More than half of Victorian contracts arrive with the building inspection condition left blank

The standard Victorian contract lets a buyer opt in to a building and pest inspection condition. In 798 of the 1,410 contracts we reviewed, the opt-in was blank. Like a blank finance clause, that means the protection doesn't apply.

You book the building inspector.

You pay for the report.

You read it on the train home.

It finds something. Maybe it's minor. Maybe it's the stumps.

Whether that report gives you a way out of the contract comes down to one small section in the particulars of sale.

In 798 of the 1,410 Victorian contracts we reviewed, that section was blank. That's 57%.

Victoria's standard general conditions include a building and pest inspection condition. It isn't switched on by default. The buyer opts in, usually by ticking a box in the contract particulars.

When it applies, the buyer has a set window after signing to have the property inspected. If the inspection finds a major problem of the kind the condition describes, the buyer can end the contract by giving notice within that window.

When the opt-in is blank, none of that applies.

The inspection report is still useful. It just isn't a way out.

It works the same way as the finance clause.

Article 2 found three in four contracts arrived with the standard finance conditions available to opt in, and blank. The building and pest condition follows the same pattern, for the same reason. The contract is prepared by the seller's side. Conditions that protect the buyer are there to be asked for.

A blank box doesn't announce itself. It reads like "not applicable".

Share of 1,410 Victorian contracts with a published Prepared review, 1 February to 31 August 2026. Indented rows show the three main templates and don't sum exactly to 798, because of smaller template variants and contracts reviewed on more than one version.

The special conditions that change the rules

What to do

If you're buying by private sale, you may have a short cooling-off period. It costs you a penalty to use, it doesn't apply to auctions, and it doesn't apply within three clear business days before or after a publicly advertised auction.

It's a safety net for a change of heart. It isn't a substitute for an inspection condition.

A building inspection tells you what's wrong with a house. A building inspection condition decides whether you can still walk away once you know.

They're two different things. Plenty of buyers pay for the first and assume they have the second.

Send us your contract.

A Prepared lawyer will review your contract the same day, for free, including whether the building and pest condition applies and what any special conditions change.