What is a 137b Report?

When a vendor sells a house they have to get a conveyancer to create a section 32, as part of this process the vendor will be asked if they have undertaken any building works in the last 7 years.  If they have, they will be asked to complete an owner builder report, this is called a 137b report because it is taken from section 137b of the Building Act.

An owner builder report must be undertaken by one of only 3 people (1) A registered architect (2) Building Surveyor/Inspector (3) Registered engineer.  All these people have one thing in common, none of them have ever likely built anything themselves.

Their inspection is generally surface level, and they typically will not enter a sub floor or a roof space, some do but the vast majority simply ask the vendor for a list of what was done, copy and paste into a report then add a few photos and leave it at that.

Works over $10,000 are required to be done by a registered builder with a formal contract

Works over $16,000 should be done by a registered builder with a contract as well as be accompanied by a home warranty insurance policy too, but rarely do we ever see a relevant policy attached to a section 32 unless it is done as part of a building permit.