QBCC, Queensland’s building regulator, says termites are particularly active in hot, wet areas such as coastal Queensland. This file gathers the Queensland rules a Brisbane owner keeps coming back to, from the termite system to the sale of the house, one tab at a time.
A guide published by Dotto from the official sources listed at the foot of each page: QBCC, Business Queensland, Queensland Health, the Queensland Government’s property and body corporate pages, and Queensland legislation.
Entry 1 · The index
The five tabs
Each tab answers one question, from the Queensland agency or law that owns the answer.
What Form 2 leaves out, what its warnings say, and where the answers about pests are found instead.
Entry 2 · Papers
Papers a house file keeps
Most of what is known about a house and its pests is written down somewhere. These are the papers the Queensland sources name, who gives them, and what each one holds.
A selection, from QBCC’s termite booklet and protect-against-termites page, and the Form 2 seller disclosure statement.
Paper
Who gives it
What it holds
Termite management notice
Fixed to the building in a prominent place, usually the electrical meter box, as the building code requires.
The method of protection, the date it went in, for a chemical system its life expectancy from the APVMA label, and the installer’s or manufacturer’s advice on future inspections.
Installer’s certificate
The licensed installer, where the building certifier asks for one.
The date, the owner and builder, the property, and the termite work done, with a diagram where appropriate. Tab 1 explains where it comes from.
Owner’s declaration
The owner, to the local council, on the council’s approved form, where one is required.
That the owner knows which termite system the building has, its constraints and its ongoing upkeep.
Building and timber pest reports
Contractors licensed by QBCC, before a purchase.
The general condition of the house and its major defects, and timber pest activity in the house and up to 30 metres around it. Tab 4 covers both.
Seller disclosure statement
The seller, before the buyer signs the contract.
Title, planning, pool and rates details and, in a scheme, body corporate papers. The seller does not warrant that there is no pest infestation.
Entry 3 · The house in pencil
Where a Queenslander keeps its weak points
The old timber house on stumps is drawn here as an owner might sketch it on the inside cover of the file. The numbers mark four places the Queensland sources point to.
A drawing of a typical house on stumps, not a survey of any real house.
1Stumps and ant caps. Traditional Queensland highset timber houses on stumps, unless built in underneath, are usually protected by separation from the ground and by physical barriers such as ant caps and metal termite shields, says a timber guide published on QBCC’s website.
2Hardwood behind the linings. In new houses, powderpost beetle exit holes can appear in plasterboard, panelling and joinery, made by adults coming out of the hardwood framing underneath.
3The meter box. The usual place to find the termite management notice, QBCC says. It is the first page of any house file.
4The roof space. Powderpost beetle damage can occur anywhere susceptible timber was used, the roof space and subfloor included, as well as living areas and furniture. Tab 2 follows the beetle through the house.