Practical Completion Inspection

I'm happy to report that our PCI went very smoothly.  We went through the house on Friday for about two hours and everything we spotted was agreed to be fixed. Porter Davis was also happy for essentially a second PCI to be done on the following Tuesday 27th as that was the earliest time I could book my independent building inspectors. This time, I chose Darbecca and of the three that I have used now, Darbecca was by far the best to work with. 

Anyway, without further ado, here's a list of my PCI issues:

1. Kitchen taps were not connected and the cabinetry holes should be filled.  

2. Brick expansion joint on the exterior of my garage wall was not filled. This was on my neighbours side so an honest mistake to forget. 

3. Exterior doors missing seals. The gap under the front door was particularly massive!

4. Water tap was bent - yes, a bit picky, I know :)

5. Footpath damage. This is just two of the 17 or so panels that got cracked!

6. The wall next to the Theatre room entrance was not straight. This one took a bit of convincing for them to fix as it was more a more difficult job.

7. A few of the stairs were very rough and needed to be re-sanded and re-stained. Make sure you feel each step with your hand, as I would have missed this if just walking over. 

8. Dirty windows

9. Dishwasher missing kickboard

10. Fridge overhang cabinet door not straight

(need to add a photo for this)

11. Island cabinet door not straight

(need to add a photo)

12. Agi-drains around the house need to have scorier rocks on top of it. 

13. Downpipes on garage roof need to have sarking installed under the tiles. No idea about this one so I'll just go with what Darbecca has quoted:

The relevant Australian Standard, AS/NZS 3500.3-2003 Plumbing & Drainage Part 3

– Stormwater, states in clause 3.4.5 Higher Catchment Area, that ‘Stormwater from a higher catchment area shall be discharged direct to an appropriately sized rainhead or sump. Alternatively a spreader, may be used subject to for a tiled roof the lower section being sarked a minimum width of 1800mm, either side from the point of  discharge, and extended down to the eaves gutter.’ 

14. Colour infill for the big dining room window had very noticeable kinks in it. Looked like the infill didn't fit properly and they've forced it in. 

15. various scratches and mortar excess around the outside

16. Gap between the two double entry doors is too wide. (My dad picked this one up - thanks dad!)

17. Some hinges damaged and many missing screws

18. Paint stains on the carpet

19. Sub standard garage concrete floor finish

19. Garage pitching beam. Going to para-phrase Darbecca on this one:

"I noted the rear pitching beam has not been installed parallel to the abutting brickwork and is presenting with an uneven margin across the rear of  the garage. We discussed this issue with the builder and agreed he would install a timber trim to hide the margin difference."

20. Bulkhead plaster in the lounge is not level

21. Some cabinet drawers need adjusting

22. Skirting in bedroom 4 not straight. 

I actually let this one go as it would have been difficult to fix and is only noticeable when you put a ruler next to it like below. Once furniture is in, you won't see it with the naked eye.  

23. Roof insulation not installed correctly

As described by Darbecca:

"Batts have been installed over pipes wires and timber. The 90 mm plus gap

between the top of the plaster and the bottom of the batts is making all

installed batts that have this gap completely ineffectual. The R rating on

the dwelling has been greatly reduced and the overall performance of the

roof installing does not meet the requirements of the energy report on the 

dwelling. The whole roof will need to be reworked so that all batts are 

installed hard to the plaster with no gaps or holes to the installation."

24. Roof pipes not fixed.

Again from Darbecca:

"The gas pipes running over the trusses have not been fixed at 1.50m intervals as required in the plumbing code. Many lengths of these yellow gas pipes are spaning up to 3.50m without any form of fixing."

25. A few doors need to be adjusted at the strikers

26. Various paint imperfections

(need to add photo when I find it)

27. Gutter damage as previously mentioned but not yet fixed

28. Some of the architraves not plumb as previously mentioned aswell during fixing stage.

All in all, whilst obviously not perfect, the quality of the build is pretty good. Except for the bedroom 4 skirting, Porter Davis had agreed to fix all the issues identified. PCI was easier than I expected and none of these issues will stop us from moving in!