Rapid Building Inspections

Alan from Rapid Inspections (Qld) reported on our prospective new townhouse villa on Hope Island. As a practicing Building Certifier, I'm inclined to view pre-purchase inspections with some scepticism in terms of reporting limitations, exclusions and self evident access obstructions. However, Alan's report was insightful and, importantly he phoned… Read more

me to report a significant/major defect regarding water leakage into the floor slab. Without immediate action potential health consequences are likely so thanks Alan for the prompt call to notify the important defect.

Absolutely the worst experience I’ve ever had with a company. Avoid at all costs. They do not do what they are asked and the report was false on two levels and had to have another report done by reputable company to confirm

Absolutely fantastic. The inspection was completed and we received a phone call straight away. Ron was very honest and candid about what he found and disclosed information that helped us make a final and informed decision. Would absolutely recommend this service.

Great Inspector – Hello Rapid Building Inspections, I am passing on my Thanks for organising a building inspection at such late notice. The reply to my online enquiry quote was very fast and communication via telephone was great. Your inspector Ron Smulders was brilliant. He arrived on time, was very courteous and helpful. Giving plenty of advice when questioned… Read more

and was very knowledgeable about the entire process of the inspection. He helped make what could be an anxious situation, calming & enjoyable. The report was very detailed and the photos were well taken. I will be recommending your team. Thanks again

Thanks Great Job – The Hand over inspection was done over 2 hours the Inspector Eddy was great he took his time and arrived early Thanks RBI for helping me with this complicated inspection with short notice.

Rapid were booked a week before our open house and turned up on time. We were not told that the inspection included very wide photos of our house, rooms and outside. We werent given a chance to move our possession and rubbish out of the shots. As a result the photos were an embarrassment because of the timing. I phoned them back when we got the… Read more

report and asked if they could come back and do more pictures. They declined. I phoned them back to explain and ask again - they agreed but it would cost about $300. They said the inspector was about 15km away and would come again and it would include a new inspection. Less than two days out from our open house it was cancelled as they claimed it needed certification of any changes. So much stuff around - it depends on who you get at the call centre in Melbourne ..... we are in Strathpine.

Unprofessional and not recommended. Report had errors, was vague and of low quality. For example: - The report had many photos that were so underexposed that no useful details were visible. I was able to subsequently take better photos with my own phone of the same subfloor location during my own inspection. - Obvious questions about the… Read more

condition of the house were not answered, e.g., does the house have ceiling insulation? they could answer this basic question. Roof cavity photos were so underexposed you could not see any details. - The report's moisture measurements included photos of a moisture reader placed on bathroom tiles that do not correspond to any room present in the inspected house (the report had photos of old tiled bathroom surfaces that are definitely not present in any bathroom in the inspected house - I inspected the house three times). The inspector likely mixed up photos from a different inspection. - Comments were quite vague and not helpful. The inspector did not seem to remember any details from an inspection they conducted six days prior.

Full disclossure, Im a builder from out of state. My son engaged these guys to do a pre purchase inspection. The first report was not worth the paper written on. They were good enough to send out another inspector the following week however he didnt find the water eggress issues mentioned in the the first report but did find a few others that the first guy didnt pick up on. All in all an absolute waste of time and money.

Unreliable at critical stages. I used Rapid Building Inspections for multiple stage inspections (slab, frame, and lock-up) and was generally satisfied with the quality of the inspections themselves. However, there were several issues with reliability and coordination throughout the process. The lock-up stage had to be rescheduled multiple… Read more

times, largely due to a lack of alignment between the builder and inspector on what constituted “lock-up.” On at least one occasion, the inspector did not attend the scheduled appointment, which required further rescheduling.

By the time the inspection was eventually completed, the build had progressed significantly. As a result, several areas were obstructed, and parts of the inspection could not be fully assessed or clearly documented in photos.

The biggest issue came at the most critical stage — the final handover inspection. I initially engaged them with the intention of using their service for all stages and requested a quote accordingly. When it came time to book the final inspection, my email was not responded to. After following up by phone, I was advised they would not be available for approximately six weeks.

I understand and respect the reason given (the inspector being unavailable due to the birth of a child), however this lack of availability was not communicated in advance. Given how time-sensitive handover inspections are, this left me in a difficult position.

Additionally, the expected discount structure was not applied as anticipated, which added to the frustration.

Overall, while the inspections themselves were professional, the ongoing scheduling issues, lack of communication, and unavailability at the most critical stage mean I cannot rely on them for end-to-end service.

