You signed the contract on Tuesday. The agent confirmed cooling-off ends Friday at 5pm. That's 3 business days — barely enough to commission an inspection, get the report, read it, and decide whether to rescind.

Each state runs cooling-off differently. VIC is 3 days. NSW is 5. SA is 2. WA has none at all. Here's the operational booking guide by state — and what to do when the window is too tight.

Cooling-off windows by state

Victoria — 3 business days

Shortest of the eastern states. Sale of Land Act 1962 Section 31. Clock starts the day the contract is signed. Cooling-off forfeit: 0.2% of purchase price or $100, whichever is greater.

Booking strategy:

Expedite cost: +$100-$150 over standard. Total inspection spend: $650-$850.

New South Wales — 5 business days

Conveyancing Act 1919 Section 66W. Clock starts when buyer RECEIVES a copy of the signed contract (subtle but important — gives you potentially an extra day if the agent is slow). Cooling-off forfeit: 0.25% of purchase price.

Section 66W can be waived if the buyer's solicitor signs a certificate at exchange — common in auction-day purchases but uncommon in private treaty. If 66W is waived, you have NO cooling-off. Confirm with your conveyancer whether 66W is included or waived.

Booking strategy:

Cost: standard $600-$750 with no expedite premium.

Queensland — 5 business days

Property Occupations Act 2014. Clock starts the day the contract is signed. Cooling-off forfeit: 0.25% of purchase price. Auction sales within 2 business days BEFORE the auction are also excluded from cooling-off.

Booking strategy:

QLD also has the “subject to building & pest” condition (REIQ Clause 4.1) which adds a separate inspection window typically running 7-14 days from contract date, separate from cooling-off. Many QLD buyers use this clause for the inspection rather than cooling-off.

ACT — 5 business days

Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003. Clock starts the day the contract is signed. Cooling-off forfeit: 0.25% of purchase price. Comfortable booking window — same strategy as NSW/QLD.

South Australia — 2 business days

Land and Business (Sale and Conveyancing) Act 1994. Shortest cooling-off in the country. Practically impossible to fit a standard inspection inside the window — same-day or 24-hour expedite required, or pre-signed inspection.

SA buyers commonly insert a “subject to building inspection” clause in the contract (with a 7-14 day window) rather than relying on cooling-off. Discuss with your conveyancer at contract review.

Western Australia — no statutory cooling-off

WA has no cooling-off at all. Your only inspection-based exit is the “subject to building inspection” clause that must be in the contract before signing. Standard REIWA Joint Form clause allows for buyer-inserted inspection terms. Walk away from any WA contract that doesn't include this clause. See Perth building inspection — WA buyer's playbook for full WA strategy.

Tasmania — no statutory cooling-off

Like WA, Tasmania has no cooling-off. The exit lives in the contract's inspection clause. Tasmanian REI contracts typically include a building & pest condition by default with a 14-day window — but confirm with your conveyancer before signing.

Northern Territory — no statutory cooling-off

Same as WA and TAS. Contract-clause-based protection only. The NT property market is smaller and inspection availability is tighter — some Darwin buyers book inspectors before signing the contract, with the contract signing conditional on positive inspection.

Practical booking sequence

Regardless of state, the optimal sequence is:

  1. Hour 1 after signing: Email 3 inspection firms with property address, intended inspection date, urgency note. Request quotes + availability
  2. Hour 2-4: Email the listing agent requesting private access for inspector. Specify preferred time window
  3. Hour 4-6: Compare quotes, book the inspector who can deliver fastest within budget
  4. Day 1-3: Inspector attends, conducts inspection. You receive a verbal summary if you ask
  5. Day 2-4: Written report delivered as PDF
  6. Day 3-5: Read or decode the report, decide, send written response to agent + conveyancer

If the window is too tight

Five options when you can't fit the inspection inside cooling-off:

  1. Request an extension. Through your conveyancer in writing. 24-48h typically granted for good-faith buyers
  2. Pay the same-day expedite premium. Adds $200-$400 but compresses 5-day window to 24 hours
  3. Use a verbal report. Some inspectors will give you a verbal summary on-site (no written report yet). Enough for a yes/no decision but no negotiation evidence
  4. Rescind under cooling-off, then re-engage. Forfeit the cooling-off penalty (0.2-0.25%), pay it as the cost of buying time. Re-engage at a lower offer if the property comes back to market
  5. Walk away entirely. The cleanest option if the timing is genuinely impossible

Where Report Decoded fits

The critical bottleneck inside cooling-off is the “read the 60-page PDF, understand what the defects mean, decide whether to act” step. For most buyers that takes 2-3 hours of careful reading + Googling unfamiliar terms.

Report Decoded compresses that step to 2 minutes:

For VIC's 3-day cooling-off in particular, the time saving is the difference between “decision made by deadline” and “had to rescind because we couldn't read the report in time.”