Pre-settlement inspection checklist app
The pre-settlement inspection is the buyer’s last look before the money moves: are the inclusions in the contract still there, does everything work, and is the property in the same condition as when it was sold? It happens days before settlement, often with the conveyancer waiting on the answer. SurveyThanks turns the contract’s inclusions into a checklist and sends the conveyancer a report the same afternoon.
Built for conveyancers running teams of roughly 3–50 inspectors.
Sample Settlement checklist report
An illustrative excerpt. The site, readings and findings are fictional; the layout is yours to set.
Settlement checklist report
Pre-settlement check — 40 Notareal Road
- Settlement date
- 30 October 2026
- Inspected
- 27 October 2026
- Attended by
- Buyer and buyer’s agent (fictional)
| Inclusion / item | Expected | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Dishwasher | Included, working | Result: Present, working |
| Pool equipment | Pump, chlorinator and cover | Result: Cover missing |
| Garage remote ×2 | Two remotes | Result: One supplied |
| Lounge wall | Same condition as at sale | Result: Picture hooks removed, holes left |
Fields captured on site
Your firm builds the form in-app, so these are a starting point rather than a fixed schema. Every field is captured on the device, with or without signal, and lands in the settlement checklist report where your template puts it.
Contract inclusions
- Inclusion item
- Present (Y / N)
- Working (Y / N)
- Photo
Condition since sale
- Room
- Change since contract (Y / N)
- Description
- Photo with comment
Handover
- Keys, remotes and codes
- Rubbish or items left by the seller
- Issues for the conveyancer
How the settlement checklist report gets built
Capture it once, offline
Your firm builds the pre-settlement inspection form in-app — 25 field types, nesting repeatable groups, compound AND/OR visibility rules, reusable modules and calculated fields. Field capture works with no signal: jobs, forms, photos, notes and audio all queue in an idempotent outbox that only clears once the server confirms receipt.
Link it to your rooms and external areas
Enter rooms and external areas once, as a register. Every one of your defects, photos and timber pest findings then points at a stored row rather than a name somebody typed — and the links survive a disconnected device.
Render your own template
The settlement checklist report renders into the Word template you already use — your letterhead, your section order, your clause library — with conditionals, loops over repeats, composable sub-templates and photo grids.
Reviewed before it leaves
You write the review framework: a checklist of what a settlement checklist report must contain, plus the prose standards you would mark a junior against. Link it to a report template and it runs every time that template renders. Each finding comes back graded info, minor or major, quoting the sentence at fault, and a person accepts or dismisses every one.
Because the structured submission behind the report is held too, the review is a comparison rather than a proofread: The summary says no major defects were found; the form carries a major structural defect on the rear wall.
Checks a residential property framework usually carries
- The standard’s required wording, limitations and exclusions are all present
- Every area is either reported on or listed as not accessed, with a reason
- Each defect in the summary appears in the body at the same severity
- Timber pest findings carry the risk statement the standard requires
Questions
- Can we load the contract’s inclusions list into the checklist?
- The checklist is a repeatable section, and AI prefill can propose job details from an emailed contract for you to review and accept.
- Can the report go to the conveyancer directly?
- The report is sent as a file or a password-protected link to whoever you choose, including the conveyancer.
- What if something has broken since the contract was signed?
- Each room records whether its condition has changed since the contract, with a photo and a description, so the conveyancer has evidence to raise with the seller’s side before settlement rather than after.
- Why are no standards listed?
- A pre-settlement inspection checks the property against the contract of sale, not a building standard. The contract is the reference, and it varies by state and by deal.
What this is not
Worth knowing before you book a demo, so neither of us wastes the half hour.
- Not field-service dispatch. No timesheets, no parts, no inventory. Scheduling exists to get an inspector to a site.
- No signature capture. If your deliverable has to carry a signed sign-off on the artefact itself, this is not the tool yet.
- Field capture is what works offline — jobs, forms, photos, notes and audio. Reports, chat, scheduling and the inbox need a connection.
- No client portal. Reports go out as a file or a password-protected link.
Other residential property work we cover
- Pre-purchase building inspectionsBuilding inspection report
- Property photography ordersPhoto floorplan package
- Rental entry condition reportsEntry condition report
- Rental exit and bond inspectionsExit condition report
- Residential dilapidation surveysDilapidation report
- Retaining wall assessmentsWall condition report
- Routine rental inspectionsRoutine inspection report
- Senior home safety auditsFalls risk audit
Other disciplines
Rebuild your settlement checklist report in SurveyThanks
Bring the Word template you already send clients. If you are coming off another field-forms tool, a filled report can be uploaded, read field by field, and re-rendered into your template.