Unfortunately, the inspector made out the report to look like the property was in a really bad state, calling blind cords a major defect in the property, ffs! also alot of other issues that had nothing to do with the actual building of the property. The building is renovated, old but totally taken care of. they did get it right on two minor issues… Read more

but made the buyer pull out of the sale. very dissappointed and even contacted them with the concerns

They couldn't find any defects in my new building ( inspected multiple times) and money I paid was just wasted. I regret that I lost the money for such a poor service.I am glad that I arranged another private inspecter, who came with equipments and found lots of mistakes all over my same new house and some dangerous materials ( on roof) so quickly. Such a waste of money and time booking these guys Show details

I booked a pre purchase building inspection through RBI in Nov 2024 for a property which we did not ultimately purchase. In April 2025 I engaged RBI again for another pre-purchase inspection where I was charged 45% more for a similar inspection. There was no additional value to the inspection or report from this price increase. I queried this… Read more

price difference and they directed me to the inspector. When I contacted the inspector they referred me back to RBI. My query remains unresolved.

Rapid service. Great job. Friendly and quick and accurate. Thanks Benny from RBI

Unaccountable & Unreliable – Avoid at all cost...... I had a highly disappointing experience with Rapid Building Inspections. I initially booked a building and pest inspection two weeks in advance. Unfortunately, the inspection had to be rescheduled to the following week as the inspector fell ill. Understanding that unforeseen circumstances occur, I agreed to the new date.… Read more

However, on the rescheduled day, the inspector failed to show up without any notice, which left me in a precarious position considering the contract deadline was the very next day, December 24th.

Despite multiple attempts to contact the company for an explanation or a solution, responses were non-existent. I spent the entire morning until 13:00 trying to reach someone with no success. This lack of reliability and professionalism has not only caused significant inconvenience but also impacted my contractual obligations negatively.

Based on my experience, I cannot recommend Rapid Building Inspections. They demonstrated a lack of accountability and reliability, which are crucial in the building and pest inspection industry.

Poor Customer service – I would like to take time and write about the poor customer service provided by your service consultant Jo Unger. Who didn't acknowledge my email request to arrange an inspector for lock up stage but also didn't call back after leaving multiple messages by other consultants. Due to this act I missed out on our builder to start the plaster job.… Read more

Which will now start mid January 2025. If you don't have an inspector just acknowledge your client email earlier so that we can arrange someone else rather than ignoring customers emails and phone calls.

Do not use rapid building inspections – I wouldn’t recommend anyone auctioning their home to use rapid building inspections for a pest and building report. Furthermore, if you were considering using rapid building inspections for a new home report, I would choose someone else for the following reasons. Firstly, I was told by a customer service agent that my house wasn’t within the… Read more

Sydney basin, before I could finish telling the customer service agent what my postcode was she hung up. Customer service representatives are not equipped to give accurate information. They’ll schedule a date of appointment with you and move the appointment at 4 o’clock the day before they’re due to arrive. Reports long winded and confusing. The Inspectors conducting the reports will ask questions like, “has the house ever had termite activity”… to trick unsuspecting clients into admitting defects in the home, then adding it into the report without any evidence. The inspectors will make reference in the report to structural defects, where only minor defects should be noted. When you question the report and try to contact Brian Reynolds for clarification, he either refuses to respond, or does not receive messages and emails. What a waste of $$$. These reports are a joke.

If you love throwing money away go with these guys – Do not pass go do not hand over a few hundred dollars. But seriously I hate the saying you get what you pay for but in this case you really do. Don’t be like me and do some better research before you throw your money away on these people.

Hard sell and no follow up of complaints – Don't touch this mob. National organisation that subcontracts work to who ever is available at the time Hard sell at time of booking Our pre purchase inspection revealed "termites everywhere" - but no moisture or structural damage. 2 subsequent Pest inspections by vendor and myself revealed no termite activity at all. In addition the pest… Read more

inspection revealed some moisture ingress and minor damage that was not picked up in building inspection. The 2nd inspector concluded that Rapids inspector was not properly trained to use Termatrac equipment.

The Estate Agent involved thought Rapid's inspector was very unprofessional He was late for the appointment He left the lights on and the front door open when finished - after specifically being asked to lock up when he left He did not seem to know what he was doing – this comes from someone who observes this on a daily basis

The inaccurate Pest report led to great angst and stress on all the parties involved and almost led to the termination of our contract

I contacted Rapid Building Inspections 3 weeks ago asking for an explanation and refund. I'm still waiting for a reply

Inexperienced inspectors with money making business strategies – I had Rapid to carry out 'framing inspection' in Werribee. Given that the industry is full of cowboys, I did request a copy of sample report beforehand & I was provided a detailed report. So I agreed & paid the fee and the inspector by the name of "[Name Removed]" carried out inspection. I was basically given a bunch of photos in PDF saying "all… Read more

okay" - no regulation reference, no code or compliance reference whatsoever. So I challenged the credibility of the inspector and found that he subcontracted by Rapid and a random inexperienced moron carried out the inspection.

