Practical Completion Inspection Brisbane | Is Your Home Ready?
Practical Completion Inspection Brisbane: Is your new home ready for handover? Learn what to expect at PCI and what should be complete before your handover.
4/25/20264 min read
Practical Completion Inspection: When Is Your New Home Actually Complete?
Sometimes you turn up to a Practical Completion Inspection and the house is looking pretty close to finished.
Paint is done.
Flooring is down.
Kitchen is in.
Bathrooms are looking good.
Then you walk around the side of the house and find the hot water system…
Still sitting in its cardboard box.
At least it made it to site. 😂
Hopefully it doesn't decide to walk off site before someone gets around to installing it.
It gave us a laugh, but it also raises a pretty good question for anyone building a new home:
How complete should your house actually be at Practical Completion?
What Does Practical Completion Actually Mean?
Despite the name, Practical Completion doesn't necessarily mean your new home will be completely defect-free.
Minor defects, touch-ups and items requiring adjustment can still be present. In fact, identifying those items is a big part of what a Practical Completion Inspection (PCI) is for.
But there's a difference between finding defects in completed work and finding work that simply hasn't been completed yet.
A door requiring adjustment is one thing.
A few paint touch-ups are another.
A hot water system enjoying life in its original packaging down the side of the house?
That's a little more obvious.
Should Everything Be Finished Before a Practical Completion Inspection?
Ideally, your new home should be substantially complete and ready to be properly inspected.
That doesn't mean we're expecting to walk into a flawless display home.
During Practical Completion Inspections, it's normal for us to identify items that still require attention before handover.
These can include:
Paint and finishing defects
Doors and windows requiring adjustment
Cabinet doors and drawers requiring adjustment
Incomplete sealing
Grout and tiling issues
Damaged finishes or fittings
Plumbing fixtures requiring attention
External finishing items
Cleaning and construction residue
Other visible defects or incomplete workmanship
That's exactly why the inspection is being carried out.
What we don't ideally want is significant work still underway or major components of the home yet to be installed.
After all, we can't inspect something that isn't there yet.
What About the Hot Water System?
Generally, by the time we attend a Practical Completion Inspection, we'd expect the hot water system to be installed and the associated work to be substantially complete.
Having the unit delivered to site is certainly a step in the right direction.
But delivery and installation aren't quite the same thing.
And leaving an expensive new hot water system sitting outside in a cardboard box isn't exactly where we'd expect to find it at this stage of construction.
Apart from not being installed, there's also the small issue that we'd rather it didn't grow legs and disappear from site before handover.
So yes — we'll be putting that one in the report.
Can a House Still Have Defects at Practical Completion?
Absolutely.
This is probably one of the biggest misconceptions around Practical Completion.
A home doesn't necessarily need to have zero defects to reach this stage.
Your Practical Completion Inspection is an opportunity to independently work through the accessible areas of the property and document visible defects, incomplete items and workmanship concerns before handover.
Some will be small.
Some will be obvious.
And occasionally, some will still be sitting in a cardboard box.
What Do We Check During a Practical Completion Inspection?
A PCI isn't just walking around putting bits of tape on paint marks.
During an independent Practical Completion Inspection, we work through the accessible areas of the completed home looking for visible defects and incomplete work.
Depending on the property, this can include areas such as:
Internal walls, ceilings and finishes
Doors and windows
Cabinetry and joinery
Kitchens, bathrooms and other wet areas
Fixtures and fittings
Tiling, grout and sealant
Accessible plumbing items
External finishes
Garage and external areas
Other accessible components of the completed build
The findings are documented in an independent inspection report that can then be provided to your builder for review and rectification.
Make Sure the House Is Actually Ready for PCI
If your builder gives you a Practical Completion date but there's clearly still substantial work happening, it's worth checking with your site supervisor that the home will actually be ready.
Ideally, the builder should have completed their own quality checks and the property should also be reasonably clean.
That doesn't sound particularly exciting, but it matters.
Construction dust, protective coverings, materials and unfinished work can make it difficult to properly inspect finished surfaces.
You don't need every tiny paint touch-up completed before we arrive — finding those sorts of things is part of the inspection.
But there's not much value in inspecting something that hasn't actually been installed or completed.
See Exhibit A: hot water system in a box.
Don't Wait Until Practical Completion to Inspect Your Build
Practical Completion is an important inspection, but there's one limitation:
By this point, most of your house has already been covered up.
Plasterboard is installed.
Tiles are down.
Walls are painted.
Cabinetry is fitted.
That's why independent stage inspections during construction can be valuable as well.
Depending on your build, inspections can be carried out at key stages including:
Pre-Slab Inspection
Before the concrete slab is poured, while reinforcement, vapour barriers and other components remain visible.
Frame Inspection
Once the structural framing has progressed and can still be properly inspected.
Pre-Plaster Inspection
Before plasterboard covers the frame and after other construction work and services have progressed.
Enclosed and Waterproofing Inspections
As the home becomes enclosed and wet areas progress towards tiling.
Fixing Stage Inspection
As the internal fit-out and finishes progress.
Practical Completion Inspection
When the home is substantially complete and approaching handover.
Each stage gives an independent building inspector the opportunity to look at different parts of the construction while they're still accessible.
By the time we reach Practical Completion, we can only inspect what remains visible and accessible.
Building a New Home in Brisbane?
If your new home is approaching handover, an independent Practical Completion Inspection in Brisbane can help identify visible defects and incomplete work before you take possession of the property.
BSPI Inspections also provides independent new home stage inspections throughout Brisbane, from Pre-Slab through to Practical Completion.
If you're approaching PCI, it's worth booking your inspection early and confirming the date with your builder or site supervisor.
And before we arrive, perhaps have a quick look down the side of the house.
Your hot water system should ideally be attached to it.
Not sitting beside it.
Still in the box.
Waiting for someone to give it a new home.
Before it finds one itself. 😂
