Meeting with the regional construction manager

On the 28th we met on site with both the site supervisor and the regional construction manager to discuss the ongoing rectification of the issues highlighted during the lockup inspection.

The front brickwork has been partially replaced. The section of the master bedroom still remains unbricked. The replacement of the side window lintel and rebricking has not happened due to the new lintel apparently being stolen before it could be installed - Not sure why it wasn't locked inside the house?

The clearing the excess mortar out of the wall cavities is the issue that concerns us most. As they said they would, they are cutting each section of sisalation and removing excess mortar before supposedly using an industrial vaccum to remove excess dust and lumps of mortar. On my quick look round however, I soon pointed out the poor job they were doing and was able to remove fist sized pieces of mortar from within the DPC and point out an excess of mortar dust in the DPC that appeared to be clogging up the weep holes.

I have to admit to being a little surprised to some of the answers I got during this meeting, especially with regards to their own inspection process. When asked why so many major errors were missed by their own inspector, I was informed that their inspector doesn't start looking at the house until the lockup stage has completed. I find this very difficult to believe and if this is the case then it makes me wonder if they even have an inspector looking at the house as they know I'll be bringing in an independent inspector regardless. With regards to the lumps of mortar and excess dust I found in the DPC after being told the job had been done and cleared away, there was no excuse for this what so ever and just confirms my suspicions that things still aren't being done properly. Things are heading in the right direction with the new site supervisor, but I still think there's more that needs to be done.

Lockup Rectification Starts

A quick drive by the site yesterday showed that the builder has already started the tear down of the front brickwork to rectify the issues outstanding in the lockup inspection report.

Lockup Inspection - Failed

We had our lockup inspection today and were optimistic that we were finished with the exterior of the house and that the builder could start the internal fit out next, but our independent inspector proved otherwise. A number of major issues were highlighted with the exterior of the house that will need to be resolved before we can move forward.

Brickwork in the area highlighted in red is not level or plum and needs to be completely torn down and relaid. I've been told the brick layer had incorrectly assumed this was going to be rendered, hence the poor quality.

The Lintel over the door differs in height from one side to the other by about 20mm.

Damage to one of the window frames.

Window lintel bowed in the middle (more bricks to be relaid).

Cavity between bricks and sissilation (thermal sheeting) breached with mortar. This had occurred in nearly every location the inspector checked and is a serious issue that would result in water being able to make contact with the frame and cause damp issues further down the line. Reading on the inspection report that this is one of the worst cases he's ever seen of this issue didn't inspire any confidence in the rest of the house at all.

Sissilation missing altogether in some locations.

This is supposed to be sound proofing for the home theatre room. Instead we got a mixture of sound proofing and standard insulation.

I have a list of other issues that also need to be resolved before we can move to the internal stages of the house. The supervisor thinks these jobs should all be complete in 2 weeks, so fingers crossed the re-inspection of all the rectification work shows that everything has been done correctly and that no additional issues are found. If not, I think we're going to cry!

Getting in by the 20th July is now looking like a pipe dream considering they've been going 5 months already and the lockup stage is considered to be the half way point.

And if there's one thing I can say to anyone reading this blog who is also building or thinking about building a house - Get an independent inspector. All of the issues highlighted by my inspector (except the tearing down and rebuilding of the front of the house (which Porter Davis had already said was going to happen before the inspection started) had been approved by the builders own non-independent inspector.