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AS 3660.2: termite management in existing buildings

AS 3660.2 is the standard for managing termites in existing buildings: annual inspections, re-treatment, barrier repair, and the Termite Management Plan. What it covers.

By Chalkline. Last updated 25 May 2026. Verified 25 May 2026.

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AS 3660.2 is the Australian Standard for managing subterranean termites in and around existing buildings: the ongoing inspection, re-treatment, and maintenance regime that keeps a building protected after it is occupied. Where AS 3660.1 governs the termite system you build into a new house, AS 3660.2:2017 governs what happens to that protection for the rest of the building’s life. It is the standard licensed termite managers work to when they service a home under warranty.

Where it sits in the AS 3660 family

The AS 3660 termite-management standard has three parts (verified 2026-05-25):

  • AS 3660.1 (new building work): the system designed and installed during construction. This is the part the NCC calls up for a new home (verified 2026-05-25, ABCB NCC 2022 Housing Provisions).
  • AS 3660.2 (existing buildings): the in-service management of that system, the subject of this article.
  • AS 3660.3 (assessment criteria): how termite-management products are tested and assessed.

AS 3660.2:2017 is written as a guideline for building owners and the people managing termites around an existing building. It is the post-handover companion to the new-build standard.

Regular inspections

The headline obligation is the inspection cycle. AS 3660.2 recommends a regular termite inspection at not more than 12-month intervals (verified 2026-05-25). In higher-risk situations, more frequent inspections are appropriate; annual is the minimum, not the target on a high-risk site.

The standard also recognises special-purpose inspections, carried out as part of ongoing works or as part of maintaining the termite risk-management system, separate from the routine annual check.

A timber-pest inspection done before a property purchase is a different exercise again, carried out to AS 4349.3 (inspection and reporting for the sale of property), which is the standard a buyer’s inspector works to.

The Termite Management Plan

A change introduced in the 2017 edition is the Termite Management Plan. If a regular inspection finds evidence of active (live) termites of economic significance, the termite manager completes a Termite Management Plan that sets out, for the client, the necessary works and actions to deal with the activity (verified 2026-05-25). It turns a finding into a documented course of action rather than a verbal “you’ve got termites”.

Maintaining the installed system

For a building already protected by a barrier, AS 3660.2 covers keeping that protection effective:

  • Chemical systems must be re-treated before the chemical life expires. A bifenthrin soil barrier on a 10-year label is not protection in year 11; the re-treatment is the owner’s obligation.
  • Physical barriers that are damaged must be repaired with the manufacturer’s repair method and re-certified. A stainless mesh or sheet barrier breached by a later trench or penetration is only protection again once it is properly reinstated.
  • Reporting: each inspection produces a written report, which the owner retains as the record of the building’s termite status over time.

Who is responsible

Post-handover, the inspection and management regime sits with the building owner, carried out by a competent termite manager (a licensed pest management technician). The builder is usually out of the picture by this stage, with one overlap: during the defects-liability period, a termite problem traceable to a defective installation can still come back to the builder, so the early inspections matter to both parties.

For a builder

  • Hand over the paperwork. The durable notice, the installer’s certificate, and the system details are what the owner’s termite manager works from under AS 3660.2. Make sure they are in the handover pack and the notice is fixed in the building.
  • Brief the owner on the cycle. A new owner often does not know that the barrier needs annual inspection and (for chemical systems) eventual re-treatment. A clear handover protects the owner and reduces a callback that lands back on you in the defects period.
  • Keep the inspection zone clear at handover. AS 3660.2 inspections rely on a visible inspection zone; if landscaping or paving has already buried the slab edge at handover, you have handed over a building that cannot be properly inspected.
  • Do not promise what 3660.1 cannot. The new-build system manages risk; it does not remove the need for the ongoing 3660.2 regime. Set that expectation rather than implying the barrier is “set and forget”.

See also

Last updated: 2026-05-25. Verified: 2026-05-25. Quarterly review for currency.

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