Slab Stage Inspections – New Home Inspections
The base stage or slab stage inspection is the most important inspection during the construction of your new home because the entire load of the house sits on the slab. That is, a house is only as good as the base upon which it is built!
Many new homes are now being constructed on concrete slabs. If the new concrete slab upon which your new home has been constructed fails (e.g. moves, heaves or settles), it can cause major structural defects (e.g. cracking in external walls, cracking in internal walls, cornice and ceilings, cracking in floor tiles and wall tiles and sticking and jamming of windows and doors etc.) not to mention all of the stress and inconvenience that goes along with trying to get the defective works rectified by your builder.
Arranging for the finished slab to be thoroughly inspected and reported on by an independent building inspector, before you hand over the slab or base stage payment to your builder, is therefore strongly recommended.
The following items are checked by the appointed surveyor before the concrete slab is poured and finished and include (but are not limited to) the following:
- All trenches are straight, square, clean, and the correct width and depth – compliant with the relevant engineers drawings and specifications.
- The reinforcement placed in the trenches and in the boxed areas is the correct size, is adequately lapped and adequately tied together – compliant with the relevant engineers drawings and specifications.
- The trench mesh and steel reinforcing bars are adequately supported off the ground using bar chairs.
- The formwork is level and square and the size of the boxed area accords with the relevant floor plan.
- The vapour barrier has been fully and properly installed. It is very important to make sure that the vapor barrier has not been torn or punctured.
- The termite barrier (if required) has been correctly installed.
- All service pipe penetrations have been adequately sealed.
- The steel reinforcement is not too close to the boxing boards – to avoid steel reinforcement sticking out from the side of the concrete slab and being exposed to the weather after the boxing boards have been removed from the sides of the finished slab.
After the concrete slab is poured and finished, Finalinspect thoroughly checks the following items:
- A laser measuring tool and laser level is used to accurately check that the finished slab is level across all sections of the slab, straight and square.
- The size of the finished slab is measured to check it accords with the relevant floor plan.
- The location of all service pipes are checked to ensure they are located compliant with the relevant floor plan.
- The finished concrete slab is thoroughly checked for any damage or cracks etc.
We strongly recommend that you do not handover the base stage payment to your builder until after we have inspected the completed base stage and advised you to do so in the report that we prepare for you.
While it is preferable for the finished slab to be inspected before the frame is constructed on the slab, the slab may still be inspected after the framework has commenced on the slab.
To arrange an urgent slab stage inspection, call us now on 0408 132 152.
Jun07