Annual Termite Inspections — What's Actually Checked and Why It Matters

An annual termite inspection is one of the cheapest forms of protection available for a Sydney homeowner. It's not particularly expensive. It doesn't take all day. And when it finds something early — before structural damage has accumulated — the cost of treatment is usually a fraction of what it would have been a year later.

What makes the difference is what the inspection actually covers. Not all inspections are equally thorough. Understanding what a proper annual inspection includes helps you know what to expect and what to ask for.

Why annual is the standard — and when you need more

AS 3660.2:2017 — the Australian Standard for termite management in and around existing buildings — sets the minimum inspection cadence at once per year for standard residential properties.

For higher-risk properties, the standard recommends more frequent inspections: every six months is common practice for homes that have had prior termite activity, homes with multiple conducive conditions, older homes with limited inspection access, or properties adjacent to bushland, tree roots, or established timber-heavy gardens.

After an active treatment, best practice is a follow-up inspection three months later, then continued monitoring through the first year. Treatment terminates activity; follow-up confirms the treatment held and identifies any new foraging pressure.

The annual cadence is the floor. The appropriate cadence for a specific property depends on its risk profile, and part of what a thorough inspection delivers is an honest assessment of which end of that range you're on.

What's checked during the inspection

A thorough annual termite inspection covers every accessible area of the property, systematically. Not just the obvious ones.

Roof void. Where entry is safe and practical, the roof void is checked for signs of drywood borer activity in roof timbers — frass patterns, exit holes, weakened framing — along with any water ingress from slipped tiles, cracked ridge capping, or failed valleys. Roof leaks create moisture in the timber framing, which is exactly the condition that elevates termite risk.

All internal rooms. Walls, floors, and ceilings are assessed for hollow-sounding timber (knuckle-tap along skirting boards, door frames, and any accessible structural timber), blistering paint suggesting termite workings behind the surface, sticking doors or windows indicating frame distortion, and moisture patches indicating elevated humidity in wall cavities.

Subfloor. For homes with a raised subfloor — a significant portion of Sydney's older housing stock — the subfloor is where a thorough inspection most clearly differs from a tick-box one. A proper subfloor check means crawling the perimeter and the centre of the space: assessing brick pier condition, checking for ant capping (or its absence), looking for mud tubes on pier faces or foundation walls, noting soil moisture and ventilation quality, and removing any loose timber debris from the subfloor floor, which is a direct conducive condition.

External perimeter. The full external perimeter is walked: slab edge visibility assessed (buried = risk), gutter drainage path checked, AC condensate pipe routing noted, vegetation and mulch contact with the structure identified, and any garden features — sleepers, stumps, retaining walls — that create timber-to-ground contact near the footprint identified.

Garden and outbuildings. Timber retaining walls, garden sleepers, stumps, and any attached structures like pergolas, decks, or sheds are checked for conducive conditions and any evidence of activity that might represent an adjacent colony with access to the structure.

Additional Tests under AS 3660.2

AS 3660.2:2017 recognises that a visual inspection alone has limits. It describes a category of Additional Tests — thermal imaging, moisture meter readings, and similar tools — that are recommended when moisture is detected without an obvious cause, or when termite activity is suspected but not yet confirmed visually.

In practice, thermal imaging identifies moisture behind walls and thermal signatures consistent with termite activity in timber that a visual inspection can't reach. A moisture meter measures moisture content in timber and surfaces directly, flagging localised damp conditions that indicate elevated risk or existing decay — before visible damage appears.

Both come on every inspection here. Not as add-ons to a standard scope, but as part of how a proper inspection gets done.

The written report

An annual inspection should produce a written report that covers every area assessed, includes photographs of any conditions found, identifies conducive conditions specifically by location, and provides a clear recommendation: "nothing to act on now, reinspect in 12 months," "conducive conditions present, reinspect in 6 months," or "activity identified, treatment plan follows."

The report language matters. "No visible signs of termite activity" tells you what the inspector found in accessible areas on the day. It's useful, but it has limits — which is why the Additional Tests are part of what extends the inspection's reach. A report with photographs, specific locations, and named conducive conditions is a report you can act on. A generic report with no specifics is harder to interpret a year later when you're trying to track whether conditions have changed.

The written report is also what you'll want if you're ever selling the property, reviewing an insurance claim, or trying to understand the history of treatment at the address.

When to book

If it's been more than 12 months since your last termite inspection — or if you've noticed any of the signs covered in the early warning signs post — an annual inspection is the right next step. If your home has had prior activity, multiple conducive conditions, or is in an older suburb with dense tree cover and established garden, a 6-month cadence is worth considering.

I'll come and have a look, use thermal imaging and a moisture meter across the whole property, and give you a straight picture of what's there. Book at activetermitecontrol.com.au or call 0405 790 927 — straight quote before I start.