Understanding Your Inspection Report: Key Terms Explained

Why Reports Read the Way They Do

Inspection reports follow NZS Building Inspection Standards, which means specific terminology and a consistent structure — useful for banks and insurers, but not always obvious to a first-time reader. Here's a plain-English guide to the terms you'll see most.

Severity Ratings

Every finding is graded so you can quickly gauge how much attention it needs:

• Minor / Maintenance — general wear and tear, not urgent, but worth budgeting for over time
• Moderate — should be addressed in the near term to prevent it becoming a bigger issue
• Major / Significant — affects safety, structure, or weathertightness, and typically warrants further investigation or negotiation before you proceed

Common Technical Terms

Moisture reading refers to a non-invasive meter reading taken at a specific point on a wall or floor — elevated readings can indicate an active leak or trapped moisture, but don't always mean visible damage exists yet.

Weathertightness describes a building's ability to keep water out of its structure — this is different from waterproofing, which refers to surfaces like showers and decks.

Subfloor is the space beneath the ground floor of the house; bearers and joists are the timber members that support the floor within that space.

LBP stands for Licensed Building Practitioner — the qualification our inspectors hold, registered under the Building Act.

What to Do With the Findings

Not every finding needs immediate action. We recommend reading the report alongside the severity ratings, then talking to us directly about anything you're unsure of — a quick phone call often clears up more than another page of text. If a finding could affect your purchase decision or price negotiation, we're happy to talk it through before you go unconditional.