Service · treatment and baiting

Treatment is what you ask for when activity is the problem.

A barrier quote and a treatment quote answer different questions. This page does not tell you which one your house needs. A licensed person has to do that on site.

Existing buildings

AS 3660.2:2017 is the guide for detecting and managing subterranean termites in and around existing buildings. The Standards Australia preview says it covers physical and chemical systems, steps to judge the extent of infestation, colony control, termite-resistant materials, reinfestation risk and treatment certification. It says the standard is not for a pre-purchase inspection report. Pre-purchase work is AS 4349.3. It also does not apply to drywood or dampwood termites. The preview says termite risk is regarded as significant throughout Australia except Tasmania, where it is negligible. That is a national statement in the standard’s application clause. It is not a western Brisbane infestation rate, and this site does not have one.

QBCC says that if activity is found at a competent inspection, re-treatment may be needed. In the section on exposed slab edges, QBCC says baiting can then be applied and the nest destroyed. That is a description of a method, not a promise that baiting always destroys a nest, and not a recommendation of a product.

Baiting and monitoring prices we can cite

Jets advertises baiting from $2,200, including year-one monitoring, and monitoring from $660 a year after that. Those are supplier advertisements on a Brisbane and Ipswich page. They are not a census of local invoices.

If someone adds the advertised baiting figure to two further years at the advertised monitoring price, the sum is $3,520. Jets does not advertise that sum as a package. It is not a forecast of what you will pay, and it assumes the monitoring price stays at that starting figure.

Chemical use is licensed twice

Applying a pesticide for a pest management activity in Queensland requires a current pest management licence under the Medicines and Poisons Act 2019. Queensland Health says the licence states the authorisations, and one of those is timber pests. Separately, QBCC says a person supervising or performing Termite Management — Chemical work must also hold that Queensland Health licence. Advice or a report about a termite management system or an infestation is also QBCC licence work, on the April 2024 advisory note.

SEQ Service Quotes does not apply products, does not hold these licences, and will not describe a photo or a sentence as confirmation of termites.

What a treatment enquiry should say

• Whether a QBCC-licensed person has already reported activity, or whether you only suspect it.
• Whether you want baiting and monitoring, or a proposal to deal with reported activity.
• House, townhouse, apartment or a larger lot. Apartment owners often cannot authorise work to the building.
• That you do not want the inspection price and the baiting price added together unless the business says both are in the quote.

The comparison and the chemical-versus-bait note keep the prices from being mixed. Signs are reasons to book an inspection, not a treatment.