Residential GeoRisk
Geotechnical Property Inspections
Pre-purchase Geotechnical Property Inspections
Serving Nelson, Tasman and Golden bay
With the increasing occurrence of slope instability problems in residential areas, we decided it was about time somebody offered affordable and reliable geotechnical advice to help you understand and make better decisions on natural hazards at your home, or potential new home.
Whether you are looking at buying a property that is potentially prone to natural hazards, or you’re concerned about safety and property damage at your existing home, our expertise will give you clear, sensible and actionable advice. Our goal is to empower you to make better decisions about your biggest financial asset-your home.
- Slope stability
- Retaining walls
- Geotechnical
- Council zoning implications
- Previous EQC claims
- All hazards approach
- Future resilience to climate change effects
Why get a Pre-purchase Geotech Property Report?
A Pre-purchase Geotech Property Report gives you peace of mind about personal safety and the risks of property damage due to natural hazard events. We highlight any potential issues with landslides, erosion, flooding, earthquakes and any other ground based natural hazard events. You’ll then be able to make an informed decision on whether the property is right for you. You can request that some of these issues (i.e. defective retaining walls) are resolved before purchase, factoring those costs in to the offer price. Alternatively, you can walk away knowing you have saved yourself money and stress and not placed your family in harm’s way.
We give professional, evidence-based guidance on:
- Slope stability, both within your property boundary and upslope
- Retaining walls – are they fit for purpose and designed/constructed in compliance with the Building Code?
- Council land zoning implications
- Previous NHC (EQC) claims
- Which areas of the site are likely to be covered by NHC (EQC) insurance
- Council property information files / LIM (if provided)
- Section 72 and Section 133 (Building Act) Notices
- Future resilience to changing climate conditions
- Potential earthquake, erosion and flood risk
Making complex geotechnical issues easy to understand
We write (and speak!) in plain English with no tech jargon. We highlight any current or imminent natural hazards and property risk factors that you should be aware of before making an offer on a property.
How it works:
- Once you’ve engaged our services, you or your Real Estate Agent will provide us with any relevant documentation about the property.
- We then do a brief pre-visit desktop study comprising a review of that information along with all the other available data such as entries in the NZ Geotechnical database, National Seismic Hazard Model, Council hazard maps, geology maps, slope and topographic maps, historic and recent aerial photography, etc.
- We visit the property and do a 1-2 hour visual assessment of the site including camera drone photography, slope measurements, retaining wall dimension and condition assessments, bridges and culvert observations and a general site walkover.
- Written report delivery is usually within the next two working days (target next day delivery)
- We give you a few days to read and digest the report and then we’ll schedule a 30 minute phone / Zoom conversation to discuss the contents of the report (if required)
- You make a powerful, confident decision about the purchase!
Meet Kev England, our site assessor and report author
Kev is an Engineering Geologist with over 15 years experience in managing slope instability problems. He has a background in geotechnical site assessments, land damage insurance assessments, retaining wall design, site remediation and disaster risk reduction.
He’s honest, transparent and trustworthy.
Are you concerned about natural hazards at your existing home?
We can help you to understand your risks and take sensible actions to ensure that you and your family are safe. We’ll also help you reduce the risks to your property and land. Whether you’re worried about landslides, wildfires, or any other natural (or man-made) hazards, we can help you make powerful decisions which will let you get more sleep at night!
Get in touch to discuss your concerns and see how we can help.