the right to add such area/s to the fee and will raise an additional invoice which needs to be paid before the report is released. For example: the house has a study which was not mentioned OR, there is a TV lounge which was not mentioned OR, there is an entertainment area which was not mentioned etc. Kindly refer to “Inspection Terms and Conditions” at the bottom of each page of our website - Clause 2. Fees payable.

With respect to travelling, though we are a Gauteng based concern, we are willing to inspect houses in other provinces in which case a travelling fee will be added to the cost, the amount of which will be calculated according to the distance the inspector has to travel.

In short it is the following since much more can be said about this topic:

A latent defect in a building can prove to be a very costly item indeed to rectify.

A latent defect is a hidden defect which could not be uncovered during a visual inspection process.

A patent defect is visible during a visual inspection.

A construction defect is a condition resulting from flawed materials and/or poor building practice and/or poor workmanship and not always noticeable but will usually leave visual results, sometimes immediately, sometimes a few months later, and sometimes a few years later depending on the structure and the conditions.

According to law in the sale of a property, a latent defect is “a fault and/or failure in the property that could not have been discovered by a reasonably thorough visual inspection by a buyer or a home building inspector before or after the sale”.

As such, the law expects that buyers will protect themselves in the sales contract against defects they cannot possibly be expected to assess prior to purchase. The term "latent defect" is therefore often used as part of the guarantee clauses in a sales contract so that the buyer can recover damages from the seller if defects turn up in the property after the sale.

As a general rule, when people buy a house, the understanding is that they buy with an awareness of any existing defects or problems as a “perfect” house or a “house with nothing wrong” does not exist. Any maintenance or repairs are thereafter the responsibility of the buyer. This is based on the assumption that if the house had patent defects, the buyer had the opportunity to refuse the purchase. All of this changes with latent defects in which case the buyer had no way of knowing about the defect and it could not be discovered by a home building inspector unless costly destructive, unusual, or laborious testing techniques might have been needed to uncover and prove it.

Prospective purchasers should properly inspect immovable property they intend to purchase and the related municipal records. Appointing an expert to inspect the property may prove to be a very small price to pay to uncover/expose looming risks, particularly given the increased costs of immovable property and in construction today.  Alternatively, purchasers should insist on a term in the agreement that, despite the voetstoots clause, the building has all required statutory approval.

It has to be remembered that the voetstoots clause, with which most South Africans are familiar and which relates to buying a property “as is”, is not compulsory for buyers and can in fact be written out of an Agreement of Sale.

The voetstoots clause is commonly used as a defence by the seller should a defect on the property be discovered post-sale and the new owner then has to prove the defect was knowingly hidden. 

While there is nothing fundamentally flawed in the voetstoots clause, if accepted by the buyer, it does nonetheless place the onus on that buyer to ensure that the property is in good condition, to accept its condition and/or that all defects have been declared and a price agreed accordingly.

Though it is now mandatory for sellers and agents to complete a disclosure form where all known issues with the property is listed, it will be a wise decision to have an independent inspection of the property carried out who could discover additional items not known by the seller, issues that could be important for the buyer to make a final informed decision.

It would be imperative for a home buyer to make the Offer to Purchase "subject to a satisfactory inspection and report conducted by Home Inspection Gauteng". 

Notice regarding advice or inspections: The Property Practitioners Act,2019 (Act No 22 of 2019) on Page 70 Clause 8 states the following:

Both the owner as well as potential buyers of the property may wish to obtain professional advice and/or to undertake a professional inspection of the property. Under such circumstances adequate provisions must be contained in any agreement of sale to be concluded between the parties pertaining to the obtaining of any such professional advice and/or the conducting of required inspections and/or the disclosure of defects and/or the making of required warranties.

The Property Practitioners Act came into force on 1 February 2022. Section 63 of this important South African law make it legally enforceable that:

Every property seller must complete the mandatory Seller’s Condition Declaration – in terms of which the seller is required to declare all significant defects of which the seller is aware. An estate agent may not accept a mandate from a seller without obtaining from the seller the mandatory declaration.

