Who to hire for termites in the house

When it is someone else

Calling the wrong trade costs an attendance fee to be told so. These are the cases where this problem belongs to someone other than a Pest Controller.

• a builder

  after treatment, to repair damaged timber. Repairing before the colony is dealt with is the expensive order to do it in.

• your insurer, but expect a no

  you are hoping this is covered. Termite damage is excluded from the great majority of Australian home policies, which is precisely why annual inspections are the standard advice.

What to do before anyone arrives

1. 1Do not touch it. No spraying, no poking, no breaking the mud tubing open. This is the single most important sentence on this page.
2. 2Photograph what you found and where, from a distance.
3. 3Note where it is relative to damp: leaking taps, air conditioning condensate, a blocked drain, garden beds against the wall. Termites need moisture and the source is usually nearby.
4. 4Find any previous termite treatment records or a warranty. Many treatments carry one and it may still be current.
5. 5Look for the other classic signs elsewhere: mud tubing on piers or walls, timber that sounds hollow when tapped, rippled or blistered paint on skirtings, and discarded wings near windows after rain.

What to ask when you book

• What is your licence number and does it cover timber pests?
• Are you proposing a baiting system, a chemical soil barrier, or both, and why for this situation?
• Will you provide a written inspection report to the Australian standard for timber pest inspections?
• What warranty comes with the treatment, what does it require of me, and what voids it?
• How will the treatment be monitored afterwards, and at what cost?

What changes the price

No dollar figures here: this directory holds no price data and an invented range is worse than none. What follows is what makes one of these jobs cost more than the same job next door, which is the part you can actually use when comparing quotes.

• Treatment type — baiting systems and full chemical barriers are different scopes at different prices.
• Building size, construction and the accessibility of the perimeter.
• Whether the subfloor and roof space can be accessed.
• Whether concrete or paving has to be drilled for a barrier.
• Ongoing monitoring, which is a real recurring cost and should be quoted.

What you can do yourself

Is this licensed work?

Pest management is licensed in every state and territory, and timber pest work is generally a separate qualification and licence endorsement from general pest control. Ask for the licence number and the endorsement — 'we do termites' is not the same as being licensed for timber pests.

There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state the work is happening in.

• NSWNSW Fair Tradingbuilders, electricians, plumbers and specialist trades
• VICBuilding and Plumbing Commission, and Energy Safe Victoria for electricalbuilding practitioners and plumbers; electricians are Energy Safe Victoria
• QLDQueensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC)building and most trade contractor licences
• WABuilding and Energybuilders, electricians, plumbers and gas fitters
• SAConsumer and Business Servicesbuilding work contractors and supervisors
• TASConsumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS)building and occupational licences
• ACTAccess Canberraconstruction occupations licensing
• NTNT Government building practitioner registrationbuilding practitioners and electrical workers

Licensing thresholds and certificate requirements differ by state and change with amending regulation, so this page describes the mechanism rather than quoting a figure. The regulator’s own page is the current answer.

Common questions

Who should I hire for termites in the house

A licensed pest manager, and do not spray, disturb or break open anything you have found first. Termites abandon a disturbed area and move elsewhere in the building, which destroys both the evidence and the opportunity to treat the colony rather than the symptom.

Does home insurance cover termite damage?

Almost never. Australian home building policies routinely exclude damage caused by termites and other insects, on the basis that it is gradual and preventable through maintenance. That exclusion is the reason the industry standard advice is an annual inspection — the inspection is the insurance.

How often should a house be inspected for termites?

The Australian standard for timber pest inspections recommends at least annually, and more often in high-risk areas. What makes it worth doing is that the damage is invisible until it is substantial, and the inspection is a small fraction of the cost of the repair.

I sprayed them before I read this. What now?

Tell the pest manager exactly what you used and where. It changes their approach and it changes their expectations about where the activity will show up next. It is not a disaster — it is information they need, and hiding it just wastes their first visit.

Who to hire for

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