Christchurch & Canterbury
Your building report says what's wrong.
We tell you what it costs.
Send us the pre-purchase inspection report you already paid for. You get back a line-by-line repair schedule with real Canterbury trade pricing, every figure tied to the page it came from — and a call with a licensed building inspector to talk it through.
Sound familiar?
A 50-page report, and no idea what any of it means for your wallet
An inspection tells you the condition of the house. It almost never tells you the cost of fixing it — and the cost is the part you have to make a decision on.
Try it
Walk around the house. Click what you want costed.
Drag to spin it. Click any highlighted part, or use the buttons below, to see what the inspector wrote and what it costs to put right.
The deliverable
This is exactly what lands in your inbox
A real schedule for the house above. Fictional property, real method — nothing here is a mock-up of a layout we don't actually send.
This is a mock-up. The property, the inspection report, the inspector and every finding below are fictional. We never publish a client's report or their schedule — that is the whole point of the confidentiality we ask you to rely on.
What this will cost
Every figure is a range. The low allowance assumes good access and no hidden damage; the high allowance assumes the opposite.
The schedule
Each line cites the item number and page of your report, so you can check any figure against the source.
| Ref | Item and finding | Trade | Priority | Low | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.2.1 · p14 | Roof & chimney flashingLead flashing lifted at chimney base, fixings corroded. Ceiling staining below. | Roofer | Urgent | $680 | $1,120 |
| 3.4.2 · p16 | Spouting & downpipesSpouting sagging to south elevation, water held. Leaking joint at NE corner. | Roofer | 12 months | $420 | $760 |
| 4.1.3 · p21 | Weatherboard claddingPaint failure, exposed timber south elevation. Two boards soft below lounge window. | Builder + painter | 12 months | $2,850 | $4,600 |
| 4.3.1 · p23 | Window joineryDecay to lower sills, three timber windows, south and west elevations. | Builder | 12 months | $1,450 | $2,400 |
| 5.2.4 · p28 | Subfloor pilesTwo piles out of plumb beneath lounge. One bearer packed with untreated timber. | Builder / foundations | Urgent | $1,900 | $3,300 |
| 5.3.1 · p29 | Subfloor ventilationVent count below requirement for footprint. Elevated damp to south subfloor. | Builder | 12 months | $540 | $980 |
| 6.1.2 · p31 | Deck handrailHandrail 860mm above deck level, below requirement for the fall. One loose baluster. | Builder | Urgent | $780 | $1,350 |
| 7.3.1 · p35 | Bathroom seal & extractorShower tray silicone failed. Extractor discharges into ceiling space, not exterior. | Plumber / builder | 12 months | $620 | $1,180 |
| 8.1.1 · p38 | Switchboard & RCDsRewirable fuses, no RCD protection to any circuit. | Registered electrician | Urgent | $850 | $1,500 |
| 8.2.4 · p39 | Hot water cylinder restraintNo seismic restraint straps fitted to cylinder. | Plumber | Urgent | $240 | $420 |
| 9.1.2 · p41 | Ceiling insulationPatchy and compressed across roof space. Gaps above bedrooms two and three. | Insulation | Monitor | $1,600 | $2,700 |
| 10.1.1 · p43 | Driveway settlementDifferential settlement to concrete drive, 25mm lip at the crossing. | Concrete | Monitor | $900 | $1,800 |
| 10.3.2 · p44 | Boundary fenceTimber boundary fence leaning, several posts rotted at ground level. | Fencing | Monitor | $650 | $1,200 |
| 11.1.1 · p46 | Garage doorSpring tension out of balance. No auto-reverse on the opener. | Garage door | 12 months | $320 | $580 |
| Total — 14 items, incl. GST | $13,800 | $23,890 | |||
Checked against NZS 4306:2005
We cross-reference your report against the New Zealand standard for residential property inspection and list what it does not appear to cover. NZS 4306 is a voluntary standard, not law — a gap is not a finding against your inspector. It is a list of things worth going back and asking about.
The report does not say whether the roof space was entered or only viewed from the hatch. That changes how much weight the roof framing comments carry.
Soft cladding boards are noted at 4.1.3 but no meter readings are given. Readings would tell you whether this is surface damage or something behind the cladding.
No comment on presence, type or age. These are a requirement if the property is ever tenanted.
Given the build era these may be present in soffits, textured ceilings or vinyl. The report is silent either way.
