Nitpik — Sample report
Building defects report Melbourne.
Designer defect inspections, professionally picky.
A defects report is only useful if your builder can act on it. Here is how a Nitpik report is laid out, page by page, and why each part is there.
The cover sheet
The first page records the property, the inspection date and time, the light conditions and the standard used. It also gives a count of items by room, so you and your builder can see the size of the job at a glance before reading a single entry.
Room-by-room summary
Items are grouped in the order you would walk the home. A supervisor can hand the page for one room to the painter, another to the tiler, without anyone hunting through a long list.
A photographed entry
#047 · Bed 2 · East wall
Paint roller texture visible under raking light across ~800mm section.
Cited: Guide to Standards and Tolerances 2026 — Cl. 16.2 Surface finish of paintwork.
Every entry has a number, a location, a plain-English description, a photograph and the clause it fails. That combination is what turns an opinion into an item your builder needs to address.
At re-check: Rectified or Outstanding
If you book a re-check after your builder has done the work, we return to the same items in the same order and mark each one Rectified or Outstanding, with a fresh photo where it matters. You get a short close-out document rather than a second long report.
Open the full sample report (PDF)Read how we apply the Guide to Standards and Tolerances 2026, or book a handover inspection or new home inspection.
Common questions
What's included in the defects report?
Every defect is photographed, located by room, described in plain English and cited to the relevant clause and tolerance in the Guide to Standards and Tolerances 2026. You get the PDF the same day. Re-check visits after rectification are available on request, quoted individually.
Is a re-check included?
Re-check visits after rectification are available on request, quoted individually. On a re-check, each original item is marked Rectified or Outstanding.
How are defects judged?
Most finish defects are judged from the Guide's normal viewing position: 1.5 m or greater for walls, ceilings and floors; 600 mm for appliances and fixtures; 3 m for glass — with the surface lit by non-critical (diffuse, non-glancing) light.
What standard do you use?
The Guide to Standards and Tolerances 2026, published by the Building and Plumbing Commission (Victoria). Your contract and the law take precedence; the Guide sets out the tolerances builders and inspectors work to.
Get a report like this for your home
$450 single-storey · $750 double-storey. Every defect photographed and cited to the Guide to Standards and Tolerances 2026, with your PDF report the same day. Servicing Melbourne and Victoria.
Nitpik inspects cosmetic finish only. We are not structural engineers, building surveyors (RBS), or pest and termite inspectors, and we don't do pre-purchase building and pest reports on existing homes. This page is general information, not legal advice. Your contract and the law take precedence over the Guide.