General information, not legal advice. Your contract sets your settlement date and any inspection terms. Each state’s official page is listed at the foot of this page; a conveyancer or solicitor can confirm your own dates.
Settlement day is the fixed point, and the inspection is counted back from it. So the first thing to know is the settlement date in your contract, then where your state’s official page places the inspection before it.
Counting back from settlement day
- About a week before
VICAt any reasonable time during the week before settlement.
ACTAbout one week before settlement, or at reasonable times with reasonable notice.
SAWhere the contract is made subject to a pre-settlement inspection, it “is normally done about a week before the settlement date”.
- A few days before
QLDThe buyers’ page says: “You should inspect the property 2–3 days before settlement.” The sellers’ page tells the seller the buyer will inspect “no more than a few days before settlement day”.
- The morning of settlement day
NSW“On the morning of settlement day, you should conduct a final inspection of the property.” In the lead-up to settlement and on the day, the NSW page says, your solicitor or licensed conveyancer checks the accuracy of all documents and financial information.
Two places give no set day. WAConsumer Protection says buyers should inspect thoroughly before the settlement is finalised, without naming a day. NTThe Northern Territory’s page leaves access before settlement to negotiation with the seller.
How long the settlement period usually runs
The inspection sits at the end of the settlement period, the stretch between a binding contract and settlement. Each official page gives a usual length, and each makes clear that your contract sets the real date.
- NSWSettlement usually takes place around 6 weeks after contracts are exchanged.
- VICAmong the things negotiation may involve, Consumer Affairs Victoria lists agreeing on the settlement period, usually between 30 and 90 days.
- QLDThe sellers’ page says settlement day can be whatever length of time is negotiated with the buyer, usually falls 4–6 weeks after both sides sign, and mostly falls within a range of 30–90 days.
- WAConsumer Protection says the contract of sale sets the settlement date, and the period usually runs 30 to 90 days.
- ACTUsually 30 to 90 days after signing the contract for an existing home, though the buyer and seller can decide otherwise. The guide adds: “This timeframe may not apply where the property is a new development.”
- NTThe seller generally sets the settlement date in the contract, and the period is usually between 30 and 90 days. You can negotiate a different date with the seller before signing.
- SASA.GOV.AU tells sellers to record a settlement date in the sale contract.
Booking it
The official pages that say how the inspection is arranged all route it through the seller’s side.
- VIC“Contact the agent to arrange this inspection.”
- ACT“These inspections should be pre-arranged with the seller or the seller’s agent.”
- NTPut any arrangement for access before settlement in writing.
When settlement day moves
QLDQueensland’s Property Law Act 2023 deals with a settlement day that falls on a day that is not a business day. If a contract names such a day for settlement, and does not designate it as a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, then despite the contract the day of settlement is the day the parties agree, or otherwise the next business day (section 78). The business day is counted where the contract is to be settled, or, for an electronic settlement with no place named, where the land is. Your solicitor can confirm the date your contract settles on.
WAConsumer Protection notes the cost of a missed date on the buyer’s side: if the buyer, or their settlement agent or lender, cannot keep to the agreed date, the buyer may owe the seller penalty fees.
Next on the walk
Once the date is set, the walk itself is about the items and the condition. What the contract says stays covers the list you carry, and settlement day covers what happens after the last look. The first stop, your right to a final inspection, sets out whether you are entitled to inspect at all.