Guide · chemical and bait

A chemical barrier and a bait system answer different moments.

This page does not say which one a western Brisbane house should buy. QBCC describes a chemical system as a deterrent to concealed entry, and it mentions baiting once termites are already visible at an inspection zone.

Chemical barrier

On the April 2024 note, chemical systems are normally discussed with slab-on-ground construction. Most chemicals have a limited life. AS 3660.1, as QBCC summarises it, does not name a brand. It allows a chemical registered by the APVMA. Queensland’s replenishment rule is on the barrier-types page. Applying the chemical needs both the QBCC Termite Management — Chemical licence and a Queensland Health pest management licence.

Jets advertises a standard-house barrier from $3,960. Adding two inspections at the advertised $285 makes $4,530. That sum is our arithmetic. It is not a Jets package, not a statement that the barrier price is chemical rather than physical, and GST is not stated in the research memo’s record of that page.

Baiting and monitoring

In the exposed-slab section, QBCC says that once termites are noticed, baiting can be applied and the nest destroyed. Read that as a description of a method the commission names, not as a promise that baiting always destroys a colony, and not as a product endorsement. AS 3660.2’s scope includes colony control in existing buildings. It is not the pre-purchase standard.

Jets advertises baiting from $2,200 including year-one monitoring, then monitoring from $660 a year. Adding two further monitoring years makes $3,520. Again, that is addition, not a published package. Do not subtract it from the barrier sum and call the difference a saving.

What not to conclude

• A lower advertised starting price is not evidence the system suits the house.
• AS 3660.1 says its measures cannot guarantee the building will never be entered. That sentence applies to management systems installed to the standard. It is not a claim that baiting fails or that chemicals fail.
• If you only suspect activity, the first sourced step is an inspection by a QBCC-licensed termite management contractor, not a choice between these two prices.