A building surveyor examining an exterior stone wall with a small inspection torch and moisture meter.

Your starting point

A house purchase brings legal, financial and physical checks together. Give each its own time and appoint independent help where needed.

A viewing cannot replace a professional assessment of material building concerns. Use the steps below to organise a decision, not to infer an official approval, a guaranteed price or a universal deadline.

Work through the decision

Building Surveys and Physical Inspections — a diagram of the key planning steps
Planning diagram. The same steps are described in the text below.
01

Define the inspection

Agree which systems, structures and accessible areas the professional will examine.

02

Ask about limits

Understand what cannot be inspected and whether further tests or specialists are needed.

03

Use the findings

Obtain repair scopes and quotes, and connect significant issues to your purchase decision and contract advice.

Adapt this to your circumstances

Keep citizenship, current residence, household needs and the location of the home separate in your notes. Ask the responsible authority, institution or qualified professional to confirm any requirement that affects your situation. A checklist used by another household may not apply to yours.

Sources and checks

Justice portal — Casa Pronta — an official starting point for this topic. The relevant page, its scope and effective date must be checked before a consequential decision.

No market prices, eligibility thresholds or legal deadlines have been invented for this guide. Dates in personal planning tools are suggestions or values you supply.

Make it practical

Open the Home Purchase Cost Calculator to keep the information you collect with your own assumptions, notes and next actions.

Open Home Purchase Cost Calculator

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