Getting a beetle certificate when you sell your house

You've accepted an offer, the agent mentions a beetle certificate, and you've never needed one before. This is the whole process, in the order it happens.

Selling a house in the Western Cape almost always means getting a beetle certificate. The offer to purchase says so, it's usually the seller's job, and the conveyancer can't finish the transfer without it. For a straightforward house it's a single visit, with the paperwork sent on afterwards. Where it gets stressful is when it's booked late, the inspector can't get into the roof, or live beetles turn up with the transfer date already set. All three are avoidable.

Here's how it runs, from first offer to final certificate.

Step 1: Read the clause in your offer

Before you book anything, find the beetle clause in the signed offer to purchase. It's usually short, and it tells you three things you need:

• Who arranges and pays for it. Normally the seller, but agreements differ
• What it has to cover. Most refer to wood-destroying beetles in the accessible timber of the buildings on the property. Some name particular beetles. A few mention other wood pests as well
• Who it goes to. Usually the transferring attorney, sometimes also the buyer

If the wording isn't clear, ask your agent or the conveyancer. It's much easier to get this right before the inspection than after.

Step 2: Decide whether to look early

For a modern house with a concrete floor and a small roof space, there's no need to do anything before you've sold. Book after the offer is accepted.

For an older home with suspended timber floors, a big roof full of old pine, or a history of borer, a pre-listing inspection can be worth it. If there's activity, you can have it treated on your own timeline, before there's a buyer and a transfer date putting pressure on everyone. You'll still need a certificate once the sale goes through, but there are no surprises left.

Step 3: Book, with the right details

Your agent or conveyancer can book for you, or you can do it yourself. Either way, we need:

• The full address and the type of property: freestanding house, townhouse or flat
• Whether there are outbuildings: garage, flatlet, store room, Wendy house
• Who will let us in, and how to reach them
• The conveyancer's name and email, so the certificate goes straight to the right place
• Your expected transfer date

Leave yourself room. If something is found, treatment and a second visit need a few days, and a week's margin turns a crisis into a minor delay. Our main beetle certificate page explains the inspection itself.

Step 4: Get the house ready

Access is the part you control, so sort it out before the day.

• The roof hatch. Find it. It's often in a passage ceiling or inside a built-in cupboard. If it's in a cupboard, empty the shelves below it. If it's been painted shut, free it before the day
• Outbuildings. Unlock the garage, the store room and the flatlet, or leave keys with whoever is meeting us
• Tenants. If the house is let, give your tenants proper notice. They need to know someone will be going into the roof
• Holiday homes. If you're selling from Gauteng or overseas, arrange for an agent, neighbour or caretaker to open up
• Pets. Dogs shut away for the hour or so we're there

Step 5: The inspection

The inspector goes through the roof space where it's safe to move, then works through the house: timber floors, door and window frames, skirtings, built-ins, stairs, exposed beams, ceilings. Then the outbuildings. They're looking for signs of active beetles: fresh flight holes, powdery bore dust below the timber, larval tunnels in damaged wood.

You don't need to be there for any of it. If you are, it's a good chance to ask questions.

Step 6a: Clear, and done

If there's no active infestation, the certificate is issued and sent to the conveyancer, with a copy to you. It notes any areas that couldn't be inspected, for example a section of floor under fitted laminate, so the buyer knows what was and wasn't covered. That's the end of your part.

Step 6b: Beetles found

Don't panic. This happens in older houses, and it's fixable. You'll get a short report saying which timber is affected, how badly, and what it needs. Then:

1. Treatment The affected timber is treated to kill the larvae inside it. See wood borer treatment for how that's done
2. Replacement, if needed A truss, batten or floorboard that's too weak to do its job is replaced by a builder or carpenter. We'll point out which pieces those are
3. Re-inspection Once the work is done, we come back to check
4. Clearance certificate Issued to the conveyancer, and the transfer can carry on

Tell your agent and the conveyancer as soon as you know. They'd far rather hear early that the date might move a few days than find out on the day.

Old damage isn't the same as a fail

Small round holes in the floorboards of a fifty-year-old house look alarming. Old holes with no fresh dust are a record of beetles that finished their work long ago. The certificate is about what's active now. Our wood borer beetle profile shows the difference.

What buyers should check

If you're on the other side of the sale, read the certificate, not just the agent's message saying it's been issued. Look at what was inspected, what wasn't, and why. A beetle certificate doesn't cover termite control; if that worries you, ask for termites to be checked too.

Selling in a particular town?

Our town pages cover local housing quirks: older timber homes in George, forest-edge houses in Knysna and holiday homes in Plettenberg Bay.

When you have the address and a rough transfer date, phone 044 012 5011 or book the inspection online.