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Practical completion inspections

There is no standard, and that is the point

Unlike a pre-purchase inspection there is no AS for a PCI. What you are actually measuring against is the contract, the approved plans, the NCC, the manufacturer's instructions for what was installed, and the workmanship benchmark your state publishes. In Victoria that is the VBA and DBDRV Guide to Standards and Tolerances; Queensland has the QBCC Standards and Tolerances Guide; New South Wales has the Fair Trading guide. Naming which guide and which clause you assessed against is what turns an opinion into a defect.

Final payment is tied to it

Practical completion is a contractual milestone, not just a milestone in the build. Final payment is due on it. That is why these reports end up in front of VCAT, NCAT and QCAT, and why dated photographs against each defect matter more here than on almost any other report. A defect with no photo and no date is very hard to argue a year later.

Two follow-ups worth booking on the spot

A re-inspection roughly two to four weeks after the builder says the list is rectified, and an end of defects liability period inspection. The DLP varies: Victoria has a three month period after occupation, the QBCC allows twelve months for non-structural defects, and contract periods commonly run anywhere from thirteen weeks to twenty-four months. Book the re-inspection while you are still on site.

Queensland needs a licence

In Queensland anyone doing paid inspections of completed buildings needs a QBCC completed residential building inspection licence. There is no inspector licence in Victoria or New South Wales, but professional indemnity insurance is expected in practice.

Who is responsible for what

The owner engages the inspector, or the builder does their own QA. The report goes to the builder as a rectification list and the owner keeps a copy. The inspector is responsible for the findings; the builder remains responsible for the work.

What the report should record

• Client, property address, builder, and the date and time of inspection
• Which tolerance guide you assessed against, named explicitly
• Stage: practical completion, re-inspection, or end of defects liability period
• Every defect as its own numbered entry, not a paragraph
• For each defect: location, description, the requirement it fails, and the recommendation
• A dated photograph for every defect
• Anything that could not be inspected, and why
• Whether the property is at practical completion in your opinion
• Signature, and the date the report was issued to the builder

What commonly goes wrong

• Defects written as opinion with no reference to a contract clause, NCC provision or tolerance guide item
• Photos with no location, so nobody can find the defect on a 200 item list
• The re-inspection never booked, so the list goes stale and the owner loses leverage
• Working in Queensland without the QBCC completed residential building inspection licence
• Cosmetic items and structural defects mixed in one undifferentiated list

Common questions

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