Downpipe discharge is not traced to a disposal point. In this part of Christchurch that is worth knowing first.
The rates behind these numbers
We publish the rate card with every schedule, so you can see what was applied rather than taking a total on trust. Canterbury rates, GST inclusive.
| Trade | Hourly | Call-out |
|---|---|---|
| Builder / carpenter | $85 | $85 |
| Roofer | $90 | $95 |
| Registered electrician | $95 | $95 |
| Registered plumber | $95 | $95 |
| Painter | $70 | $70 |
| Concrete / paving | $85 | $120 |
About this sample. The property, report, inspector and findings are fictional. The figures are illustrative and built with the method used for real schedules, but they describe no actual house and no actual client.
How it works
Four steps, usually done inside a day
Send us your report
Upload the PDF your inspector gave you, agree to the terms and pay. About two minutes.
We confirm it's arrived
An email straight away confirming payment and that your report is in the queue.
We cost it and check it
Every finding extracted, priced and cross-referenced against NZS 4306. A licensed inspector reviews it before it is sent.
Report, then a call
Your schedule arrives by email, normally within 24 hours, with a link to book a time to talk it through.
Running to an auction? Call 021 360 227 and we'll tell you honestly whether we can make it.
Pricing
One flat fee. No subscription, no per-defect charge.
Up to 3 bedrooms
$179
- Full costed repair schedule
- Every figure referenced to your report
- Canterbury rate card included
- NZS 4306 cross-check
- Phone call with a licensed inspector
4 bedrooms or more
$225
- Everything in the standard review
- Larger, multi-level homes and sleepouts
- Outbuildings and garaging included
- NZS 4306 cross-check
- Phone call with a licensed inspector
We check it before we start. If too much is unreadable or it isn't something we can price responsibly, we say so and refund you in full.
FAQs
The questions we get asked most
Do you use AI?
Yes. We use a purpose-built tool to extract and cost every finding, and a registered inspector checks every report before it's sent. The tool never replaces that review.
That is also why every figure is referenced back to a page of your report — you are never asked to take a number on trust.
Do you come and look at the house?
No. We work from the inspection report you already have. If the report doesn't cover something, we say so rather than guessing, and we tell you what to go back and ask.
Whose reports can you work with?
Any New Zealand residential pre-purchase inspection report. We have handled the common formats and a range of independent inspectors. If we can't read yours, we won't charge you.
How accurate are the costs?
Each item gets a low and a high allowance rather than one number, because real cost depends on access, what's found once things are opened up, and which trade is available. The allowances are built from Canterbury rates, which we publish with the schedule.
It is a costing to make a decision on. It is not a fixed-price quote, and nobody can give you one of those from a report alone.
How long does it take?
We aim to have your schedule back within 24 hours of payment, and most are faster. If your report is unusually long, we'll email you rather than let the time quietly slide.
Can I use this to negotiate on price?
That is what most people use it for. A costed schedule referenced to the inspector's own findings is a far stronger position than "the report says there are problems".
Is my report confidential?
Yes. Your report and the schedule are used only to do your job, and are never shared, sold or published. See our Privacy Policy.
Do you do the repairs?
No, and we take no commission from anyone who does. We're happy to point you at the registers for a licensed tradesperson, but we have no financial interest in who you use. That independence is the point.
About us
Run by a licensed building inspector, in Christchurch
Report Review is Phill Metaxas. Phill is a licensed building inspector based in Christchurch and has spent years in and under Canterbury houses — villas, bungalows, ex-state houses, post-quake repairs and new builds.
He also knows what it costs to put a building up, not just what's wrong with it. His own build at Sefton featured on Grand Designs New Zealand.
Report Review started because of a pattern he kept seeing: people paying good money for a thorough inspection, then standing in a driveway with 50 pages they couldn't price and a decision to make by Thursday. The inspection answers "what's wrong". This answers "what will it cost me".
Contact
Talk to us before you commit
Not sure whether your report is something we can cost? Send it over, or just ring and ask. We'd rather tell you no up front than take your money.
021 360 227
Phill, 8am–6pm, seven days.
reports@reportreview.co.nz
Attach your inspection report and we'll come back to you.
Canterbury
Christchurch, Selwyn, Waimakariri and wider Canterbury. Reports from elsewhere in New Zealand welcome — say so and we'll price on that region's rates.