Section 32 in Victoria: What It Tells You, and the One Thing It Never Will

Last updated: August 2026

Every Victorian buyer receives a Section 32. Very few read it properly. Fewer still understand what it is actually for.

Here is the short version. A Section 32, or Vendor’s Statement, is the disclosure document a Victorian vendor must give you before you sign the contract of sale, required under the Sale of Land Act 1962 (Vic). It tells you what the vendor is legally required to disclose about the land. It does not tell you what condition the building is in. Those are two completely different questions, and confusing them is one of the most expensive mistakes a buyer can make.

This guide explains what a Section 32 contains, what it deliberately leaves out, and how to close the gap before you sign.

What is a Section 32?

A Section 32, formally a Vendor’s Statement, is a document the vendor must give a prospective purchaser before the contract of sale is signed. The requirement comes from Section 32 of the Sale of Land Act 1962 (Vic) – hence the name.

Its purpose is disclosure. The vendor is required to tell you certain specific things about the property that you could not reasonably discover yourself.

If the vendor fails to provide a Section 32, or provides one that is materially inaccurate or incomplete, the purchaser may in some circumstances have a right to rescind. That is a legal question for your conveyancer or solicitor, not for a building inspector.

What a Section 32 typically includes

• Title particulars. The certificate of title, the plan of subdivision, and any covenants, easements or restrictions on title.
• Mortgages and charges. Anything secured against the property that must be discharged.
• Rates, taxes and outgoings. Council rates, water rates, owners corporation fees and land tax.
• Planning information. The planning zone and any overlays affecting the land.
• Building permits issued in the last seven years. And, importantly, whether there is an applicable domestic building insurance policy.
• Services connected. Electricity, gas, water, sewerage and telephone.
• Owners corporation information. For apartments and units, the OC certificate, the fees, and any relevant records.
• Notices and orders. Including building notices, building orders, and notices of intention to acquire.
• Bushfire prone area designation. Whether the land is in a designated bushfire prone area.
• Due diligence checklist. The standard Consumer Affairs Victoria checklist.

That is a genuinely useful list. It is also almost entirely about legal and financial status.

What a Section 32 does not tell you

This is the part buyers miss.

A Section 32 does not describe the physical condition of the building. There is no obligation on a vendor to disclose that the stumps are rotting, the roof leaks, the slab has heaved, the bathroom waterproofing has failed, or that termites have been eating the frame for six years.

Specifically, a Section 32 will not tell you:

• Whether there is active or historical termite activity, or any of the termite signs an inspector looks for.
• Whether there is structural movement, cracking or foundation failure.
• Whether the property has rising damp, water ingress or mould.
• Whether the roof, gutters or downpipes are failing.
• Whether the electrical or plumbing work is safe or compliant.
• Whether unpermitted building work has been carried out.
• Whether the property has been rendered or repainted specifically to conceal defects.
• Whether previous repairs were done properly.

A vendor can hand you a Section 32 that is completely accurate, entirely compliant, and utterly clean – for a house with $80,000 of structural problems. If you are unsure what an inspection actually examines, our guide to what a building inspection covers sets out the scope.

In more than 55,000 inspections across Melbourne, the most common gap we see is not a defect the vendor concealed. It is a defect nobody was ever required to disclose.

The building permit trap

The seven-year building permit disclosure is one of the more useful parts of a Section 32, and one of the most misread.

It tells you what permits were issued. It does not tell you whether the work was completed to standard, whether an occupancy permit or certificate of final inspection was obtained, or whether the work was done at all.

It also does not tell you about work done without a permit. Unpermitted decks, carports, garage conversions, bathroom relocations and structural wall removals are common in Melbourne’s older suburbs – and by definition they will not appear in a permit disclosure.

An inspector cannot rule on the legality of building work or its permit status. What an inspector can do is identify work that appears non-compliant, poorly executed or structurally questionable, so that you can raise it with your legal representative and the relevant authority.

If the Section 32 shows nothing, and yet the kitchen is clearly five years old and the deck is new, that discrepancy is itself a red flag worth investigating.

Notices and orders: read this section twice

Building notices and building orders issued by a council or the Victorian Building Authority must be disclosed. If one appears in the Section 32, treat it as serious. It means a regulator has formally identified a problem.