I've lodged a formal complaint to be reviewed and demanded for a second inspection but NOTHING! As expected, Rapid is a company that basically promote the building inspection and employ a bunch of 'failed inspectors' with their own ABNs. These lose end inspectors cannot find their own way, so they rely on Rapid.

Trust me, Rapid will charge you around $50 cheaper than others but IT'S NOT WORTH EVEN $10 to engage this money making idiots.

I ended up having a second inspector and he was well known and ex-builder with 3 decades of experience in construction. He gave me the report that I was looking for!

Stay away from Rapid

Worst experience with building inspector – Building inspector was really rude and literally didn’t wanted to answer any of my questions. I regret for choosing my building inspection from rapid building inspection. Not happy

Not qualified or retired builders – Inspector was lovely but I had a specific potential structural defect disclosed from the agent that needed attention - I spoke to the inspector prior and at no point did he say he wasnt qualified to check it. Receiving the report afterwards, there was no mention of my query anywhere in his report so I rang him directly. It was this conversation he… Read more

advised he wasnt qualified, he was only a visual inspector, not a builder. I had to pay for a 2nd opinion to come and re-do the building inspection.

Scammed out of my money – I paid them to do an inspection for me as we wanted to auction our home, when the inspector came out he asked me why I wanted the inspection and I told him, he then wrote up a report from a tiny bit of rust on our garden gate bolt to sagging ceilings, the report was filled with 95% petty items and recommendations to employ a plumber/air… Read more

conditioning specialist and a builder. We did this only to find that everything in his report was absolute rubbish (except for one or two minor items) after paying these other contractors we then had to pay another company to do the building inspection, this report was completely different. I do feel this may have been a personal attack against me as his report was petty and ridiculous and he would have known that I would not have been able to use that report to sell our home.

I have emailed them twice with photos and the findings from the other contractors and they will not reply to me.

Would not recommend this company as something is definitely not right with them!

Horrible building inspection-lacking in quality-waste of money – They delivered the report promptly within 24 hours but it was lacking in quality. A lot of their conclusion shifted the responsibility to a structural engineer. My brother in law is a structural engineer and he could see through the lack of quality. When I rang to make the appointment, I specifically asked for the slope in the floor to be… Read more

investigated. However this was missed and I was told the subfloor was not accessible. Contacted them for a more thorough assessment to be done, but ignored. Have used other companies in the past and this is the worst I’ve come across in terms of customer service, quality of accessors and quality of report.

Very horrible service - be careful when you asked for a FREE quote – I don't normally write reviews. But this is a horrible experience. I asked for a free quote and provided the apartment address I was hoping to do a pre-purchase inspection. The staff member went ahead to contact the property agent to arrange the inspection WITHOUT checking with me first (I haven't confirmed if I am happy with the quote/ would… Read more

choose their services). I was unhappy and asked to cancel. The staff member was very rude and did not apologise at all. Instead, she said there was nothing inappropriate as I didn't have to do anything. I ended up having to apologise to the property agent to cancel. So much hassle.

Horrible Service!!! – They had provided me with a very poor building inspection and pest control report. They have not even checked the simple visual inspection on the aircon and rainwater tank and later we found both are not working perfectly. They have missed lots of major things. They are very expensive but do nothing. Never go with them.

Pathetic Service – I book these guys to do building and pest report for one of the townhouse I am planning to buy. All their inspector did terrible job. All you can read I obstruction in the report, I tried to contact them many times but every time the person answer the phone says I have no knowledge, I can’t hold a person who know what the terrible job they have… Read more

done.

They want me to book another inspection and pay more for their terrible job. No thermal scanner have been used to inspect termite.

Hire someone for 300 who will do much much better job than these guys.

Quick turnaround and good inspector – Our building inspector Eddie C was responsive and early to the inspection. Extremely nice and did a thorough job and walked us through and pointed out the defects both minor and major, including providing information on recommendations. Turnaround for the report to be provided was same day delivery Very happy with the service provided

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY – RBI provided us with a completely below par building inspection on our home, which has since been reviewed by 2 separate builders who could not believe that any certified building inspection company could have provided. As a result, the roof that we were told was in good condition with no issues by RBI has in fact been deemed "beyond repair" by… Read more

both a roof plumber and a builder, and we have received quotes of $30K to fix.

Further to this, when we organised for RBI to come and review their inspection, they were late and did not tell us, would not respond to emails although they had read them etc. The whole process is still being dragged out and they seem very unwilling to own up to their own incompetence.

Do not use this company.