Requiring residential property owners to engage a certified quantity surveyor to prepare a building replacement report will help ensure they are adequately insured, the Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (AIQS) says.

The AIQS has flagged the proposal again, having first raised it after the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires catastrophe.

AIQS CEO Grant Warner says the insurance industry should consider requiring customers to have a professional replacement and assessment report completed before they take up a home insurance policy.

Such reports will provide homeowners with information on the cost to replace or rebuild their dwellings should a fire, flood or other disaster destroy or damage their properties.

“Most people don’t understand that they may well be significantly out of pocket if a disaster event occurs,” Mr Warner told insuranceNEWS.com.au today.

“And we have quantity surveyors right around the country and this is the sort of work they do. They've got the requisite qualifications and experience to undertake this sort of work.”

Mr Warner says the peak body approached the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) in August 2020 after preparing a replacement cost assessment information paper following the Black Summer bushfires.

“We just highlighted the issues of insurance and the importance of engaging quantity surveyors because we became aware that some insurers were getting quotes from builders in say Townsville, in Newcastle to do work in the south coast of New South Wales,” Mr Warner said.

“Now those builders would have no idea what the costs [are] to build a house there, you need someone with local knowledge and experience.

“A certified quantity surveyor will give you a professional report that can be relied upon.”

He says he did not get any response from the ICA and intends to reach out to them again and also to governments at all levels about the AIQS proposal.

insuranceNEWS.com.au has asked ICA to comment on the AIQS proposal.