SHS Structural Pre purchase Building inspections are undertaken in accordance with Australian Standard  4349.2. - The Inspection of Buildings. The definition of terms to be used, methods of inspection and overall expected outcomes of the inspection are addressed within the Standard to ensure that the building inspection industry is legislated. Unfortunately your purchase contract has not likely been written in accordance with the standard and there are many different contracts which vary greatly in their wording and the contracts very rarely  reference the Australian Standard for what constitutes a defect significant (enough to affect the purchase contract).

Put most simply the Australian Standard for Inspection of Buildings (and therefore your report which complies with the Standard) contains the legislatively accepted definition of defects. This means that if your house sale contract states " if  a building defect is discovered during the inspection has caused damage to a structural component of the building" or words to that effect, and that this may affect the contract of sale, you must check the wording of the defect in the building report against the wording in your contract. (It is important not to assume that a MAJOR defect as defined within you pre purchase report is also a STRUCTURAL DEFECT  as defined within your sale contract). Ultimately the person who wrote the contract of sale should be consulted as to what any identified defect identified during your building inspection may mean in accordance with your contract of sale.