Building and Pre-Purchase Inspection SWMS

Suits building inspectors and pre-purchase inspection businesses who inspect houses, units and commercial buildings for defects before purchase or handover. It follows the job from planning and meeting the occupants and dogs through ladders, the roof surface, the roof space, the subfloor, interior meters and thermal imaging, suspected asbestos in older buildings and working alone. Timber pest inspections and agents’ open homes need their own documents.

A pre-purchase inspection of an existing building is not construction work, so no item is pre-ticked and a SWMS is required by law only for high risk construction work (WHS Regulation s 299). A stage or handover inspection on a site where building work is still under way is work in connection with that construction (s 289(1)): for those jobs tick the reg 291 items that apply, such as a fall of more than 2 metres or work in an area where powered mobile plant moves. Otherwise this document works as a written safe work procedure and task risk assessment that you tailor to your inspections.

New to SWMS? Read What Is A Safe Work Method Statement?

What Is Covered In Our Building and Pre-Purchase Inspection SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Plan the inspection and prepare for the property” to “Working alone, finishing the inspection and leaving the property”. The hazards and controls include:

• Falls from ladders and roof edges
• Falling through fragile roofs and ceilings
• Electric shock in roof spaces
• Roof space and subfloor confined space rules
• Heat stress in hot roof spaces
• Snakes, rodents and wasps
• Suspected asbestos in older buildings
• Dog attacks and aggressive occupants
• Working alone and check-in
• Mould, dust and damp air
• Probing walls with moisture meter pins

High Risk Construction Work

None of the high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are pre-ticked, because this job is not high risk construction work by itself. Tick any that apply on your site.

Licences, Training and Competency

• Inspector trained and experienced in inspecting the type of building and in the business’s inspection method, and trained in the hazards of roofs, roof spaces, subfloors, ladders and working alone (WHS Regulation s 39)
• General construction induction training card (white card) for a stage or handover inspection on a site where building work is still under way, because that inspection is work carried out in connection with the construction (WHS Regulation ss 289(1) and 317); a pre-purchase inspection of an existing building is not construction work
• Workers whom the business reasonably believes may be involved in asbestos removal work or asbestos-related work are trained in the identification and safe handling of, and suitable control measures for, asbestos and asbestos-containing material, and a training record is kept (WHS Regulation s 445)
• Competent person for the written risk assessment for any confined space (WHS Regulation s 66); the person who conducts a roof space risk assessment is trained in doing it, as this SWMS’s own requirement (Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 s 33)
• No high risk work licence class in Schedule 3 of the WHS Regulation covers this work
• First aid equipment and facilities, and the person appointed as the job’s first aider (WHS Regulation s 42); an inspector working alone carries a first aid kit

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): roof space work, ss 31 to 36

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (16 A4 landscape pages). Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 10 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: safety boots with a non-slip sole; long-sleeve shirt, long trousers and gloves for roof spaces and subfloors; disposable coveralls for roof spaces and subfloors; safety glasses
• Emergency arrangements for: fall or ceiling fall-through, snake bite and heat illness in a roof space
• Plus the parts every Work Safety QLD SWMS shares, from the s 291 checklist to the worker sign-on sheet (see the layout in our free SWMS template)

Adjust it for your site, plant and crew, and talk it through with your workers before work starts. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading this SWMS.

Checked against the Queensland laws and codes of practice listed above. Last reviewed November 2026.