Handover Inspections
Building a new home is probably the biggest investment you’ll ever make, and if anything goes wrong, it could become even more costly. It makes sense to reduce your risk by having a handover, defect, and warranty inspection carried out by the professionals in the industry here at Jeffrey Hills & Associates.
Under the Queensland BSA’s Rectification of Building Work Policy, builders must correct any minor defects or omissions documented and agreed to at handover, within six months after completion of the work. They’re also required to correct any additional reasonable defects identified within the first six months of practical completion.
Quality Defect Inspections
At Jeffrey Hills & Associates, we provide thorough building inspections for our clients, giving them peace of mind that any defects will be identified early on. We’ll perform an inspection prior to the six-month expiry date and document any issues that may be considered reasonable defects that will need to be addressed by builders.
The inspection focuses on uncompleted defects or omissions identified during the original handover inspection (if available), documenting and reporting any additional defects that have arisen since completion of the dwelling. This may include Category 1 and Category 2 defects (major and minor defects). Our assessments also take into account and compare with accepted industry standards and practices.
Just think of it as your second defects or handover inspection!
To find out more about rectification post building, visit the "Rectification of Building Work Policy" Fact Sheet on Queensland Building and Construction Commission's (QBCC) website.
At the pre-handover stage, we check:
- All different types of roofing materials (e.g. concrete and terracotta roof tiles, Colorbond steel sheets, slate, etc.). We check these have been correctly installed and fixed in position
- That the pointing of all ridge and hip roof tiles is consistent in terms of colour and texture and that there are no cracks in the pointing
- All fascia boards and bargeboards are correctly aligned and fully fixed in position
- All gutters and downpipes are correctly installed and adequately fixed in position
- There is adequate fall applied to the gutters around the house and the garage
- That water does not pond in the gutters
- There is no damage to specially coated surfaces (e.g. Colorbond roofs, gutters, fascia boards and downpipes). Note – if there are any deep scratches, dents or perforations in the surface of any of the above Colorbond building materials, the relevant manufacturer’s warranty is usually deemed void (i.e. not valid)
- All brickwork to ensure that it is level, plumb, straight, square and that all articulation joints, flashings and weepholes have been correctly placed and installed
- That the colour of the bricks and mortar have not changed due to excessive cleaning with acid and washing with water under very high pressure
- That the high-pressure cleaning process has not blown out sections of the mortar from between the bricks
- That all surplus mortar and stains have been fully removed from the face of the brickwork
- The mortar has the required strength (i.e. the mortar is not too soft, crumbling or sandy)
- All articulation joints in external brick walls have been fully sealed to prevent the ingress of moisture and rainwater into the house
- All brickwork is properly placed on the concrete slab and that it does not overhang the slab
- There are no cracked, chipped or broken bricks
- There are no cracks in, chips out of, or scratches in rendered surfaces or wall cladding
- There is adequate clearance between windows and abutting brick sills
- All different types of external wall cladding and lining (e.g. Hebel panels, cement sheet panels, and timber weatherboards, etc.) have been correctly fitted and fixed in position
- The gaps between all window and door frames and the abutting brickwork is not excessive
- There is no damage to window frames, door frames, door handles, or locks and the glass fitted to doors and windows has not been scratched, chipped or cracked
- There are adequate draught and weather seals fitted around all external facing doors and windows
Inside the house, we also check:
- That ceilings have been correctly installed, and that joints in the plasterboard are not highlighted and very obvious after they have been painted
- That all sections of cornice have been installed level and straight
- That all sections of the internal walls are plumb, straight and square
- Skirting boards have been installed level and straight
- That all joins in architraves and skirting boards are cut straight and finished flush
- That all relevant surfaces have been adequately prepared (i.e. filled and sanded smooth), and all tool marks and ridges on the surface of plasterboard throughout the house have been removed prior to painting
- The paint finish applied to all relevant surfaces is consistent in terms of both colour and texture. There are no paint run marks, paint splashed onto surfaces it should not be on, and there are clean straight lines between two surfaces that are painted different colours (e.g. interface between walls and cornice/ceilings)
- The clearances around all doors and drawers are adequate
- The operation of all door handles, door locks, and window locks
- There is no sticking or jamming of doors or windows
- All cupboards, vanity units and bench tops are correctly installed
- The interface between all basins, baths, kitchen sinks and laundry troughs, and bench tops are fully and properly sealed
- That tiling is properly installed – level, plumb, straight and square. Grout lines are the correct width and are consistently the same width. All tile junctions are fully sealed with flexible silicone sealant. Tiles have not been over-cut to accommodate tap fittings, water spouts, and shower roses, etc
- For the proper installation of baths and shower bases
- For the correct installation of carpets
- Water pressure from all taps and shower roses
- All plumbing to make sure that it does not leak
- All power points are connected and correctly wired
- The drainage flow rates out of shower bases, baths, basins, laundry troughs, kitchen sinks, and toilet pans
- The operation of all appliances if they are installed at the time of the inspection
- There is no damage to plasterboard (i.e. ceilings, cornice and walls), tiles, architraves, skirting boards, window frames, door frames, doors, drawers, cupboards, vanity units, bench tops, basins, baths, kitchen sinks, laundry troughs, tap fittings, water spouts, wall mirrors, window winders and locks, door locks, carpets and other floor surfaces (e.g. polished concrete) and appliances
Inside the roof space, we check:
- There is no damage to the roof line (e.g. cracked roof tiles or holes in corrugated Colorbond steel roofs)
- Insulation has been properly and fully installed throughout the roof space
- Sarking has been correctly installed and is not torn
- There are adequate clear spaces around warm/hot recessed light fittings in the roof space. There is a real risk of a fire starting in the roof space if insulation is placed over the top of warm/hot recessed light fittings
- The platform for the heating unit has been properly installed, access to the heating unit is adequate, and a light has been provided
- The roof tiles have been adequately fixed to the roof battens
We provide all these services and more, so for reliable handover, defect, and warranty inspections on the Gold Coast, get in contact today.