Building Inspections for Conveyancers and Small Law Firms, Melbourne North-East
Conveyancers refer a client to Melba Building Inspections by sending three things: the property address, the client's name and mobile, and the date the report is needed by. Nathan rings the client, sorts access with the agent, and emails the report straight back to them. Most inspections across Melbourne's north-east can be booked within one to two business days, and a morning inspection is usually reported the same day.
The reason turnaround matters is the calendar you already work to. A private sale gives your client three clear business days to cool off. A special condition gives them whatever date is written into it. An auction gives them nothing at all. If the inspection lands after those dates, it is decoration.
Melba is run by Nathan Maries. Twenty-three years in construction, ten of them running his own building company on renovations, extensions and fit-outs, and nine years as a project manager. Your client gets his mobile, not a call centre and not a franchisee.
How referring a client works
Email or ring 1300 489 150 with the address, your client's name and mobile, and the date the report is needed by. That is the whole referral.
- Nathan rings your client the same day to confirm timing and ask what they are actually worried about.
- He deals with the agent directly for keys and access, so your client is not chasing anyone.
- The report is emailed to your client. You are copied only if they ask for it. He does not send their report to you off his own bat.
- If something significant turns up, your client gets a phone call before the report arrives, so they are not reading it cold.
You are just as welcome to hand out a number and stay out of the middle. Plenty of conveyancers prefer that, and it works fine.
Working to the dates that actually bind
Cooling off on a private sale is three clear business days from the day the contract is signed. The day of signing is not counted, and weekends and Victorian public holidays are excluded. Pulling out costs 0.2% of the purchase price or $100, whichever is greater. At auction there is no cooling off at all, on the day or in the three clear business days either side, which is why an auction inspection has to happen before your client raises their hand.
| Your client's situation | The deadline | When we can usually inspect | When the report lands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private sale, cooling off | 3 clear business days from signing | 1 to 2 business days from your call | Same day for a morning inspection, next business day otherwise |
| Subject to building inspection special condition | The date written into the condition | Booked to hit the date, priority if it is inside a week | Same day or next business day |
| Auction coming up | No cooling off on auction day or 3 clear business days either side | Auction-Ready Express, usually inside 48 hours | In writing, before bidding |
| New build, staged payments | Each stage before the progress claim is paid | Booked around the builder's schedule | Same day or next business day |
| Post-settlement defect or dispute | Whatever the other side has set | Normal booking run | Defect report with photographs |
What comes back, and who it is for
A PDF with photographs, prepared with reference to AS 4349.1, the Australian Standard for pre-purchase property inspections. Where timber pest work is included it references AS 4349.3.
The front of the report separates structural items from maintenance items, because that is the split your client will ring you about. Nathan describes what he found and what it means for the building. He does not tell your client whether it meets a contractual threshold, or what to do about the contract. That is your call and he will not step into it.
He also takes your call. If you need to understand what a photograph is showing before you advise, ring 1300 489 150 and you are speaking to the bloke who was standing there.
One thing said plainly, because you will ask. Nathan is not currently a registered builder. Registration is in progress. If a matter needs a registered building surveyor or another registered practitioner, he will tell you up front rather than stretch his scope to fit the job.
No referral fees, in either direction
Melba pays no referral fee, no kickback and no commission to conveyancers or law firms, and does not ask for one. There is nothing for you to disclose under the conveyancer conduct rules, because there is nothing to disclose.
It runs the same way at the other end. The report is commissioned by your client and addressed to your client. It is not a vendor's report reissued with a new name on the front, and the selling agent has no say in what goes into it. Consumer Affairs Victoria tells buyers to be wary of inspection reports handed out by an agent or a seller and to get their own, and that advice is sound.
What the north-east actually throws up
This is not one housing market and it does not fail in one way.
- Greensborough, Watsonia, Macleod, Rosanna. Heavy on 1950s to 1970s brick veneer, often with the original open fireplace, timber windows, and a subfloor nobody has been under in decades. Asbestos cement products turn up regularly in anything built before the late 1980s.
- Eltham, Eltham North, Diamond Creek. Mud brick and earth-built houses are genuinely common here, following Alistair Knox and the builders who came after him from the late 1940s. They do not behave like brick veneer. Wall base erosion, render failure and rot at posts and lintels are what matters, and a generalist can walk past all three.
- Sloping bush blocks through Nillumbik. Retaining walls, cut and fill, and surface water do more damage here than anywhere else on the patch. Soils across the shire erode readily on slopes and in drainage lines.