The estate agent/seller must provide, in writing, to every prospective buyer a copy of the mandatory declaration. Each prospective buyer must confirm in writing that the mandatory declaration has been supplied by the seller.

Any subsequent Agreement of Sale must include a copy of the mandatory seller’s declaration, signed by the seller, the buyer and the estate agent. Although the mandatory declaration goes some way to improving consumer protection for home buyers, the weakness is that the seller is only required to declare the defects of which the seller is aware.

There are often latent defects in an older property of which the seller may legitimately not be aware. For that reason, we maintain that it is imperative for each and every home buyer to request that an inspection of the property be conducted. This could proof to be a very good decision later on.

A consumer is any person who buys anything, which includes services, in South Africa and is protected by law. These are excerpts of what the law says:

Consumer’s right to demand quality service

• (1) When a supplier undertakes to perform any services for or on behalf of a consumer, the consumer has a right to-
• The timely performance and completion of those services, and timely notice of any unavoidable delay in the performance of the services;
• The performance of the services in a manner and quality that persons are generally entitled to expect;
• The use, delivery or installation of goods that are free of defects and of a quality that persons are generally entitled to expect, if any such goods are required for performance of the services, and;
• The return of any property or the control over any property of the consumer in at least as good a condition as it was when the consumer made it available to the supplier for the purpose of performing such services, having regard to the circumstances of the supply, and any specific criteria or conditions agreed between the supplier and consumer before or during the performance of the services.
• If a supplier fails to performs a service to the standards contemplated in subsection (1), the consumer may require the supplier to either-
• Remedy any defect in the quality of the services performed or goods supplier; or
• Refund to the consumer a reasonable portion of the price paid for the services performed and goods supplied, having regard to the extent of the failure.

Consumer Protection Act 68 April 2008 Clause 54

 Consumer’s rights to safe, good quality goods

• (1) This section does not apply to goods bought at an auction, as contemplated in section 45. (section 45 deals with auctions)
• Except to the extend contemplated in subsection (6), every consumer has a right to receive goods that- (subsection (6) of section 45 deals with requirement to comply with by an auctioneer as prescribed by the minister)
• Are reasonably suitable for the purposes for which they are generally intended;
• Are of good quality, in good working order and free of any defects;
• Will be usable and durable for a reasonable period of time, having regard to the use to which they would normally be put and to all the surrounding circumstances of their supply; and
• Comply with any applicable standards as set under the Standards Act 1993 (Act no. 29 of 1993), or any other public regulation;
• In addition to the right set out in subsection (2)(a), if a consumer has specifically

 informed the supplier of the particular purposes for which the consumer wishes to acquire any goods, for the use to which the consumer intends to apply those goods, and the supplier-

• Ordinarily offer to supply such goods; or
• Acts in a manner consistent with being knowledgeable about the use of those goods

the consumer has a right to expect that the goods are reasonably suitable for the specific purpose that the consumer has indicated.

• In determining whether any satisfied the requirements of subsection (2) or (3) all of

the circumstances of the supply of those goods must be considered, including but not limited to-

• The manner in which, and the purposes for which, the goods were marketed, packaged and displayed, the use of any trade description or mark, any instructions for, or warnings with respect to the use of the goods;
• The range of things that might be reasonably anticipated to be done with or in relation to the goods; and
• The time when the goods were produced and supplied.
• For greater certainty in applying subsection (4)-
• It is irrelevant whether a product failure or defect was latent or patent, or whether it could have been detected by a consumer before taking delivery of the goods; and
• A product failure or defect may not be inferred in respect of particular goods solely on the grounds that better goods have subsequently become available from the same or any other producer or supplier;
• Subsection (2) (a) and (b) do not apply to a transaction of the consumer-
• Has been expressly informed that particular goods were offered in a specific condition; and
• Has expressly agreed to accept the goods in that condition, or knowingly acted in a manner consistent with accepting the goods in that condition.

Consumer Protection Act 68 April 2008 Clause 55