New Home Construction Inspections – Your Final Inspection
New Home Construction Inspections – Your Final Inspection
A PCI – practical completion inspection (also referred to as a ‘handover’ or ‘final’ inspection’) – is an important part of your new build process.
It takes place at the completion of your build before you take possession of your new home and provides an important opportunity for any faults and defects to be identified and rectified before you move into your new home.
A PCI is carried out as the last in a series of staged inspections at critical points throughout the build process.
By this stage, we recommend that you already have your base/steel, frame, lock-up/pre-plaster, and fixing stage inspections carried out by an independent inspector.
If serious defects are identified, you are entitled to request your builder to fix them, and this can be followed by a re-inspection to ensure all issues have been satisfactorily dealt with before final contract payments are made.
The following elements should be checked as part of a comprehensive PCI inspection:
- The flooring is laid and checked
- Fixtures and fittings are installed correctly and drawers and doors are aligned
- All wet areas have been appropriately sealed and caulked
- External treatments, including caulking to expansion joints, have been completed and the workmanship meets the applicable standard
- Paint finishes meet the standards set out in the Guide to Standards and Tolerances
- All hardware is fitted, including doors
- All plumbing has been completed
These elements should all be checked against the Guide to Standards & Tolerances 2015, referencing the relevant Australian Building Code.
A PCI inspection report should not only identify the issue but advise the steps that need to be taken to rectify it.
Following you will find examples of issues that SPI Property Inspections inspectors have uncovered while carrying out PCI inspections for our clients. The issues are noted with visual evidence and with a detailed explanation, referencing the relevant Standard. Our inspector then advises what steps need to be taken by the builder to correct the defect.
As you will see, even tiny defects and imperfections are noted and detailed in our reports as a written and visual record for you to present to your builder and request rectification.
Area: Sliding Door
Comment: There is a small scrape mark on the sliding door frame that will need to be rectified.
Area: Floor Tiles
Comment: Expansion joints in the floor tiling are yet to be sealed.
Area: Garage Boundary Wall
Comment: Moisture is being directed to the boundary wall of the garage. It is recommended that the vapour barrier be re-installed and/or a re-grading of the area to slope away from the garage.
Download our New Home Construction Inspection Flyer for a comprehensive overview of what we check at each stage of your new home build.
Still at the contract stage?
A new home contract can be an unfamiliar document. Let one of our experienced inspectors review your contract before you commit to such a large financial purchase.
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