There are a few critical times throughout the build process that are beneficial to have an independent building inspector come and inspect the work of your builder and make sure everything is being completed to the correct standard. The frame stage building inspection is the first, truly critical, stage to have inspected.
Once your slab has been poured the framing contractors will usually be there within a few days to begin to erect the frame of the house. Once the frame is erected, it is braced with temporary bracing until the roof goes on. At this point you will receive a progress payment claim from your builder. However, the frame stage inspection is different from the other stages, in that, the ideal time for the frame stage inspection is later than the timing for the progress payment.
To get a true quality check on the frame, we need to wait for the roofing to be installed, the temporary bracing to be removed, the carpenters finish the frame by straightening it and making the final preparations for the windows and doors to be installed. At this point, approx. 2 weeks after the frame stage progress payment claim, the frame is ready to be inspected by one of our technicians.
During the site visit the building inspector will be making sure your frame is ready to be covered up with both the exterior and walls and the internal wall linings.
Our Frame Stage Inspection Checklist covers the following important elements:
- The frame is positioned correctly on the slab
- The physical termite barrier has been installed correctly and to all relevant areas
- The walls, windows & door frames are all plumb and square
- Engineer’s plans have been followed and wind bracing has been installed per the as-built plans
- The bracing for the wall frame has been done correctly
- Blocking & nogging correctly installed for the planned fixtures
- Roof truss installation and bracing as well as load transfer connections have been completely correctly
- The tie down points are adequately tight and positioned correctly
- Material compliance
- If installed, the ceiling battens are installed, fixed and positioned correctly
- If available, the plumbing and electrical rough-in’s have been completely correctly
- If installed, the fascia and guttering are installed correctly
- Overall check of quality of workmanship
For ease of communication, your ASBIR building inspector will mark out defects with the frame with a bright coloured spray paint, to ensure your builder is able to quickly identify the areas that require attention. These will also be included in your written report with accompanying photographs of the defects.
The reason that we stress the importance of the frame stage inspection, is that the frame is the bones of the house. Once the frame is covered up with the exterior walls/cladding and the internal wall linings are installed, it becomes much more difficult to identify and address issues that arise from framing defects. If the issues are identified early, the rest of the build can progress more smoothly.
Open communication between the home owner, the builder and the building inspector will assist to make the process smooth and beneficial for all stakeholders.
The team at ASBIR are dedicated to helping take the stress out of the process of building a house, we take a collaborative approach to the process and our goal is to help you and your builder created the best possible outcome on your house build project.
Please ask our team about the package deals that are available for building stage inspections. This will allow you to save money while giving you peace of mind, knowing that you have an experience team in your corner
OUR SERVICE AREAS
With our head office centrally based north of Brisbane at Kallangur and inspectors that live both north side and south side, we are ideally located to service a large part of South-East Queensland. We service all suburbs of Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Logan, Gold Coast and Ipswich, and surrounding hinterland areas.
CONTACT US
Call us on 1300 553 007 during business hours, Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 5:00pm to speak to one of our friendly team.
Request an obligation free quote 24/7 via our Free Quote Form Send us an email enquiry via our Online Enquiry Form.
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