Dispatch

Filling a crack hides a symptom, while a real repair finds the cause underground, from clay soil movement to a leaking pipe under the slab.

A storm tests the small connections on a building, and since insurers exclude poor maintenance, the damage is best treated as information.

A house is ready for inspection in an afternoon when its owner filed plans and certificates over the years, and in months when they did not.

Listing a house turns its private faults into facts the buyer must be told, and a specific disclosure form keeps the sale from unravelling.

A well run sectional title scheme looks dull because its routines carry the work, while one that relies on individuals breaks when they leave.

After a transfer is lodged at the Deeds Office the real checking is already done, and extra worry changes nothing the examiner will find.

Design changes made after building starts cost far more than changes on paper, because plans, materials and trades were set around the old drawing.

A landlord’s visible standards, from the lease to the deposit account, attract careful tenants and turn away the rest before anyone applies.

A sale of land must be in writing, so items promised during a viewing only stay with the house if the offer to purchase lists them.