11 of our 21 inspection types apply to this property, and each one names the fact about the house that put it on the list. The part nobody else answers is the second half: an inspection you cannot get a report for before your condition expires is money spent on a document you cannot act on.
Address withheld, Hamilton, ON
Commercial, about 6-15 in Hamilton
A five day inspection condition, which is what most GTA offers carry, does not cover 6 days. Enter your real deadline below and the page will tell you which of these can still land in time and what to do about the ones that cannot.
Every recommendation below comes from one of these. Nothing is inferred from a blank field: where the listing is silent we say so, and the inspections that depend on it are held at recommended rather than required and left unticked.
These are questions for the listing agent, and the answers are worth having before you spend anything. A single line on a data sheet can move an inspection from optional to required.
The date in your offer. Every book-by date below is worked backwards from it.
Would add $125 to $225 on your 1 selected, at 25%, for a booking in 48 to 72 hours.
1 inspection, ticked for you
These follow from what the listing record says about this property, not from a default list. Each one names the fact that put it here.
$500 to $900 typical range
What it finds. It finds the ordinary expensive things: a furnace at the end of its life ($6,000 to $12,000), active roof leaks, a wet basement, failed window seals. It is also visual and non-invasive by contract, so read its limitations section before assuming what it covered.
2.5 to 4 hours on site, so access has to be arranged with the listing agent rather than squeezed into a showing.
7 inspections
$400 to $800 typical range
What it finds. A condo with an underfunded reserve raises fees or levies a special assessment, and assessments of $15,000 to $60,000 per unit are routine after a garage or window failure. The corporation has ten days to produce the certificate, which is most of a typical condition period before your lawyer has read a page of it.
Skip it when: Freehold with no common elements and no POTL fee.
$600 to $1,200 typical range
What it finds. A failed bed is $18,000 to $45,000 in the GTA once engineering, permits and landscaping are counted, and it is invisible from the surface in dry weather. The general inspection excludes it explicitly.
2 to 4 hours on site, so access has to be arranged with the listing agent rather than squeezed into a showing.
$450 to $950 typical range
What it finds. A well that yields under 3 gallons a minute cannot supply a family, and drilling deeper or a new well runs $15,000 to $30,000. Lenders and insurers frequently require a clean potability certificate before funding, which puts the lab on your closing critical path.
2 to 4 hours on site, so access has to be arranged with the listing agent rather than squeezed into a showing.
$250 to $450 typical range
What it finds. A collapsed lateral under a finished basement or a mature front garden is $8,000 to $25,000 and is not visible in any other inspection. Mature-tree neighbourhoods with clay pipe are where it turns up.
1 to 2 hours on site, so access has to be arranged with the listing agent rather than squeezed into a showing.
$800 to $3,000 typical range
What it finds. A leaked tank is an environmental liability that attaches to the land, and remediation of contaminated soil runs $30,000 to $250,000. Insurers refuse buried tanks outright, and a buyer who closes on one owns the cleanup even though the leak predates them.
$300 to $700 typical range
What it finds. Asphalt replacement on a large GTA house is $18,000 to $45,000, cedar or slate several times that, and a flat membrane at end of life leaks into finished space. Insurers now decline or surcharge roofs over 15 to 20 years, so roof age is an insurability question and not only a maintenance one.
$1,000 to $2,500 typical range
What it finds. On acreage and older lots the fence is not the boundary. A garage built over a lot line, a shared driveway with no registered easement or a neighbour's pool inside your setback are title problems that title insurance may cover and may not, and they are cheaper to find before closing than to litigate after.
3 inspections
Worth the money on some purchases and not on others. The reason is on each card, so the call is yours rather than ours.
$400 to $1,200 typical range
What it finds. Professional remediation of a finished basement is $5,000 to $25,000, and a policy will not pay for it if the source is a long-term seepage rather than a sudden escape of water.
$150 to $400 typical range
What it finds. It finds water behind finished surfaces before the stain appears, which on a recently flipped house is the difference between a cosmetic renovation and a hidden mould remediation. Cheap as an add-on to a general inspection, expensive as a separate visit.
$150 to $500 typical range
What it finds. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in Canada and parts of the GTA and Kawarthas read above the guideline. Mitigation is a sub-slab depressurisation system at $2,500 to $4,500, which is cheap; the problem is that a defensible test takes 91 days and no condition period is that long.
1 selected, $500 to $900
Market ranges for the GTA, not quotes. The inspector gives you the price.
Pool and spa inspection
$300 to $700, 3 to 7 days to book
Shell and coping, liner or plaster, pump, filter, heater, plumbing pressure test, automation, and the fence and gate self-latching required by the municipality.
Electrical inspection for knob and tube
$300 to $800, 2 to 6 days to book
A licensed electrical contractor's assessment of remaining knob and tube, panel capacity, grounding, and what an ESA certificate would require.
Aluminum wiring assessment
$300 to $700, 2 to 6 days to book
Identification of aluminum branch circuits, connection condition at devices, and the pigtailing or rewiring an insurer will require.
KITEC plumbing check
$200 to $500, 1 to 4 days to book
Identification of KITEC or PEX-AL-PEX supply lines by fitting markings and colour, and a replacement scope where present.
WETT inspection
$250 to $550, 3 to 8 days to book
A WETT-certified inspection of the wood stove, fireplace insert, liner and clearances, with the certificate insurers ask for.
HVAC specialist inspection
$200 to $400, 2 to 5 days to book
Heat exchanger inspection, combustion analysis, refrigerant charge, ductwork, and the actual age and service history off the data plates.
Structural engineer review
$800 to $2,500, 3 to 10 days to book
A professional engineer's opinion on foundation movement, cracking, beam and lintel spans, past underpinning, and any removed load-bearing wall.
Asbestos assessment
$500 to $1,500, 3 to 7 days to book
Sampling of vermiculite insulation, duct wrap, floor tiles, textured ceilings and plaster, with lab confirmation.
Termite and pest inspection
$200 to $600, 2 to 6 days to book
Inspection for subterranean termite activity, carpenter ants and rodent entry, with treatment and exclusion recommendations.
Former grow operation assessment
$800 to $2,500, 3 to 10 days to book
Moisture and mould testing, electrical bypass evidence, and remediation records where a property has a stigmatised history.
Nothing on a listing record can establish this one. It comes from a police report, a municipal order or a neighbour, so it will never appear above no matter what the data says.