How the Section 32 and a building inspection work together

Think of them as two halves of your due diligence.

Neither one substitutes for the other. A Section 32 without a building inspection tells you that you may legally buy the property. It says nothing about whether you should.

The right sequence

1. Get the Section 32 and read it. Or better, have your conveyancer or solicitor read it.
2. Book a pre-purchase building and pest inspection before you sign, or within cooling off for a private sale. For an auction, book it before auction day – there is no cooling off period at auction.
3. Cross-reference the two. Does the inspection reveal work that does not appear in the permit disclosure? Does the Section 32 mention an owners corporation issue that matches a defect the inspector found?
4. Take both to your legal representative before you commit, once you know how to read the inspection report you have been handed.

Cross-referencing is where the value is. A defect on its own is a repair cost. A defect that contradicts the disclosure is a negotiating position – and possibly a legal one.

Why this matters in Melbourne’s property market

Melbourne’s auction culture makes this urgent. At auction there is no cooling off period. The Section 32 is available before auction day, and so is the opportunity to inspect. After the hammer falls, you own the building and everything in it.

In the established belt, covering Northcote, Coburg, Yarraville and Bentleigh, much of the housing stock is pre-1960s, with decades of owner-completed and tradesman-completed work layered on top. Permit records are patchy. Unpermitted work is common. The Section 32 will not help you here; only an inspection will.

In the newer estates of Casey, Cardinia and Wyndham, the seven-year permit history and the domestic building insurance details in the Section 32 genuinely matter – but they still tell you nothing about slab movement on reactive clay soils, which is the dominant structural risk in those corridors. For that, see our guide to building foundation problems in Melbourne.

In every one of these markets, the same pattern holds: the disclosure is clean, the contract is enforceable, and the condition of the building is still an open question until someone independent looks at it.

What Homeowners Say

“They identified two major defects in a property I was about to purchase, issues that would have cost me thousands. The report was comprehensive, clear, and very professional, giving me full confidence in making an informed decision.” – Noreen Ross-Gilder

Key Takeaways for Melbourne Buyers

• A Section 32 is a legal disclosure document about title, rates, zoning and permits. It is not a condition report.
• A vendor has no obligation to disclose termites, structural movement, damp, or defective building work.
• The seven-year permit disclosure tells you what was permitted – not what was built, and never what was built without a permit.
• A clean Section 32 on an obviously renovated house is a discrepancy worth investigating.
• Read the Section 32 and book the inspection. They answer different questions, and you need both answers before auction day.

Book a pre-purchase building and pest inspection before you sign – not after.

Frequently Asked Questions

External Resources

• Consumer Affairs Victoria – Due diligence checklist and Section 32
• Victorian Building Authority – Building permits and notices
• Standards Australia – AS 4349.1 Inspection of Buildings

About the Author

PHILIP GUILDEA – Director of Buy Wise Inspections

Philip Guildea, known as Phil, is the Director of Buy Wise Inspections. Phil is originally from Ireland, but he moved to Australia in 2011. He has extensive experience in construction, inspection, and property management.

Phil started his career in construction as an apprentice carpenter. He then worked for his father’s construction company and later started his own successful construction business. He has worked on custom-designed homes, residential building projects, and major infrastructure projects all over Australia.

Phil is a licensed pest technician, a registered builder, a qualified carpenter, and a licensed pool safety barrier inspector. His broad background gives him a practical understanding of how buildings are designed, constructed, maintained, and inspected.

At Buy Wise Inspections, Phil conducts pre-purchase building and pest inspections, termite inspections, new home inspections, quality control inspections, pool safety barrier inspections, special purpose inspections, and building advice on alteration or addition possibilities.

His method is based on clear communication, useful reporting, and ensuring that buyers know the true state of a property before they make big decisions.

Disclaimer: This article provides general information only and does not constitute building, pest, legal, or financial advice. It is not a substitute for legal advice on your Section 32 or contract of sale. Buyers should have their Section 32 reviewed by a qualified conveyancer or solicitor and should obtain an independent professional building and pest inspection tailored to the specific property.