- Reactive clay, everywhere. Seasonal ground movement shows up as cracked cornices, sticking doors, stepped cracking through brickwork and dropped stumps. Separating seasonal movement from real structural failure is the most common question we get, and it is usually the one that decides whether your client walks.
You are already reading the planning certificate in the Section 32. A Bushfire Management Overlay, a Significant Landscape Overlay, or land liable to flooding along Diamond Creek tells you the constraint exists. The inspection tells you what that constraint has done to the building, and whether alterations look like they went through a permit or went through quietly.
If you act on retirement village contracts
This is where Melba differs from a general inspection outfit. Nathan spent six years delivering construction projects inside occupied retirement villages, across more than 20 Melbourne villages for Keyton and Lendlease, around six for Stockland and Levande, and two for Aveo. He has worked in these buildings while residents were living in them.
It matters more now than it did two years ago. Victoria's Retirement Villages Amendment Act 2025 reforms commenced on 1 May 2026, and mandatory standard-form contracts start on 1 September 2026. Your client is signing into an arrangement where condition at entry and condition at exit both carry money. An entry condition report at $295 is a cheap piece of evidence to have sitting on file three years later.
Prices your client will be quoted
Fixed prices, inc. GST, across Greensborough, Eltham, Diamond Creek, Ivanhoe, Watsonia, Montmorency, Doreen, Bundoora, Heidelberg, Rosanna, Macleod and Hurstbridge.
Electrical, plumbing and mechanical inspections are arranged through licensed partners. Nathan does not carry out that work himself, licensed tradespeople do.
| Service | Price (inc. GST) | When you would refer it |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-purchase building inspection | $595 | Standard private sale inside the cooling-off period |
| Pre-purchase building and timber pest | $650 | Older stock, weatherboard, anything with subfloor timber |
| Auction-Ready Express | $650 | Client bidding this weekend |
| Building stage inspections | $495 per stage, or $2,200 for five | Client building new and paying progress claims |
| Defect and insurance reports | from $450 | Post-settlement dispute or a claim needing evidence |
| Retirement village pre-purchase unit | $395 | Client buying into a village |
| Retirement village entry condition report | $295 | Before the resident moves in |
| Full village assessment | $595 | Family wanting the whole picture before signing |
| Owners' corporation condition report | By quote | Common property condition queries |
Common questions
How do I refer a client for a building inspection?
Send the property address, your client's name and mobile, and the date the report is needed by, either by email or on 1300 489 150. Nathan rings your client the same day, arranges access with the selling agent, and emails the report to your client once the inspection is done. You are copied in only if your client asks for it. There is no referral form and no account to set up.
How quickly can a report be turned around inside a cooling-off period?
Most inspections across Melbourne's north-east can be booked within one to two business days of your call, and a morning inspection is usually reported the same day. Cooling off on a private sale is three clear business days from signing, with the day of signing not counted and weekends and Victorian public holidays excluded. That normally leaves enough room. If it is tight, say so on the phone and the job gets priority.
Do you pay referral fees or commissions to conveyancers?
No. Melba pays no referral fee, kickback or commission to conveyancers or law firms, and does not ask for one in return. That means there is no referral arrangement for you to disclose to your client under the conveyancer conduct rules, and no conflict sitting behind the recommendation.
Can my client rely on the building report the selling agent hands out?
Consumer Affairs Victoria advises buyers to be wary of inspection reports offered by an agent or seller and to obtain their own. A vendor-commissioned report names the vendor or the inspection company as the client, so the inspector's duty runs to whoever ordered it. Most also carry wording telling other readers not to rely on them. Treat it as background and get your client their own.
Which standard are the reports prepared to?
Reports are prepared with reference to AS 4349.1, the Australian Standard for pre-purchase inspections of residential buildings. Timber pest work references AS 4349.3. Both are visual inspections of accessible areas, and the report states plainly what could not be accessed on the day, so you can see the limits before you advise on it.
Is Nathan a registered builder?
Not currently. Builder registration is in progress and the site will say so the day it changes. He has 23 years in construction, ran his own building company for ten years, and spent nine years as a project manager. If a matter needs a registered building surveyor or another registered practitioner, he will tell you up front rather than stretch the scope of an inspection to cover it.
Related
Book an inspection
Call and you will speak to Nathan, not a call centre. Same-day reports on most jobs.
Call 1300 489 150 Send the form